The Spirit in the Pulpit

Over the forty plus years of preaching there have been a few times when I arrived in the pulpit knowing the carefully crafted and prepared sermon I carried with me was not the sermon I should preach.  The problem was there was not another one in my back pocket or folded up in my Bible.  When it happened, it did not usually come as a complete surprise.  The moment of decision on Sunday morning at 11:00 AM was most often predicated by a gnawing sense of discomfort with preaching what had been prepared.  And, it was a moment of decision.  I had to decide in those final steps to the preaching moment if I would preach what I prepared, or dare to lay it down and see what the Holy Spirit had in mind for the sermon that morning.    

It was always a difficult moment for me to lay down something labored over for hours and days and to stand there with nothing. It did not happen often, but often enough for me to understand that the Spirit had something He wanted to do to which I was not privy. For the preacher it is a moment of trust in God.  Who knows what God might purpose in such a moment?  His purpose could be to make the preacher look like a fool! It could be to speak to someone who needed a Word which would not be heard in the prepared sermon.   I long ago ceased trying to figure out what God was doing.  I just knew it was better to go along with Him and see what was going to be preached.  

I have heard many a testimony from a preacher and a listener about such divine interaction.  A good friend was called to preach by a preacher who had no intention of giving such an invitation when he preached.  Others have confessed how an unplanned sermon fit their need at the moment like a glove.  Preaching often seems mundane to the preacher and the pew sitter, but every now and again the Holy Spirit steps in to change the plan and do something no one figured would happen.  No preacher should make a practice of showing up in the pulpit empty handed and neither should fear of the unknown prevail when faith is required for Spirit led preaching.