Preaching

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at FBC Alabaster. Every now and then someone asks me what it is like to preach, so I thought that this would be an appropriate time to reflect on the act of preaching.

Standing in a pulpit speaking as a messenger for God is certainly a humbling experience, but it is also a very rewarding experience. For me it is not the talking in front of people that is intimidating, it is the fact that you are engaging in some very serious business. You are acting as a mouthpiece for God. In pulpit your words are weighed much more than when you are speaking to a colleague or even giving a speech. Your words shape people's ideas about God and about the Bible. It is a realistic possibility that it you misspeak on a passage or concept, people can honestly get the wrong impression of God and His word.

On a really practical level, preaching can also be intimidating. Like I said, it is not the speaking in front of people. I have always been comfortable talking in front of people, as long as I have some idea what I am going to say. But, when you preach, you enter into an interaction with the congregation that leaves you vulnerable an very aware of everything around you. When I speak in front of the crowd, I see everything. I see who is interested and who is distracted. I see the response to each word, whether it is confusion, apathy, or exhilaration. It is a weird existence between two consciousnesses: the one speaking and the one observing.

And here is something that I feel that I expect lot of preachers do as well: I never feel great about my sermons. Some people hate to listen back to their sermons just as people don't like to read over a paper for school or eat leftovers. The thing is, the sermon exists in a moment that cannot be recreated. It truly is a conversation between the people and the preacher. One speaks with eyes and gestures, one with words. I have never preached a sermon that went exactly according to script. When the improvisation works, it is God speaking. When the improv makes no sense, it is my being all over the place. I cannot tell you how many times I have listened back to a sermon (I said I hated to do it, not that I didn't do it), I always encounter a part of the sermon that surprises even me.

And that is where the intimidation ends, because I know that God is faithful to speak through me. I know that I must be faithful to prepare for the sermon, and I love the preparation. I love trying to figure out the one idea that I want to get across. I enjoy trying to find the format that fits with the message. I like reading books and synthesizing the information. But, in the end, it is God who works through me to teach the people about His word. I know that this is the case because after some sermons, two people will have gotten two completely different lessons from one sermon. My guess is that I could stand up at the pulpit and talk about popes in the 12th century, and God would still use that to teach someone.

Preaching is an honor and a privilege, and I love the exhilaration and anticipation that occurs right before a sermon.