The Gift of Preaching

I am now on staff at Gender Road Christian Church as the "Minister of Engagement."  I still don't know exactly what that means - but I  like the sound of it.  Maybe I am helping people to engage with each other, with the church program, with their spiritual life?

When I preach, I am helping people to engage with the text.  The good news is that I get to preach  once a month.  So, I get to engage with the text and have a lot of time to ponder, study, reflect and write.  AND because there are three services - I get to deliver the sermon three times and get more comfortable with it each time.

I preached Sunday on the "Little Apocalypse" passage from Luke 21 and enjoyed the process of putting it all together.  Afterward someone asked me how long it took to write and I SAID - 10 - 15 hours which may be true.  But the truth is that until I am delivering a sermon, the text just sits in the back of my head and informs whatever I am doing.  My sermons often will include whatever is happening in my life at the time.  In this case, I ended up telling a story about Dolly Parton because I have been listening to her podcast.

Yesterday I started looking at the next text because I am preaching again in two weeks.  It will be the first Sunday in Advent and I think that the title will be "Walking in the Light." (Isaiah 2: 1-5) Already ideas are starting to come and I find myself having renewed energy for this whole process.

Sunday afternoon I went to a program by the Spirituality Network which was essentially an experiential introduction to the spirituality of Islam.  We learned about clothing, architecture, prayer forms and history.  It was really, really interesting and inspiring.  I started thinking about the practice of praying 5 times a day and wondered what effect that would have on me if I intentionally prayed in that way.

I think that the discipline of preaching has always been a gift to me in that it has kept the word of God for that week (or month) present and alive within me.  It is possible that with this I end up praying MORE than five times a day!  The greatest blessing of my life now  is that I no longer have the relentless pressure of preaching weekly.   Instead I get to feast on the word slowly and allow it to seep into my soul and reveal the richness of God's word.

Actually as I write this, I realize that my faith is strong because of my years of preaching.  It is a gift and sometimes a burden as face a difficult text and wonder what God wants me to share.  Over the years I have gone through times - on Friday or Saturday - of thinking that  whatever I have  put together was stupid or dry or unintelligible.  And then usually - with a little more time and prayer - something new emerges. It can be an image, a transition, a cpmplete reorganization,  but the sermon then takes a new shape and I have peace about it.  Many many weeks  I go through what I call a "Good Friday" moment where I am saying - "My God, My God where are you?"  And then Easter comes.

That may all sound dramatic but that really has been my experience.  I  can testify that God is faithful and God does give us what we need to do the things we have been called to do.

Here is a blessing by Maxine Shonk that speaks to be today.

May the God of SERVICE be with you.
May God minister to you in your vulnerability.
May you know God's giving presence in your powerlessness and in your humanity.
May you serve the needs of all those whose path of struggle and need crosses your own.
And may they know the healing touch of God through your service and presence.
May the God of SERVICE be with you.