Encouragement for preachers

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Throughout church history, the importance of preaching has been emphasized and explained as being a vital activity of the church. John Calvin said that where the word of God is not preached and heard, there is no church. Preaching is a ministry that Jesus himself authorized and continues to empower by his word and Spirit. When we prepare and deliver a sermon, we are sharing in the ongoing ministry of the Great Shepherd. As the living Word, he continues to communicate by his word, both written and preached. Therefore, let us offer our sermons up to God as “loaves and fish” for him to bless and multiply in feeding his sheep.

Every time I prepare a sermon, I’m reminded of John Stott’s book for preachers, Between Two Worlds. He observed that preachers need twelve hours to adequately prepare a sermon. That amount of time, I know, is unrealistic for many of us—especially bivocational pastors. Nevertheless, Stott’s observation reminds us of the importance of adequate sermon preparation—I’m particularly motivated to spend more time in prayer.

We are blessed with many resources that help us prepare our sermons. I asked Ted Johnston from Church Administration and Development to list some of them (see the “preaching resources” link at left). These resources will need to be adapted to your personal style, your congregation’s needs and our denomination’s doctrinal standards. But they do take some of the “heavy lifting” out of sermon preparation.

Also of interest is a Christianity Today article by John Ortberg entitled “The 5 Comments Preachers Hate Most” (at www.christianitytoday.com/le/2012/october-online-only/five-comments-preachers.html). Ortberg wrote:

The single oddest response I ever received after a sermon (true story) came from a man I had never met.

“Excuse me,” he said, “Do you mind if I disturb you for a moment?”

“No,” I said.

He put his thumbs in his ears, wiggled his fingers wildly, and made a noise that sounded like Ruga Ruga Ruga. Then he walked away. I haven’t seen him since. It was the oddest response I have received, but not the worst.

Perhaps the oddest response I have ever received was following a sermon I preached on grace. A man came up to me and said that he would like to publicly execute me by chopping off my head with a giant ax. As it turns out, this fellow was visiting us from one of our splinter groups.

How about you? What is the most unusual comment you have ever received in response to one of your sermons? I invite you to share yours using the “ADD A COMMENT” feature below.

Mark Twain once said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” I have noticed that the opposite is true as well. A critical comment can have the effect of trumping any number of positive remarks. But for a preacher, a certain amount of criticism goes with the territory. It isn’t necessarily your fault. Even the apostle Paul couldn’t please all of the people, all of the time. He wrote,

Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse (2 Corinthians 2:16 MSG).

So next time someone tells you your sermon “stinks,” remember you are in good company. However, let’s make sure the criticism comes because the listener rejects the truth of our message and not because of sloppy, inadequate preparation. To quote Paul again,

This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take it on? No—but at least we don’t take God’s Word, water it down, and then take it to the streets to sell it cheap. We stand in Christ’s presence when we speak; God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from God and say it as honestly as we can” (2 Corinthians 2:17 MSG).

Let me encourage you to be diligent in your preaching, entrusting your best to Christ the living Word, so you can be “a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 NRSV).

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach