Best Sermon - EVER!

The best advice I've ever received in ministry came from a Pastor from Flint who told me, "Some people put me way up here on a pedestal. Others," he said, moving his hand down close to the floor, "put me down here. The truth is, I'm not as good as some say I am, and I'm not as bad as others claim."

He's right. For the majority of us in ministry, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I reminded myself of that this morning when a parishoner stopped me after services, shook my hand vigorously and said, "Pastor, that was your best sermon ever. I just had to tell you."

Okay... but frankly I thought it fell somewhere short of mediocre. I struggled this week with the subject, and eventually decided on "City on a Hill" from the book of Matthew. I prayed, I studied, cross-referenced, prayed some more and did the best I could. Trusting that God's word doesn't return void, I placed my best effort in His hands. Apparently God had something important to say, and through my human efforts, He said it. That never ever ceases to amaze me. Ask me what my favorite sermon is, and I wouldn't hesitate to answer. It was a message I toiled over, prayed over, and lost sleep over called, "To Build A Wall." In my mind, that sermon was a home run. Yeah, in MY mind. The response was somewhat, well... mediocre.

I have a habit of garbling my speech, making up some crazy new words, and digging myself into embarrassing holes, while the congregation has a good laugh as I try (sometimes in vain) to claw my way out. Yet somehow, some way, God manages to touch lives. He's good like that. He uses extremely imperfect people to work out His perfect plans.

Only my God is that good. Only He deserves to be way up there on that pedestal.

Can I Get an Amen? Anybody? Somebody?

One of the funniest yet most accurate cartoons I've ever seen was a drawing of a man sleeping, and inside a cloud above his head was an image of a church congregation doing "the wave." The caption underneath read, When Pastors Dream. Yeah, that's about it.

I've been doing a lot of preaching lately, and I love it. I preach twice weekly at my own church, with opportunities to share at a local Christian School, small groups, and at our new church plant. I had the privilege of sharing the word at a county-wide Thanksgiving Eve service a few months back. Of all the things I do as a Pastor, and the responsibilities are many, I enjoy preaching the most.

But do you know what's frustrating? I never know when the sermon is going to connect with the audience, or I'm going to lay an egg. It seems that the messages with the most preparation and prayer seem to fall flat. I couldn't get an "amen" if I paid for it. Believe me, I work hard to make sure I never just "call one in." The responsibility is too great, and the price paid by Christ is too high to just wing it from the pulpit and hope for the best. But the truth is, there are some messages that just require more prep. Common sense tells us that more preparation equals better results, right? Not always.

God's word doesn't return void. We know that. But there are just those days when no matter how hard you've worked, prayed, and travailed, it just seems like the Word has fallen on deaf ears. Hey, I admit it... I'm human. I feed off the reaction of the congregation. If they're getting it, then I'm pumped. If there are blank faces, I feel deflated and the preaching suffers as a result.

What to do? Simple. Keep running the race. I'm reminded of the Tour de France... a 3-week bicycle race broken up into day segments. Individual times to finish each stage are aggregated to determine the overall winner at the end of the race. It's where you're standing at the end of the race that matters. That's what makes the race special... you don't have to finish first every single day to finish strong.

Just as long as someone gives you a wave along the way, you'll be okay.