Birth Pangs of Preaching
Last Wednesday night I preached a sermon at the mission on the Parable of the Sower, or sometimes called (perhaps more appropriately) the Parable of the Soils. I spent the week pondering it, but wrote the sermon in a single day on Tuesday. It would be nice to write the sermon, and then let it simmer for a couple days, make corrections, additions or subtractions to make it better. But alas, I am not disciplined enough for such a method, and time constraints will not allow that privilege in my life now anyway.
I finished writing the sermon at the last possible minute before meeting with some of my guy-friends for prayer, and I felt awful. I had spent the day trying to get a good sermon out, but knew of its deficiencies, and quite frankly, it was painful to write. We prayed about the sermon that night, and when I went home, I read over the sermon one last time before going to bed—my last chance to make changes before waking up early to work all day and run down to the mission. I was surprised at how the sermon read. It was actually sort of…good. You can read it here.
I preached the sermon to the men, and I felt like I was really connecting with some of them. The great thing about the Parable of the Soils is that it so naturally preaches to people on opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum. I was getting some immediate feedback from the men: “Preach Jacob!” was one I recall.
I got good feedback from the men at the end, and they were apparently talking about it as they went out the doors and as they were outside. I hope and pray that just as the parable goes, the Word stays in their hearts and Satan does not take it away.
But I realized something that night. Preaching is like giving birth. Now, I have only seen one baby born, and the pain must have been far more excruciating than mine, but it is a metaphor, ok? There was the pain, coupled with expectation in working out that sermon. There were discomforts, and fears of defects and disease. But when that Word finally came out, it was joyful. I am sure I will continue to have flops in my preaching experience, but it was nice to have the knowledge that preparation for preaching is often painful, but so often fruitful as well.
I am reminded of the word which was prayed over me that night before going into preaching:
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me void,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11
Praise the Lord who allowed His Word to accomplish His purpose!
Comments
Post a Comment