This morning, I posted to FaceBook my struggle to find old sermon recordings that I want to represent me in my new-job search. Several of my friends responding with wonderfully affirming assessments of my preaching ministry (if you want to see how wonderful I am, check it out!). (And thanks to my friends who sensed that unemployment means I need an extra bit of encouragement.)
While I did take strength in the affirmations, my original status report was not a sign of poor self-esteem. Rather, it flowed out my awareness that most of my sermons are designed for a particular moment in time. A sermon that powerfully helped people in Kelso in 2009 might not speak to any other group at any other time.
Don’t get me wrong. God’s truth is eternal, and applies at all times to all people. But the preacher’s job is not simply to tell people the eternal truth (they should be discovering that at home, every day). Rather, the preacher’s job is to make the eternal truth powerful for the moment. When I prepare a sermon, I’m asking: How does God’s Spirit want to use this scripture with this group on this next Sunday?
The preacher is far more than a Bible reader or even Bible interpreter. In one way, preaching is taking on the role of the prophet: what does the Eternal Lord want to draw our attention to today? How does Christ want to change our feelings about today’s challenges? What new obedience will the Spirit prompt?