preaching... It's kind of like...

How many sermons do you really remember?

I'm sitting in my second Starbucks today, and my old friend Johnny V walks in. Johnny is the Cable Guy, pushing quality digital entertainment all over Southwest PDX.

Anyway, we got to chatting for a minute and he asked me how the whole sermon thing was going...

"Ehhh..." I said. The last few weeks have been tough for me. I'm not sure I've had anything revolutionary or even memorable to say about the passages we've been walking through. 2 weeks ago, it seems like God did something cool in spite of my "ehhh...-ness". Last week, a little less so. This week? I guess we'll see.

Johnny's comment to that was "That's okay. No one remembers what you preach anyway."

Thanks Johnny.

But he's totally right.

And as we talked, I realized that "No one remembers what you preach" is basically what I think too. Preaching (and listening to it) is like taking vitamins. It has a cumulative effect. Few of us remember many of the sermons we have heard, but over a long period of time, we are taught. Few of us remember many of the gatherings we're a part of, but over a long period of time, we are formed.

Johnny told me about hearing Jack Hayford talk about this once (on TBN!). Hayford likened reading God's Word, listening to others teach us, etc to eating. Novel, eh? But keep reading.

He said that every once in awhile, we have a really memorable meal. But most of the time, when we are hungry, we eat. It's not earthshaking, it's just what we do to keep our bodies functioning. We don't really remember what we had for lunch two saturdays ago, two months ago, two years ago. But somehow, eating every day keeps us alive. It would be silly to expect it to rock our world every time.

Same with reading God's Word, with "going to church", with discussing Scripture with other people... Every once in awhile, something amazing jumps out at us and changes us. But mostly, it's the every day discipline of coming to God's Word, it's the every week submission of putting ourselves under God's Word... that's what keeps us alive.

That's good news to those teaching a community... we don't have to hit one out of the park every time at bat. It's enough to put together the singles, the doubles, the occasional strike out and the occasional home run. And when the whole community is practicing the discipline of bringing themselves to God's Word regularly... I guess the Holy Spirit can take it from there.

Comments

[aaron]

Johnny V. How I love thee. =)

Bob too.

[Aj]

Man, if I heard amazing stuff all the time, I don't think I'd be able to handle it: my little noggin would spaz out from overload. Many times I love the luxury of sitting with a message - savoring or pondering, even if it doesn't seem all that over-the-top. The mountaintop is a pretty cool place to visit, but I usually find companions moreso in the valleys.

[Jason Clark]

Thanks Bob. The idea that preaching is only relevant if you can remember every time is so fallacious, and not in keeping with our experience of the rest of life. Thanks for the reminder :-)

Jason

[JC]

Bob - your sermons are always great. Seriously, they are.

Johnny V. has me thinking...

The sermons I remember are never the ones where the pastor tells me how it's suppose to work in my life -- but rather leaves the single application point up to me to find.

What I've been wrestling with is the fact that some pastors will have a ton of applications points at the end of each sermon. I know it's how many are trained to preach... but honestly, I can barely remember one point after a few weeks.

I guess what Johnny V. has me wondering about is if somehow the well-prepared sermon causes the individual to not think for themselves. And I wonder if we don't try too hard to capture where everyone's at spritually; I think sometimes it's best to just let God's Word supernaturally speak to the heart on its own without having to find a bullet point to fit for someone.

[glenn]

After having done the preaching thing for about twenty years, it is no clearer to me than it used to be. I think in many ways the effect of a sermon is kind of mysterious and mystical. A killer sermon can miss the mark. A dud can be inspirational to someone. It is very humbling for the messenger (probably a good thing).

There are a lot of variables that figure in... the working of the Spirit, the readiness of a heart, the corporate mood, and many things we don't know about. What's a preacher to do besides try be faithful to his calling and the text, sensitive to the Spirit, and in tune with those in the gathering. So much is way beyond us.

I like the whole idea of including discussion in various ways. We all know that real growth in following Christ is going to take way more than some one-way mental download of information. It is truly amazing what affects and what doesn't, what sticks and what fades away. I think that a sermon can be inspirational and get us started and motivated, but then mentoring, observation, interaction and experience needs to kick in.

It brings up a good question: What really affects us and causes us to change? I think for me that often it is pain that creates a sense of desperation and openness.