I miss sermons. Not hearing them, I hear them every week. I miss writing sermons. There’s something special about writing a sermon, something that’s hard to put into words. I wonder sometimes if this is a Pastor’s best-kept secret, that sermon-writing can be joyful.
Recently I have been able to experience that joy again. I’ve been blessed with an opportunity to share God’s Word with a small group of believers at a local retirement community. And I do mean small. Often they’ll be only 4-5 people in attendance. But I make sure I preach the same way to that small congregation as I would to a whole sanctuary full of people. I think they deserve nothing less than my best. My utmost for His highest.
Now I don’t really write my sermons out. I read through a passage and ask God what He wants me to share with my small group of believers. And I ask Him not only what do I want them to know but also what I want them to do (special thanks to Bill Hybels who taught that lesson years ago). It can be a challenge when my listeners are on the twilight end of their lives. But it’s the call. I spend some time looking at outside sources, reference material, commentaries, and other people’s blogs on the passage.
Then I create the sermon, not on paper, not on a computer screen, not on an IPad or IPhone. No, I create it in my head. I can hear myself speaking, can hear the flow of the message and feel the cadence of delivery. It’s an awesome experience, but it’s not what I love the most.
What is truly amazing is feeling the Holy Spirit speak to me while I work. Questions pop into my mind as I read and re-read the text. Why doesn’t Jesus just answer the question? How did Isaac react and feel when he was laying on the altar? Was Adam’s description of Eve when he first met her rally a poem? What exactly was the thorn in Paul’s side?
And not only do the questions flow, so do answers. Not all at once, not an epiphany, but a slow emerging of the truth of the passage and of what it will mean to the listeners. Even passages I’ve read a million times and heard preached on before take on a different understanding.
I’m not claiming some gift here. I just believe this is the joy of sermon-writing, the Holy Spirit working through your senses to teach you what the passage means, and leading you to understand what it should mean to your life.
So I’m thankful for the chance to preach again, but even more thankful for a God who works in and through us to teach others.
