When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to molest Paul and Barnabas and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country; and there they preached the gospel. Acts 14:5–7 (RSV)
The prophet speaks only when he is inspired. The parish preacher must speak whether he is inspired or not. I wonder whether it is possible to live on a high enough plane to do that without sinning against the Holy Spirit. ( diary excerpts from 1915). Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
Ray Engh was the assistant pastor at St. Olaf Lutheran in Ft. Dodge, IA, where I interned from the Fall of 1975 to August 1976. Ray was a very kind and thoughtful pastor who was a great help to the scared spitless intern. We would talk about the challenges of pastoral ministry as well as the joys. I give God thanks for Ray's guidance during that year.
We discussed my most recent sermon, going over what was useful, what was not, and which heresy I was in danger of espousing. I shared how challenging it was preaching to a real, live congregation instead of the fifteen or so classmates in preaching class at seminary. Ray pointed out that a good sermon is hard work. Any fool can get into the pulpit and babble on for twenty minutes; that was easy.
Preaching a sermon of fifteen to twenty minutes that got at the core of our faith and kept the congregation engaged demanded a focused effort by the pastor. Good sermons don't fall out of the sky on Saturday morning. They are wrestled with throughout the week, polished, then polished again, until it was a message worth hearing.
Ray called it the agony and the ecstasy of preaching. You struggle with the texts, trying to understand the promise within the Word, seeking to preach that Word with the clarity simple enough that a small child knows Jesus loves them.
I have never been in a situation like Paul and Barnabas, where people plotted to do them physical harm because of the Word they were proclaiming. Perhaps some in the congregation were thinking it, but it never got beyond that point.
I do understand Niebuhr's observation all too well. Sunday by Sunday, the Word must be proclaimed, regardless of how the preacher feels that day. It cannot be a careless word, for salvation is hanging in the balance. It may be that that Sunday's sermon is the one the Holy Spirit will use to ignite hope in a failing faith. The Sunday sermon is more than a few words strung together. Eternity is at stake; lives truly depend on what is preached.
By the grace of God, I find the courage to stand in the pulpit and preach the Word. The same Spirit of God that hovered over the waters of creation goes with me each time I obey our Lord's command to preach the Good News. Thanks be to God that He is merciful to those who are called to proclaim the Word.