Hear a Good Sermon Recently?
Good Morning Friends,
Maybe you like the sermons of Paul or of Peter. Maybe Charles Haden Spurgeon is your style or Martin Luther. John Wesley, George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, John Knox or John Calvin or John Wycliffe could preach too but I doubt many millennials would be listening. There is also G.K. Chesterton, John Mac Arthur, Billy Graham, Tim Keller or Billy Sunday. And how about some of the Popes. Pope Francis gives a pretty good Homily. Time magazine thinks T.D. Jakes is the best preacher in America, but the best preacher of all time has got to be Jesus. So here is the question…and it is about the truth…Hear a Good Sermon Recently?
Scripture: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.
2 Timothy 4:2 (NRSV)
Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Isaiah 55:6-13 (NRSV)
Blessed . . . are those who hear the word of God and obey it.
Luke 11:28 (NIV)
You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act–they will be blessed in their doing.
James 1:19-25 (NRSV)
Message: Frankly I don’t think God is very impressed about our discussions of who the best earthly preacher is. I think God cares much more about whether we are maximizing the unique gifts, abilities, and scriptural insights he has given us. Having said that, I am not even sure all would agree on what a good sermon really is. We hear them so infrequently. We live them so irregularly. Sure we might agree that effective preaching is about sharing the Word of God with conviction, passion, and determination. We might agree that a good sermon is given by someone who relishes the challenge of interpreting difficult texts, who exposes people to the whole of Scripture, not just a few favorite passages. We might even all appreciate a preacher whose study of and love of the Word is reflected in the circumstances of daily life. But let’s face it, there are a lot of barriers to good sermons being preached in the first place. The Word getting into us is a challenge. For today we have secularism. We have a hostile environment for any religious talk even in most churches. And then priorities are all out of proper order and moreover faith is pushed into our private lives and that makes for a bad environment for a good sermon to be preached to a congregation. Hedonism, individualism and materialism add to the barriers for a good sermon to even be given a shot at being heard. Friends, the truth is a hard thing to hear. And it is a hard thing to share. It is a hard thing to live. And maybe that is why good sermons are so rare. But the real problem is not that these negative trends permeate our society, but the lack of a message that brings
people back to the real Jesus and to the real message of the Gospel. The real problem is sin and always has been…whether it is a sin of omission, commission or of our disposition. Friends, here is the deal, knowing the word of God is a lot easier than doing the word. The Word of God is not just meant to be preached…it is meant to be practiced. We must not only hear, we must heed the word. And when we heed the word….that is a good sermon where ever and whenever it is shared. Friends, perhaps the best sermon is our own lives bearing the fruit that witnesses the purpose God has planted in each of us. Now being a doer in the Word made flesh….that is a sermon.
Pray the Spirit would take up residence in our hearts….and not just for preachers in the pulpit but for all of us. Pray we be doers not just hearers of the Word.
Pray that we learn how to communicate. Pray we learn how to listen to God through His Word and through the Holy Spirit. Pray we learn to listen to others reflecting the Christ in them. Pray we are committed to doing something of significance. Pray we are committed to preaching and serving and teaching the Word. Pray we think before we speak. Pray we live in the truth of the Word. Pray that in relationship with the Living Word, in the reading of a written word, in the speaking of a word formed in silence and in the writing of a word for others, we experience the Word of God that speaks to our souls.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 