Usually we post the content of last weeks sermon. And I’ll do that eventually. But I thought I’d post something about the actual act of preaching.
People ask me from time to time–what is it like to preach? Is it like preparing a speech? Writing a paper? How do you feel when you’re actually up at the pulpit?
Here are a few of my own thoughts. The other pastors can leave comments about their own experience…
- During the actual sermon–it’s like playing a contact sport; 30-40 minutes of pure adrenalin. You’re sprinting, dodging, defending, pushing, lifting, blocking and you go and go and go and then you’re done. And when you’re done–the odd thing is sometimes you’re not sure if you’ve won or lost. You just feel tired. And then a few hours later, you feel really, really sore.
- Preaching is like puking out your guts. You’re up in front, exposing yourself, pulling out your lungs, your heart, your spleen and laying it out before the people to examine. And then when it’s all over, you have to find a way of putting your organs back in your body. And sometimes, you feel like you’ve put them back in the wrong way. I find the hardest part of preaching can be the evening after. You just feel so exhausted and emptied.
-When preaching really works, and you feel like you’ve connect with the people, and God has used you, there is nothing more satisfying. Nothing engages you more–physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, than the act of preaching. Which is why I do it and will continue to do it!
So an inside look in the life of a pastor.
I’ll post a few more down the road.
In his love
P.Dihan
January 4, 2009 at 1:22 am |
do you find preaching to be cathartic?
it’s interesting to note how you describe preaching to be such a visceral experience.
i often wonder if preaching for some pastors, is manifested as some form of self-fulfillment. antoine st. exupery once described it to the effect of “releas[ing] the prince asleep within him unknown to himself” which ultimately, constituted his truth.
perhaps exupery is right … who knows if there is a sort of logic to preaching.
on my end, i look forward to each and every sunday with tabula rasa in mind. what will God say to me today? how will he provoke or convict me? my favorite part of any sermon … is that moment of pause right before a pastor begins to speak. not because i know there is so much potential in the next hour to come, but because it is the beginning of something new – sometimes practiced, maybe unknown – but yet another journey into the Word.
January 10, 2009 at 1:53 pm |
Hmmm. Cathartic. I guess it can be. Not to make preaching solipsistic, but there is something incredibly rewarding and refreshing when you’re used by God to teach his word. Of course, that is not my final motivation in the end. Sola Dei Gloria, right? But yes, preaching can be cathartic. On the flip side, preaching can crush you and absolutely deflate you too. I guess it depends on the week.
Dihan