Maybe not every preacher will agree with this, but I have a hunch many will. Here’s my analysis about preaching after being a preacher for more than forty years.
Preaching is both a blessing and a curse, all at the same time.
Here’s what I mean by that. Of course, it is a blessing to have the privilege of proclaiming the very Word of God. It is a blessing to encounter and give deep study to a preaching “text.” No, that’s not a phone text, but the portion of Holy Scripture from the Bible that will be preached.
It is a blessing to wrestle with the text to determine the proper distinction between God’s Law and God’s Gospel. God’s Law declares His Holy Way and always shows us our sin as we ever fall short of His Divine Intentions and, on our own, deserve only His judgment.
A preacher must be honest with God’s Law and declare it to the people, but the Good News is that no sermon can ever end on the Law. The preacher must find and proclaim God’s Gospel, which is always the Good News that Jesus came to earth from heaven to bring God’s Kingdom. He came to suffer and die on the cross to be the last sacrifice to forgive all our sins. He rose again on the third day making way for our own eternal life through faith in Him. He ascended again into heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father and will come again to bring the glorious end to this world as we know it now.
It is a blessing to preach both Law and Gospel.
And certainly, it is a blessing bring God’s Word to God’s people time after time. A sermon doesn’t live on the manuscript of the preacher, it lives in the hearts of the listeners. That’s where God’s Word is at work giving life and blessings, strength and peace to the lives of those who receive God’s Word in sermon form.
Yes, it is a blessing to proclaim God’s unconditional love and forgiveness in Christ and speak it into our fallen sinful lives. It is a blessing to preach God’s wholeness and peace to people who are broken and wracked with guilt and pain. What a blessing and a privilege. Amen and Amen.
However, there is, I believe and have experienced, the simultaneous reality of the preacher’s “curse.” Oh, maybe curse is a little harsh, but there is at least a quite heavy burden that comes along with preaching. For the sake of this article, I keep the term “curse.”
What is the preacher’s curse? I believe and have experienced it as having to be ready week after week to preach. I’m officially retired now, and although I still preach quite a bit, I don’t preach every Sunday. When I do preach, I experience great empathy and respect for the preaching pastors who must “bring it” week after week, Sunday after Sunday.
Yes, week after week and Sunday after Sunday, and even many times in between Sundays, the preacher must do all those things I have listed above as “blessings” to be able to preach a sermon that is Biblically faithful.
To be Biblically faithful, the preacher must maintain the discipline of deep Bible study, prayer, and “exegesis.” What’s that? Exegesis is the discipline of making sure the preacher gets the message from Scripture and does not “read into” the Scripture the message the preacher wants it to say.
Week after week, the preacher must produce a message that is doctrinally sound, avoiding any edges of heresy.
And, of course, Sunday after Sunday the preacher must produce and preach a well-crafted sermon that will reach and connect with the lives of the good folks in the pew.
Thus, the preacher’s curse. Week after week. Sunday after Sunday.
My preaching professor said it best, “If you’re going to be a preacher, you’d better be ready for the un-relenting re-occurrence of Sunday.” “The un-relenting re-occurrence of Sunday.” Amen!
God bless you preachers out there. We ask God to keep you healthy, disciplined to your craft of preaching, and strengthened for this great task the Lord has called you to fulfill. St. Paul said, “Do not grow weary in doing good.” Preachers, I encourage you to not grow weary in your great work.
And, church members, I beg of you to thank and appreciate your pastor preacher. I ask you to encourage your preaching pastor as often as possible. I remind you that you have both the blessing of hearing God’s Word preached, but you also have the “burden” of actively listening, giving your full attention to this sacred act of the preaching and hearing of God’s Word. I want you to discern God’s Word for you in the sermon and work to apply it to your everyday life.
Preaching. It’s a blessing and a curse. Give all glory to God.
[Dr. Justin Kollmeyer, a thirty-eight year resident of Fayette County, is a retired Lutheran pastor. He offers his preaching and teaching pastoral ministry to any church or group seeking or needing a Christ centered, Biblically based, and traditionally grounded sermon or teaching. Reach him at [email protected].]
