On Sunday morning the preacher and the congregation do a little two step. The preacher stands at the back of the church and greets folks as they exit the worship area. He’ll call them by name and ask how things are going. He’ll wish them a good week. They will often say, “Preacher, I really liked your sermon today.”
As a preacher, I sometimes have to wonder about those that utter this phrase. I wonder “Did they really like it, or are they just trying to be polite?” Almost without fail, on the days when I feel that I have preached a terrific sermon (and by the way these days are few and far between) no one seems to comment on the sermon. On the days when I feel as if I have preached a mediocre sermon, I tend to get the well used phrase, “That was a great sermon.”
I sometimes wonder if the sermons that I think I am preaching are really the sermons that the people are hearing. I am amazed by the way that the Holy Spirit uses the words that come out of my mouth. I have to assume that when people tell me what a great sermon it was, that there was something in that sermon that made them think, or laugh, or cry or respond in some way to the words that were coming out of my mouth. I have to assume that the Holy Spirit was not only moving in my words, but in their lives.
That’s what makes me want to go on preaching Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. My words might become God’s words to someone that hears them. Pray for me. Pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be found acceptable to God–each and every Sunday.
