I was cleaning out an old storeroom in one of the churches I served many years ago. Under a pile of junk, covered with dust, I found a big book of old sermons. The sermons had been discovered and published in the 1950’s by the descendant of a pastor who served that congregation in the late 1800’s. I thought to myself, “Wow, what a wonderful find; this will be very interesting!” But it wasn’t. Each sermon was way too long and painfully boring. I was hoping for some personal insights into the early settlers, farm life, and church activities in those long-ago days of the community; you know, Little House on the Prairie type of stories. But I was disappointed to find none of that. It was just dry, repetitious, theologizing, that went on for over an hour each week; presented without any imagination, illustration, or attempt to arouse interest. Yet, that preacher was there for some of the best days of the church. It was a thriving congregation and the center of that little community’s life together.
I then recalled something I had read in a book on pioneer life. People on the frontier had plenty of work to do, and, there were neighbors to socialize with; but there was not much to stimulate their minds beyond what they needed to know and figure out to survive. There were certainly no televisions or radios, books were not readily available, and many folks could not even read a newspaper if they had one. Sunday really was a day of rest after a week of hard work; and the sermon, even if long and tedious, was something new and different to give a person something to think about, presented by the most educated and well-read man in the area.
Fast forward to today. The options for stimulation are endless and always available (you can be searching the internet even while you are in church). There are movies and television series (old and new), soundtracks or videos for every song ever written, YouTube videos that will teach you whatever you need to know, and an infinite stream of fascinating, informative, infuriating, and hilarious snippets, all free for your social media scrolling pleasure. How is a pastor, attempting to give even a fifteen-minute sermon, able to hold anyone’s interest for that long?
Not only that, but the entertainment industry has given us some unrealistically high expectations. An hour-long television show is professionally done; with timing, speaking, clothing, make-up, and everything else just perfect. Such a production makes any regular congregation worship service, even at its best, look like the ‘C’ team. But did you ever pay attention to the long list of credits at the end of any program? There are dozens of people whose full-time job is to make that show happen. I remember reading a news item about how some late-night talk show had to lay off twenty members of their staff due to budget cuts. Good grief, I wondered, how many are on such a staff? The article later said that a bares bones staff of only forty were left. What? It takes sixty people to film one man telling a few jokes and then chatting with a few guests? (Can’t one person do that with a cell phone camera and a tripod?)
That is the quality of production you are now accustomed to, and your poor preacher may not be able to measure up. How can he or she ever manage that? And think about this. The number of words in an average sermon is approximately equal to the average number of words spoken by the lead actor in a movie. Actors speak lines they did not write, they have several weeks to prepare, and they have the opportunity for several retakes in case they don’t get it right the first time. Ministers write their own lines, they begin writing on Monday, have many other responsibilities throughout the week, deliver on Sunday ahead of a live audience (no retakes), and then start over again the next day.
So, if your preacher is not as polished as Jay Leno or Anne Hathaway, give him or her a break.
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(This is not an excuse for preachers to be negligent in their sermon preparation. Preaching has always been hard work, so we must take the time to do our best, with whatever gifts God has given us.)
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I Corinthians 2:2b-5 — (Paul wrote), “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
I Timothy 4:1-5 — In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage— with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
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O Lord, you see how unworthy I am to fill so great and important an office. Were it not for your counsel, I would have utterly failed in it long ago. Therefore, I call upon you for guidance. Gladly indeed will I give my heart and my voice to this service. I want to teach the people. I myself want constantly to seek and study your Word, and eagerly meditate upon it. Use me as your instrument. Only, dear Lord, do not forsake me; for if I am left alone, I will most certainly ruin everything. Amen.
–Martin Luther (1483-1546)
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