Presumptuousness

Preaching seems to me to be at its core a presumptuous undertaking—at least if I really believe that preaching is what I claim to believe it is.

If preaching is just making a speech or sharing my opinions or delivering an address or offering an entertainment or getting up in front of people and saying something, then it is not so presumptuous. After all, I have things to say and I have the ability to say them; if I can find a venue in which to get up and say it, then more power to me. Such activity may well be filled with presumption born of ego—I presume that you care about and want to hear what I am saying—but any human being can be possessed of such ego and thus of such presumption.

But preaching is, I claim to believe, much more than speech-making or opinion-sharing or address-delivering or entertainment-offering; preaching is, I claim to believe, the proclaiming of God’s word by a human being—in my case, me—to other human beings.

I claim that in my preaching, then, I am serving as a spokesperson for God Almighty.

How presumptuous is it for me to claim that God wants me to speak for God?

How presumptuous is it for me to claim that God lets me know what I am to say for God?

How presumptuous is it for me to claim that God forgives me for what I say for God?

How presumptuous…

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Living Dangerously (2 Corinthians 4:5-12; Mark 2:23-3:6)

(Preached at First Baptist Church, Columbus GA, on June 3, 2018) Do you give much thought to what it means to live as a Christian in our present context? I do. It’s something we should always think about no matter what our circumstances are. And as we determine what it means to live as a Christian, we should always be doing something about it. Questions we should ask ourselves include: how do I best follow Jesus? How do I best bear witness to the God that Jesus revealed to us? How do I in my unique life have Christ-like motives, think Christ-like thoughts, say Christ-like words, and carry out Christ-like actions? It is vital that as we develop answers, we act on what we realize. It is also vital that as we live our lives, we continually adjust and adapt in light of our continuing reflection and our experiences. So do you give much thought to what it means to live as a Christian in our present context? We really should. Here’s another question: do you give much thought to ...

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An Experiment in Preaching

A friend who in his late fifties took a new pastorate said that he had written the last sermon he ever intended to write, meaning that he planned to use the vast collection of sermons that he had built up over his career and produce nothing new. I have in my paper and electronic files every sermon I have ever written; I even have the outlines, some of which were lifted straight out of the back of my trusty Thompson Chain Reference Bible, from my first halting efforts, which were quite different than my later halting efforts. I have at times “re-preached” some of my “greatest hits”; in so doing I heeded the wise words of my wise father who once told me, “If it was worth preaching once it’s worth preaching twice.” And if it’s worth preaching twice maybe it’s worth preaching thrice or more! Over the last twenty-five years I have written full manuscripts for 99% of the sermons that I’ve preached and 90% of the time I’ve taken that manuscript into the pulpit with me. Last Sunday I began an...

This Preaching Thing

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