Hope, part 3 - the preeminence of preaching

This is part three of a four-part series on what helps bring hope in a replanting and revitalizing situation.

The first sermon I preached after being approved as interim pastor was almost an hour and fifteen minutes long.

Seriously.

I hope you are laughing at this, or are just shocked at the sheer ignorance that must have been present in the life of a guy who thought it was a great idea to preach for an HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES.

I preached Isaiah 42, the passage in which Isaiah talks about Jesus’ care and compassion to not break bruised reeds. I spoke about the care of Christ for our little congregation, and how Jesus loved them deeply and well. I spoke about how my passion and vision was to see us learn to love Christ more together.

For an HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES.

I read a Facebook meme the other day that said that there is a fine line between a long sermon and a hostage situation. Mine may have possibly been more of the latter. And so, I likely made one of the first of many mistakes I have made in my time so far as a revitalizing pastor. Along the way, however, I have been confirmed in the same general conviction that I had when I preached that day: preaching matters. It matters a great deal. As I think through what has made the greatest difference in our congregations life, everything is credited to two things: prayer and the Word. We have tried to be unashamedly Bible-centered in everything we do. But the primary way that we have accomplished that is through a weekly diet of regular, consistent, expositional preaching. To date, four years into our work here, we have moved through 8 whole books of the Bible. In that time, I have seen God providentially use His Word in His way to accomplish His work. Here are some things I have learned in that time about how preaching can bring hope:

1. Preaching books that are focused on the hope of the Gospel orients people towards right hope – the first book we went through was Philippians. I knew that many people associated Philippians with joy, and I thought it would be great to start with a book that had the very thing our congregation longed for! This turned out to be tremendously helpful for our folks, and very edifying for me as a preacher. I looked forward to preaching every week, and it began to feel as though our people really started looking forward to hearing! And slowly, joy began to identify worship services, as God’s Word applied to the hearts of God’s people led to God’s glory.

2. Preaching God’s Word anchors people in timeless truth – I have already shown my hand on this I suppose, but I am a strong advocate for regular, consistent, expositional preaching. There are many reasons for this, and there are many people who are far better at explaining them than I am, but here is a big one: preaching through a book of the Bible verse-by-verse allows you freedom to tackle tough and necessary subjects without people feeling as though you are picking on their particular issues. In Philippians, for instance, we were able to deal with humility, sanctification, unity, encouragement, the centrality of the Gospel, the preeminence of Christ, and the necessity of contentment. All of these issues were in the book, and all were addressed without controversy. When we can address heart issues with the Word, we can engage people in a way that opens the door for hope.

3. Preaching changes the heart of the preacher – this is, in my opinion, the most critical one I experienced. I can’t say for certain that any sermon I preached led to long-term, substantial changes in anyone’s life. I don’t have a “silver bullet” sort of message that I can point to. But I can recount many times, sitting at the break table at my day job, poring over the Bible with a few commentaries next to it, eating my peanut butter sandwich and considering Paul’s teaching on contentment in his circumstances. I can recall the days in which I wondered at the providence of God in calling a guy who had so little experience in a traditional environment, while I read Paul reminding the Philippians that God works in us to change us and make us like Christ. In other words, I don’t know how much my sermons worked to change anybody else, but they sure worked a ton to change me. They challenged me, they exposed parts of me that needed to be changed, and they encouraged me when I felt weak and unqualified. Pastor, consider that the person who needs your sermon the most is probably you. When we do this, we come to our people not just with the hope of the Gospel, but with the evidence that the Gospel changes people, because it has changed us.

4. Preaching bears long lasting fruit, and leads to the right growth – unless you are a handful of guys, in a handful of situations, your context will not immediately grow because of your winsome and skillful pulpiteering. Folks may not be busting down the doors to hear you exposit the Scriptures. You may not be able to convert your sermon series into a best selling book. But if you are faithful to the text, if you apply the Word consistently to the lives of your people (including yourself), then you will see the right fruit. Growth. Spiritual growth will happen over time. God’s Word will make God’s people look more like God’s Son. And when it does, you will see restored hope. Not in bigger numbers, or a bigger budget. But in an infinitely big God, who in His mercy reveals Himself to all who will taste and see. And that’s great hope.

If you are not a pastor, pray for the men responsible for delivering God’s truth this week. And make a point of becoming an active listener. Be careful to not criticize so much that you fail to hear the Holy Spirit over the racket of your own critical internal voice. Your pastor is not John Piper (unless he is, in which case I am really blown away that you are reading this blog), but he has been given to your congregation to open God’s Word and speak truth to you. Actively listen to hear the voice of God. Hope comes through the delivery and receipt of God’s Word into the lives of God’s people.

Preach, pastor. Make time for good, solid, time to write and read and prepare Gospel-soaked sermons. I know it’s hard. I know there is a lot going on. Make time. It’s worth it.

But try to keep it under an hour and fifteen minutes.