As I write this, it is 9:15 on Thursday evening and my mind is doing what it has done for nearly 30 years—week after week after week—turning its attention to that still, small, Voice and listening to hear what He has to say about His Word for Sunday morning. Truthfully, there is nothing I enjoy more (except for the actual preaching of His Word!) than listening and waiting and watching for Him to speak those life-giving words that (1) release me to trust Him to do what only He can do—communicate His truth and (2) create a sense of eager anticipation for what He might speak on Sunday morning—His Word to us.
No, I do not attempt to come up with a parallel outline or a manuscript; instead, I simply listen and wait and watch. The truth is I sometimes enter the pulpit having no idea WHAT I will say, but I never enter it without having listened and waited and watched. Over the years, I have learned that WHAT I say is really not important; it is what He says that matters. I am simply a vehicle, a mouthpiece, through which He can speak His Word (hopefully).
This might sound a bit strange, nevertheless, it is true: the more time I spend alone, the more effective is my listening and waiting and watching. Distractions are plenteous, especially when I am allowing someone else to control what I am thinking; however, when I am alone, I seem to do a much better job of giving Him my undivided attention. Yes, even then, my mind strays but at least it is not a non-stop stray! Unfortunately, most folk don’t realize this and, consequently, expect their “preacher” to always be available to listen to whatever needs to be heard. In your reading of the Scriptures, have you noticed how frequently Jesus left everyone and found a place of undistracted listening and waiting and watching for His Father? If you haven’t, I will go ahead and tell you that He did it much more frequently than the Scriptures reveal and He did it without feeling guilty at all about what He might not be hearing that needed to be heard!
Over the years, I have also made this observation about my preaching: the more frequently I talk about Jesus the more powerful the message. Obviously, there is much to be talked about today and much of it needs to be talked about among Christians; however, preaching (at least for me) should be reserved for the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ; after all, it is the power of God for salvation! I am convinced that God’s Word for us is super-saturated with Jesus and it is so because He is God’s Word—the Word become flesh. I will tell you this: through my listening and waiting and watching, the Holy Spirit has convinced me that Jesus is the not only God’s Word to us, but also the power of the message preached.
By the way, the “power” of the message preached is not evidenced by how many “come forward” in response to an invitation (this only evidences the preacher’s ability to manipulate); instead, it is evidenced by how many walk away RESTING in His finished work.
Finally, the effectiveness of the preacher lies not in how much effort he puts forth attempting to “get up” a sermon, but in how much time he/she spends resting in His finished work. Unfortunately, most believe that resting is not being productive and they are probably correct; however, the Bride of Christ is NOT corporate America and God did not call me to be productive (He promised to produce!); instead, He called me to preach the gospel—in season and out of season.
