Can you get through with the message? Spring 2004 Pastoral Care The Pastor Preaching Preaching/Worship Gordon MacDonald Current Trends & Columns

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Wherever Paul traveled, revolutions broke out. Wherever I go, they serve tea." So said an Anglican bishop lamenting his perceived lack of impact upon people.

We all know what he's saying. Particularly in the area of preaching. You spend hours in preparation: both spiritual and scholastic. You seek stories and illustrations that ooze meaning and significance. You search your own life to make sure that you are as transparent as possible. Then, when the moment arrives, you preach your heart out. Words flow, thoughts build, stories produce laughter or reflective silence, decision time comes, and you expect … Pentecost!

Moments later the people file out with opaque comments such as "Nice sermon, Pastor" or "You gave me something to think about" or "You were really 'on' today."

On the drive home, your nerves are raw. Indeed, it was a nice morning … but didn't anything happen? Like a revolution, for example? Or did we just serve our usual tea?

I've made that trip home countless times. I've entered the pulpit feeling that I possessed the spirit of a John Wesley and come out of the pulpit feeling like Cedric the Entertainer. It's a blue moment.

Preaching in the Bible seems, at first glance, always to have provoked powerful reactions. Ezra and the Levites, for instance, taught the Law to the people, and the crowd could not stop weeping. Imagine being John the Baptist when the crowds cried out, "What shall we do?" Then there's Peter preaching on Pentecost, and the hearers are "cut to the heart." What happened when Paul preached at Philippi and "the Lord (opened) Lydia's heart"? Impressive moments, which set a high expectation for any preacher.

Some speak of "anointed" or "Spirit-filled" preaching as they reflect on the origin of preaching ...

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