Why Do I Like Preaching?

I preached in church last Sunday for the third time in about six weeks. One person came up to me after worship and commented that it was apparent I like to preach. I had to agree. For the past 18-20 months my preaching has been limited to an occasional substitute worship for a friend at a nursing home. More than that, I have not preached regularly for almost six years. I can't say that I wish I could do it every week. Not with a full 40-hour a week job that doesn't include 10-15 hours to write the sermon. I do miss it when I do it.

So I thought I would spend some time reflecting on preaching over two or three posts over the next few weeks or so. Part of what I have spent a great deal of time doing over these past 6 years is pondering the nature of the church, of church membership and being a Christian. Since I now sit in the pew as just another member and not the preacher, I have had many opportunities to reflect from this side of the pulpit. I wrote the series, If I Went Back which is linked on the right sidebar as a more general reflection over 2 1/2 years ago. There I talked about the things I missed and didn't miss.

So, why then do I enjoy preaching? Well, the cynical, smart-aleck answer is that I like the power of "Thus says the Lord" or the apparent "holier-than-thou" attitude that says I know something about God that you don't. In other words, perhaps, I like being the center of attention.

Another side of me says that I need the discipline of researching, praying and writing a sermon in order to work our my own faith. I began writing this blog the year we switched my ministry position to be more out in the community and my wife did the worship/sermon leadership. The blog and my journaling gave me the way to both write and share. Putting it out in public makes me more disciplined and hopefully more concise.

Some of what I like is the "teaching" aspect of sermons where I have the opportunity to give people new insights or open them (and me) to new, different possibilities. My hope in doing that is that others will grow more deeply into their faith and closer to their spiritual rootedness in God.

That was once reinforced after I announced I was leaving that congregation for a new call. A member and friend came up to me and asked, "Now how am I going to get my weekly spiritual therapy session." As we talked I realized he was talking about how my sermons helped him develop an inner dialogue and exploration. Someone else once commented that he felt when sitting in church and I preached that we were having a conversation in my living room. I would be asking him questions or sharing what's going on in my life for him and others to be able to share.

Such is the background for this several part series on preaching. This is what has spurred my thinking this time around. I hope to take a look at what the role of preaching might be. I will look at my style, particularly mine, and put it into some context. What that will be, we will have to see. More later in a week or so.