Hello,
We had some folks over for a Kentucky Derby party. Preparing for the party I discovered
that one of the horse’s names was “Rousing Sermon”. By his name alone, I thought he would be the odds on
favorite, but such was not the case.
The day before the race he was listed at 50-1 odds, and by the time of
the race his odds had gained some favorability, a mere 35-1, still a longshot
to win.
As I got to thinking about Rousing Sermon’s odds, it seemed to me that
those might be applicable odds for a “rousing sermon” on any given Sunday. There may be pastors who carry much
higher odds for a rousing sermon, but for most of us pastors the number of
Sundays are few that our sermons
bring people to the edge of their seats, stir them to uncommon action, their
memories etching every word we speak, and after twenty minutes has passed
everyone is wishing for twenty more.
My seminary preaching professor said that if a pastor preaches six of
those a year, that is doing really well, uncommonly well…let’s see, 52-6….not
far from Rousing Sermon’s chance of winning the Derby.
It is not that we pastors don’t try and have a rousing sermon every
Sunday. But most of us are
strapped with limited creativity, limited oratorical skills, limited prowess at
turning a phrase, and most of all limited time. Those might sound like excuses, but as a pastor I know they
are the reality that I deal with.
And given those limitations,
it is proof that the Spirit is at work through my words in that I might
even have one rousing sermon a year.
All of this is to say that if you go to church in order to hear a
rousing sermon, or if you don’t go because you don’t hear one very often, then
I would say that your expectations do not match the betting odds. So, let me offer other things that you
might “bet” on when you come to church.
You can bet that the guilt and weight of your sins (the things that have come from you that has
brought pain to you, your neighbor, and God) that you carried to church will be
gone from your shoulders when you leave.
You can bet that your weakened knees and tired heart from the daily
battles of life will be strengthened with Christ’s power as he has communed
with you at his table. You can bet
that the crushing exhaustion of being looked down upon will be shaken loose from
you as the people who have shared Sunday morning with you have loved you in the
knowledge that they are no better than you. You can bet that the loneliness and isolation that may have
darkened your life will be incinerated into ashes by the warmth of God’s
embrace. You can bet that the
problems of the world that seemed victorious before you came to church will seem
fragile and frail as you leave to attack them with the power of God in
your. And the distance that you
may have felt between you and God will disappear as God has held you in the
palm of his hand in that hour of worship.
You can bet on these things…bet your life on them….the odds of them
happening when you come to church are better than 50-1, they are certain,
certain because they are what God has promised to give you when you come to
church.
So, let me invite you to church this week…and every week. You might just beat the odds and
experience a rousing sermon, but the odds are more than just in your favor that
having come to church when you leave church on Sunday morning you will not be
the same as when you came, the world will not be the same as when you came, and
the hope to bring grace into this pressure ridden world will not be the same as
you came.
By the way, Rousing Sermon finished 8th…..not bad for the
odds he faced.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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