Preaching God’s Word is one my greatest joys in life. Oftentimes I feel as though it is a main reason I am alive.
Martin Lloyd Jones was a well-known preacher of the Westminster Chapel in London who passed in 1981. (Listen to many of his sermons for free here.) I don’t remember when or where, but I think I heard him say that his goal in preaching was for his listeners to engage, or experience God. I heard Tim Keller say something similar before he passed.
Sometimes preachers or teachers will talk about how no one remembers their sermons. Perhaps to remedy this, one common philosophy about how to preach was to alliterate everything (you know, have every point start with the same letter) or use acronyms or other literary devices in order to help people remember things. More recently, preachers use clips from movies or TV shows instead of just telling an illustration.
I wonder whether these kinds of philosophies miss the point entirely. It’s not my goal to relay information when I preach. Not that I’m against explaining God’s Word when I preach. Of course there is lots of explaining what the text means and says. That’s indispensable in preaching. But preaching God’s Word is much more than relaying information. It’s about helping people experience God through the text.
I don’t want people to know about God. I want them to know God. I want God Himself to show up to people in and through the preaching of His Word. I want people to leave saying, “I don’t remember exactly what Pastor Jacob said, but God was there and He spoke to me.”
That’s why it doesn’t bother me when people don’t remember my sermons. Here’s a little secret: I don’t remember them either! In fact I could never preach the same sermon twice. Oh of course I can use the same outline and same illustrations. I do that every Sunday for the 8:30 and 11 am service. But God shows up by His Spirit in my heart and mind as I’m connecting with you all and nearly every time I say something I had not planned. Sometimes you are not receiving what is on my heart. Sometimes the Devil is on my face.
Please don’t listen to my sermons (or anyone’s sermons) looking to learn more information about God or the Bible. I’m not sure that does anyone much good. You can google stuff for that. Listen to see God. Listen to hear from God. Listen to come into His presence and be changed forever.
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