For the Love of Preaching: We *Get* to Preach (2nd in a 4-week Series)
Photo by Eilis Garvey on Unsplash
We get to preach. In light of the events of the last week, the idea that we “get” to preach to those who deny the reality of COVID, systemic racism, or election integrity may fill you with holy awe—or rueful despair. While front-line workers are out there risking their lives in the face of this virus, we are front-line spiritual workers offering a gospel in circumstances not unlike the political danger and realities of Jesus's time. To that end, I offer the work, guidance, and fellowship of the Clergy Emergency League as you minister.
Perhaps now more than ever, it’s essential that we remember the gift of our call. Who would we be, where would we be, if someone—in fact many someones—hadn’t been clear-eyed in their resolve to share Jesus's Good News until it reached all the way to us? I invite you into this second week of our "For the Love of Preaching" series—to sink into awe and gratitude for those who were tenacious enough to make sure you heard the life-saving news of Jesus Christ.
You may not be one in a million, but you are one in a thousand!
Yup, you are a member of a small minority.
Depending on who* has estimated, as a member of U.S. Christian clergy you are about 0.1% of the population.
That makes all the number of U.S. clergy roughly the equivalent of the entire population of Omaha, Nebraska.
Even if you don’t live in the U.S., wherever you are it’s probably the same story: there just aren’t all that many of us.
Why us?
Why are we the lucky ones?
Why us?
Why did God ask us to preach? We who are not particularly special, not necessarily gifted, and most of us untrained in writing, editing, and public speaking?
What did our denominations and congregations see in us that they asked us to do this?
Why do they ask us to head to Scripture week after week to spend time with God to pray, and study Scripture, and discern Good News for them?
Why do we get sent to ask questions about the bible on their behalf?
Of all the job descriptions in the world, how many require sitting with God? Steeping in Good News? Exercising creativity to share what was learned?
Who else is charged overtly to help build, share, and proclaim the reign of God?
And then they pay us for it!
Who Carried the Good News From Jesus to You?
Think too, about how many people were needed to get the Good News to your ears.
At roughly twenty years per generation, there have been 101 generations since Jesus’s day.
It took 101 generations to listen to, believe, carry, and share Jesus’s Good News before it reached you.
Who were those people?
Who introduced you to Christianity? Members of your family? A college chaplain? A close friend?
Who brought them into this faith?
And who brought them?
Keep going backwards. Using the genealogical records you have, make some educated guesses, do some historical digging, and use your imagination.
Who were the saints you’d like to think are in the “direct line” of your faith ancestry?
Take it all the way back, imagining each earlier generation, their hardships, sacrifices, questions, and faith.
How many of them, do you imagine were asked, on behalf of their communities, to spend a considerable amount of their time, studying Scripture?
How many of them, do you imagine, would even have been allowed to?
Keep going back until you get to Jesus.
And here you are—here we are, the next generation of believers—asked to absorb and share, build and proclaim, so that there is another generation of believers to follow us.
Two things are true: preaching is hard work—and a blessing
Yes, it’s true that preaching is hard, hard work.
It’s true that Good News is not always abundantly evident in Scripture; Jesus can be pretty harsh at times.
It’s also true that meeting the deadlines to preach not only on Sundays but Holy Week, funerals, and weddings is taxing.
But what worthy contributions in God’s name for the world doesn’t include hard, taxing work and difficult challenges?
None that I know of.
I am keenly aware of the high rate of clergy exhaustion and burnout right now.
There has never been a more difficult time in our lifetimes to minister in God’s name when many listeners actively seek fault, agendas, or flat-out disagree with sharing Christ’s love with all.
That makes for a stressful ministry environment.
All the more reason to remind yourself of the extraordinary blessing that we get to do this work.
In this week’s exercises, three reflections will help you remember our extraordinary privilege:
Faith Family Tree. Trace your faith ancestry. Who are the saints who brought the Good News to you? (Attached.)
Ideals. We were so idealistic when we went to seminary. Was that all bad?
Sermons Matter. When did one of your sermons affect someone who heard it? When did it affect you?
This is part 2 of a four-week series. You can get these exercises plus last week’s by signing up (free!) here.
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*Fast Facts about American Religion cites 600,000 retired and active Christian clergy. DataUSA cites about 413,000 active clergy in 2018.