When I was growing up, I was told I had to give 100% effort all the time in everything. Whether it was math class or basketball practice, I had to give my maximum effort and I had to give this maximum effort all the time. No breaks. No rest. I was taught to go as hard as I could for as long as I could. I should have known better. After all, these were the same people who told me to always give 110% (that one never made sense).
Imagine my surprise when I discovered the truth that no one gave 100% effort 100% of the time. It’s not physically possible.
As committed as we are to our preaching and as dedicated as we are to being 100% prepared 100% of the time, in truth this never happens. Some Sundays the sermon just doesn’t work. It may have been a good idea earlier in the week, but for some reason – maybe a lot of reasons – the sermon just didn’t work. There wasn’t any energy in the sermon, no snap or pop, it just never got there. We have those Sundays but what happens when we start having a series of those sermons? Golfers have slumps and baseball players will go several games without a hit, guess what, preachers have slumps, too.
What do you do when you feel like your sermons just aren’t working? First, let me say this, I stopped trying to figure out what was a good sermon and what was a bad sermon. Some Sundays I would think I was preaching the best sermon of my life and I wouldn’t hear anything back from the congregation. Other times, I would walk down from the pulpit sure I had just preached the worst sermon of my life and then, throughout the week members would stop me and tell me how something I said had changed their lives. I never figured it out. So, first let me suggest you relax. God does what He wants to do despite our limitations. You may not be doing as badly as you think.
Yet, we do find ourselves in slumps and when we do, what are the things we can do to get refocused and re-energized? First, we need to recognize that preaching requires a lot of energy. Sometimes, the week of a pastor doesn’t allow ample time for rest. We have to visit hospitals, do funerals and prepare sermons. During those weeks, preaching gets the short end of the stick. When we’re tired, rest is the only thing that helps. Sometimes, we need to take a break. Take a weekend off, go to the beach or the mountains. However you need to do it, find a way to replenish your soul.
Here’s another idea, break your routine. My routine was to read the passage on Monday, do my deep research on the passage on Tuesday and on Wednesday I would outline my sermon. Like any other routine, our sermon preparation routine can become stale and we need to break it up. For instance, what happens if we don’t consult the commentaries this week? What happens if we limit our sermon preparation to nothing but the Scriptures? If you preach through a book, try preaching on a topic. Use three or four weeks to discuss what various writers say about “holiness” or “grace.” Do a character study on the life of Moses, David or Peter. The Bible is never short on interesting characters. Anything that helps you come at your sermon preparation from a different angle can freshen your Sunday morning sermon. Sure, it’s a little scary if that’s what you don’t usually do, but that’s the point. Being nervous about your sermon brings a new level of intensity to your preparation and sometimes, that little change is all you need to find your excitement about preaching.
While I hate to bring this up, we do need to ask this next question. Is everything OK between God and you? If not, that could be the problem. Our lives are like garden hoses. If they get kinked up, water won’t flow through them. Same with us, If our lives get kinked up with anger, pride, or resentment, the Spirit of God won’t flow through us. If our preaching is stale and uninspiring, we may need to spend some time in confession and prayer to deal with whatever is bending up our souls. Then, joy can return to our preaching.
Lastly, stop trying to make every sermon perfect. Artists talk about “over painting.” They try to make the image so realistic by painting every subtle change of color, they end up making their subject look more and more unreal. White spaces do important things in a painting. Silence does the same thing in a sermon. The unfinished thought, the question left unanswered, hangs in the congregation’s mind and makes them think about the sermon over and over throughout the week. And that’s not a bad thing.
Remember, no one gives 100% effort 100% of the time. So, relax. We’re probably doing a better job than we think. And in the end, it’s all grace, especially preaching.
