Friday, June 12, 2009

A Day in the Life of a Preacher

I have been at ACU all week enjoying a short course that I was auditing. It was awesome and I’ll tell you about it next week.

Now, though, I need to leave for home, so I’m posting something in response to a question a get asked occasionally—what is a typical Sunday like for you? To answer that question, let me share with you a diary I kept on a recent Sunday--May 17, 2009:

5:15 AM—My alarm goes off. I arise, get the paper, eat breakfast, read a portion of the paper, and drink a cup of coffee.

5:45 AM—I put out the dogs, brush my teeth, and get my stuff together to take to the church building.

6:30 AM—I leave for the church building.

6:45 AM—I preach my sermon to an empty auditorium. This is something I started doing in January. I don’t know if anyone notices any difference, but I think it has helped me minister more effectively. Each year I attempt to find ways to improve my preaching. Last year, for example, I began writing a manuscript of my sermons. I do not read them, but I allow them to help formulate my thoughts. When I preach my sermon to an empty auditorium, I imagine the people in the audience. I sometimes identify things that I had thought would work, that will not. I also have thoughts come to me that strike me as better illustrations or explanations. My goal is that when I preach the sermon in the assembly, it is not a recitation of what I have studied. Rather, I desire that it has become so internalized, I can say my words without calculation. They have been burned into my heart.

7:15 AM—I make any changes on my sermon that I wish to note, turn on my computer, check my email, check the news, make all other provisions needed for the morning, and make a pot of coffee, drinking one cup myself.

8:00 AM—I go home to shave and change into my “church clothes.”

8:35 AM—Cecil Taylor, one of our shepherds, always comes by to pray with me.

8:45 AM—I take my allergy medicine and brush my teeth. I realize this is my second time to brush this morning, but nothing is worse than a preacher with funky breath.

8:55 AM—Head over to the auditorium to get miked for the assembly. I always stay after the assemblies and visit with as many people as desire, but I try to avoid contact before the assembly with people. I am so focused that I am concerned about treating people rudely.

9: 00 AM—the church assembly

10:20 AM—I visit with folks who want to talk with me.

10:40 AM—I co-teach a class for college and young singles with Patrick Leech.

11:15 AM—I visit with people from my class and people who have stayed for Bible classes. When the crowd has thinned down and people are headed to their cars, I go to my office.

11:30 AM—I start looking over my stuff for Sunday night’s sermon and organize my office a little.

11:45 AM —I eat lunch with one of our fellowship groups in the church fellowship hall. Each week, one of our seven fellowship groups offers a meal after Bible classes. They do so for fellowship, as well as, to invite our guests to lunch. I think this is a neat way we're able to offer people hospitality.

12:15 PM—I facilitate a conversation that we call Tell Me About Shiloh. At Shiloh Road, we hold a high view of the church. We don't invite people simply to come down during an invitation song and join our church. We want people to understand our mission, our vision, our church culture, and feel that we are a good match for them. We tell folks there are plenty of good churches from which they can get to heaven, and if they find another place is a better fit, they will not hurt our feelings. On the other hand, we tell them we want them with us and we hope they will ultimately choose us. Joining me are typically two of our elders and their wives. Virtually always, our guests leave telling us that they have been blessed by our time together. And most people who attend become part of our church.

1:45 PM—I go home to spend some time with my kids.

3:30 PM —I return to the building to get ready for our 6 PM service. This day is an unusual day, in that we will be hosting a special prayer vigil for foster children, foster families, and other organizations who are engaged in foster care. John Daniel is the visionary behind this effort. Last year, he found out this week in May is National Foster Care Week. Thanks to his leadership, we offer our facilities for a special service. This day we will do it again. We spend a couple of hours putting the final touches on the assembly preparation.

5 PM —John and I welcome Haley Wielgus, who is a reporter on one of our local television affiliates, CBS channel 19. Hayley had called me during the week asking if she and a cameraman could film a portion of our assembly. I help the cameraman find potential places to shoot from while John gives Haley an interview.

5:30 PM —We begin welcoming people for our 6 PM special assembly.

6 PM—Our special service. One of our members, Matt Blake, tells what it's like to be a foster parent. Gary Miller shares with us from the perspective of Christian Homes. Interspersed in their presentations are prayers for families and various organizations engaged in foster care. A group of our children, between the ages of six through middle school, sing a few songs. My role is easy. I simply share a few scriptures and try to put a theological perspective regarding God and children. The assembly is a tremendous success.

7 PM —Some of our members have prepared a marvelous reception for our guests. I get to eat a lot of good food and visit with some neat folks.

8 PM—The evening is winding down. I go home and eat supper with the family and help the little kids get ready for bed.

9:15 PM—I spend some time with Judy and the big girls.

10 PM —Together we watch the broadcast on channel 19. You don't always know about television interviews and stories. This night, though, the story was well edited and I'm grateful for the message Channel 19 broadcasted on the TV airwaves.

10:30 PM-- I bring the dogs into the house and get ready for bed.

10:45 PM— I do a little bedside reading. This is something I have done virtually every night since I was six years old.

10:55 PM-- Lights out.

It’s Friday, But Sunday’s Coming

1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for (Heb. 11:1-2).

13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Heb. 11:13-16).

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:1-2).

Sometimes, God calls us to follow him and behave in a way that is pleasing to him, but to no one else. We understand what God is about, we understand what God wants, but we do not necessarily see the impact of that. Others may not see the impact either. God sees it. God appreciates it. But we are not receiving encouragement from anyone else. So we operate by faith. And, the writer of Hebrews says, the ancients were commended for living lives that reflected the certainty of what they did not see.

He gives us some examples:

Noah was not hailed by his town as a great visionary. They thought he was a nut. And so, when no one could see the future, Noah built an ark and saved his family.

According to verses 13 to 16 of Hebrews chapter eleven, people like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not get much encouragement. They lived as aliens and strangers. They didn't see much here in this world. By faith they saw something ahead that would be better. They lived for that.

Moses, according to Josephus, was in line to become Pharaoh. But he gave the throne up to follow God and to lead a group of people who did not always give him encouragement. It was tough, yet Moses was faithful.

The scripture says he chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time… because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt and he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.

Finally, in Hebrews Chapter twelve, the author tells us this: we do have some who are watching. We do have some who are encouraging us. It is the great cloud of witnesses. While there is certainly symbolism present, I also believe that the witnesses are real. I do believe Moses is watching and encouraging us, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Abraham.

So, be of good cheer. God and spiritual beings see your good work, even if no one else does.

Let me tell you about someone who could not see his audience. Lyman was born in upstate New York in 1856.[1] He was one of the many wandering Americans of his generation. The late 1880s found him in Aberdeen, South Dakota, first opening a department store and then working on a newspaper. A few years later, he popped up in Chicago; he eventually settled in California.
Along the way, Lyman failed in the axle grease business, managed an opera house and a baseball team. He was a traveling salesman and a buyer for a department store, before becoming the editor of The Store Window for the National Association of Window Trimmers.

In his younger days, Lyman had hoped to write a great novel that would win him fame. However, nearing forty, he surrendered his dreams for greatness. He pursued other tasks that seemed to lead him in the opposite direction. He spent more time with his children. For, as he wrote his sister, “... aside from my evident inability to do anything [great], I have learned to regard fame as a will-o'-the-wisp, which, when caught, is not worth the possession; but to please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward."

Lyman took to inventing stories for his children, which they enjoyed immensely. So much so, they began to invite their friends who likewise reveled in Lyman’s tales. With the children’s encouragement, Lyman decided to put his stories in a book so that perhaps other children might enjoy them.

The title came to him in an inspired moment in his own living room during one of his sessions with the kids. He had been telling them about a special place—a magical land. The children kept pressing him for the name, “What is the land called?”

Unsure, Lyman’s eyes scanned the room for ideas. Finally, they rested on his file cabinets. One bore the letters A-N, the other, O-Z. “Oz,” he said. “The name of the land is Oz.” And so it was, in 1900, Lyman published his book for children titling it, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Where would the world be without the Wizard of Oz? That book has blessed our planet for over 100 years. Millions of children and adults have enjoyed Lyman Frank Baum's stories through the avenues of books, movies, plays, and musicals. In moments of service to children, L. Frank Baum was laying the groundwork for blessings unseen. Even though Baum enjoyed success in his lifetime, he died not knowing the benefits that future generations would receive from his efforts.

Oftentimes, a person feels unsuccessful because he or she did not meet predetermined expectations for success. However, those who receive the fruits of the labor view this individual with respect, awe, gratitude and even affection.

Christians profit from a reality that no one else enjoys. Christians have the Word of God to tell them what pleases God. And, because of Hebrews 11-12, Christians can know they have an audience who appreciates their efforts, even if no other human beings do.

Play to your unseen audience; they see you. To do so is true faith, and you will be blessed for it. And who knows what future unseen audience in this world will someday be blessed as well?

[1] This “rest of the story” is taken from notes I scribbled from an entry in Civilization –The Library of Congress Magazine, Feb/March 2000. I copied this down in my dentist office that year and have, unfortunately, lost all other data. It is synthesized with a story found in my children’s Childcraft.

Have a great weekend!