A Nourishing Meal

 December 26, 2020

Tomorrow, I preach at my home church, the first time I’ve done that in over six years. I preached in Dunkirk for three years after retirement, and filled in elsewhere on occasion, but I’m coming home. It’s an odd feeling; this is where I preached for more than thirty years, but tomorrow, I’m here as a guest preacher, not the pastor. In the six years since retirement, a lot has changed; many new faces, and of course, the challenges of COVID, which thankfully, I have not had to navigate. I’m grateful for the younger, more nimble minds and energetic bodies that have led the congregation through this past year.

For years when I listened to preachers talk about how excited they were on Saturday night, just thinking about preaching, I would scratch my head in amazement. Preaching often terrified me. The responsibility of searching the Scriptures and laying it before God’s people felt too much for these shoulders. The weight of bearing the Word of God lay heavy on my heart and mind. There was always the possibility that I would get it wrong and lead people astray—a serious matter for sure. Often, it seemed to do little good. After all, one doesn’t get up from a meal feeling suddenly strengthened and energized, but without regular meals, the body soon begins to languish, and neglect of the Word of God eventually starves the soul. 

Week after week, bit by bit, the Word of God does its work. I often had to remind myself of God’s promise in Isaiah that God’s word would “not return unto me vid, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where to I sent it” (55:11). My job was to prepare the meal as well as I could, offer it with the best presentation of which I was capable. It was up to the hearers to pick up spiritual knife and fork and dig in. 

Tomorrow I will serve up another meal. It may not be gourmet, but I’ve been praying and preparing not only my words, but my heart, and will hopefully set before God’s people—my brothers and sisters in Christ—something nourishing and palatable that will help them grow strong in faith. I am grateful for the opportunity to do so once more, especially for those with whom I worship week after week.