I have been doing an overview of the corporate worship of the nation of Israel in the OT for an Elder's retreat that begins this evening. Something has captured my attention in this preparation. God always takes the initiative. With Abraham, God did the calling. With Moses, God started the fire on Mt. Horeb. With the nation, God came down onto Mt. Sinai. With Joshua, God revealed the sin of Aichan. Even when David had the idea to build a Temple, God says, "we'll do it on my time." Josiah found the book of Law. Nehemiah was sent back to Jerusalem. All of these initiations by God were either the formulation of corporate worship or the start of great revival among the people. God did something to make them bow low, He spoke, and then the people were to act. What if we functioned more like this?When was the last time you searched out God to just speak to you? Not to speak to you about this decision or that decision or this idea or that idea, but just simply allowed God to speak. I feel that our Sunday morning gatherings are so full of our own words and speaking, that God is hushed so that we might hear what we have to say. Our own competing ideas about singing, our own creative initiatives using art, our own lengthy prayers, our own fascinating sermons that captivate the audience. But what would God say? I wonder if He closes His ears to our noise, just like He did in the days of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the prophets.
I am convinced that we should spend much more time in quiet submission before God than we should in saying anything to Him. Let God speak first, then we may respond when the time is right. In preaching, God should always be the initiator of a sermon. Until God has spoken, then you don't have anything to say. "But what if God does not speak to me that week?" Then either you have not been in His word or you should keep your mouth closed. I am completely struck by how many times Israel returned to the word of the Lord and they responded to the truth. Outward reforms did not accomplish much, but when God's word was read, things happened. You don't need more outward reform in your life. What you need is for God's word to be inscribed upon your heart. Then, and only then, will the words that we speak have any weight to them. Silence first, then preaching.
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Amen. The Bible has a lot to say about knowing when to speak, silence, and waiting on God.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm curious Jason; does that mean that everytime you have preached a sermon, God has spoken direct revelation to you about what you should say?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Tom, the answer to that question is no. Many times I have gotten up to preach on my own initiative with some unhelpful things in my heart. Does this mean that preaching is ineffective unless there is direct revelation from God?
ReplyDeleteWe'd probably have to be careful about how we use the term direct revelation. But insofar as we mean scripture as the greatest direct revelation that we have from God, then I would say that yes it is possible to have direct revelation every time. I do not mean to suggest that preaching is an exercise that only happens when we have had a mystic encounter with spiritual forces and hear audible voices from God. But I do believe that preaching only has the ability to speak to the spirit of the church, when the preacher's own spirit has been spoken to by the word of God. I would hope that we are being transformed by God's word before we get up and proclaim it to His people. Might I suggest Calvin Miller's book "Spirit, Word, and Story." It is really helpful on this subject. The FCC library has it.