Paul and preaching

Paul’s conversion of the Damascus road was quick and dramatic. The light from heaven had left him blind for three days until Ananias arrived with the message that he would see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17). Immediately his sight was restored and after “several days” with the disciples at Damascus, Saul “began at once to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God” (v. 20). Now that is what I would call a short time for preparation for the ministry! Most of us, after a university degree, spend another three years learning the language, literature and litany of the Christian Faith before moving into some minor position in the clerical staff to be mentored for a future roll as pastor. The answer to this short period of “preparation” was that his ministry at the time was simply to explain who Jesus was. In a letter to believers in Galatia Paul tells us that after his conversion experience he had gone to Arabia where for a period of three years God had revealed the gospel to him in all its fullness (1:12). 
       Against this background I would like to reflect on what I believe to be some essentials for an effective pulpit ministry. It’s obvious that a pastor must have a good grasp of the content, history, and theology of the faith. That goes beyond saying. Unfortunately most seminaries focus on fields adjacent to scripture rather than the bible itself. The young candidate learns more about the message than the message itself. Learning becomes the accumulation of relevant detail rather than the message itself. For instance, an M.A. in Old Testament will normally focus on the related Semitic languages rather than the biblical account written in those languages. To know scripture one must place himself in it. You don’t know the story of Abraham’s intention to sacrifice his son Isaac if you can read it in Aramaic but haven’t lived with it in a personal way. 
       A good working knowledge of the New Testament calls for time immersed in the events it contains. Saul could accurately identify Jesus as Messiah on the day of his spiritual rebirth, but it took him three years in the desert, being mentored by God, to fully understand the central truth of salvation by faith alone. The first is intellectual, the second existential.
       What I believe is that effective preaching (all the way from introducing Jesus as Savior to an in depth “feeding of the sheep”) requires a very personal involvement with the text as the living word of God. Parsing the words of the Greek text is part of it, but the one vital thing that has to be done is for the preacher to honestly surrender to the message he is going to proclaim the next morning. Saturday evenings are a wonderful time to be one’s own congregation at which time you can “go forward to the altar” as you preach tomorrow’s sermon to yourself. You know, of course, that when you prayerfully declare God’ s Word, it is God who is speaking through you. The congregation hears the sound of your voice, but it is God himself who is speaking to their hearts. Genuine sermon preparation requires one to learn the necessary information, but more importantly, to say Yes to the challenge you lay before the congregation. Another way to put it would be, Get ready, then get out of the way so God can speak.