Isaiah's words, somewhat freely translated, are familiar to us all: "What a beautiful sight it is to be hold: The messenger who comes running over the mountain, proclaiming joy and peace, the bearer of a good message announcing salvation and saying to his people: 'Your God is King'" (see Isa. 52:7). The text has been put to varied use. No doubt it had its own message to Israel of old. What does the text say to us today? Is there not a word here to the preacher?
The beauty of the sight is not to be found in the athletics of the messenger, nor in his physical abilities, skills, or equipment, but in what he brings. It is clearly the mission that makes the messenger beautiful to behold. He brings what the prophet describes as a good message. It is good because it proclaims peace and joy, because it announces salvation.
The text confronts every preacher with a question that is difficult to evade: What am I, as God's minister and messenger, bringing to the people? The question is particularly haunting because there are days when, after honest reflection, I have to admit to myself that I have come closer to fulfilling a different word of Scripture—the one about serving up stones instead of bread.
It is important for every preacher to examine critically the quality of what he or she is bringing to the people. Preachers who avoid putting critical questions to themselves, for whatever reason, soon become insipid and timid in preaching. It is especially important to look again at what we say to the congregation from the pulpit on Sabbath morning. During an evangelistic series what is said takes on a familiar ring because we must cover certain essential topics. But during the Sabbath morning hour the preacher who mounts the pulpit has a special opportunity for feeding and nurturing the congregation. What sort of diet do they receive?
All food must be varied and balanced in order to sustain health and growth. It is not enough to say that the message is biblical. (If it were not biblical we would be wasting everyone's time, including the Lord's.) The Bible offers, as every preacher knows, different messages and emphases for various occasions and different needs. Life is dynamic, and God moves with the times and experiences of the people in order to meet them and speak to them where they are. And when He does so He tends to be very specific in what He says rather than speaking in general terms. Generalities may be gentle and polite; they also quickly become dull and detached from real life. When God speaks He is never dull! Precisely because His messages are specific, they are either infinitely comforting as they seek to meet a need or profoundly pro vocative as they attempt to create an awareness of a need.
Balanced diet
In His Word God has provided us with a blend of messages. We find encouragement and rebuke, instruction and exhortation, judgment and assurance, condemnation and hope. Each has its place. I have to make room for them in my preaching. But do I do so? Is there enough variety in the diet I serve?
The fact is that too much of our preaching is stereotyped and lifeless. Or we speak to an experience that once was, but no longer is ours. Or about events and decisions that have long since been overtaken by history.
I still remember vividly the unbalanced diet a preacher served the congregation of which I was a member nearly 30 years ago. The preacher decided that what the congregation needed was a seven-week series on the "seven deadly sins." I think that I had a reasonable awareness of right and wrong and that my conscience was fairly sensitive, but toward the end of the series the whole experience was becoming "deadly" as far as spiritual nourishment was concerned. I wondered how many others in the congregation felt as I did. I do not question the biblicalness nor the appropriateness of the sermons in terms of needs that the preacher must have perceived. But I do question the balance of the diet he served us during those weeks.
Does the diet you are serving stimulate life? Surely the whole purpose of being born spiritually is to live a life that is full of joy, peace, energy, and purpose a life in which people are discovering and experiencing God's peace (shalom). Above all, Christian life is vibrant. A Christian should obviously enjoy being alive.
Does my preaching match this kind of enthusiasm and positive approach to living?
The preacher's defense mechanism may lead him to retort that one has to view life realistically and avoid any rosy euphoria. Real life is, after all, a struggle! Defeats often outnumber victories, and at the end of the day only God can help you!
Some may experience life in that way, but is that a healthy, Christian way to view life? Does this posture make life in the church attractive to the person who does not as yet believe on the Lord? There are few things more attractive than a person who obviously enjoys life, and who finds life fulfilling and full of hope and promise.
The real Christian life is characterized by optimism. Even the casual reader of the book of Revelation, for example, cannot avoid noting that the images and prophecies of persecution and suffering are overshadowed from the beginning to the end of the book by a message of assurance and victory; banishment of tears, suffering, and death; and the emerging of a new creation of peace.
The preacher of God's word has it within his or her reach to shape the quality of life in the congregation. That is both a privilege and a responsibility. Therefore we owe it to our congregations and to God, and not least to ourselves, to review critically what we have served our people during the past year or two. Look at the people! What are they becoming?
The Bread of Life gives birth to life. It then goes on to help that life grow, enriching it and making it more full.
To this end the preacher preaches God's Word.
