That…was a God-thing
Last Sunday, which was Palm Sunday, I was the guest-preacher for our church. It was the 5th week of a 5-part series titled, “Where is God when bad things happen?”. Throughout this series, we looked at the story of Lazarus in John 11-12. We asked many of the hard questions you might be afraid to ask in church, but we also found practical answers to our questions.
My message focused on the aftermath of the miracle of Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead, and we looked at how that event directly impacted Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. In the weeks leading up to last Sunday, I knew the text and meaning I wanted to communicate…but I had to practice it a lot. It would be the second time I had preached without notes, and there was a lot of going back and forth between teaching and going to the Scriptures projected up on the screens.
The message clocked at about 30-35 minutes and I practiced multiple times during the week prior. So many times, in fact, that I was a little tired of going over it. The problem was that there were two specific places that I kept drawing blanks on what I intended to say next. I drilled on those spots in the message, but for some reason my brain was having trouble keeping those points in line.
My typical nightly routine is to grab the NIV pocket New Testament on my nightstand, read a chapter or two and then maybe work on a sudoku puzzle until my brain finally shuts off. As I went to bed on Saturday night, I mumbled “God, I hope you got something for me in here tonight. I’m feeling really nervous about tomorrow.” Now, I’m just reading through the NT from Matthew to Revelation, one chapter at a time. The previous night, I had finished Romans, so 1 Corinthians was up next. As I started Paul’s letter, here’s what I read:
1 Corinthians 1:4-5
I always thank God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in Him you have been enriched in every way – in all your speaking and in all your knowledge
If I wasn’t lying down already, you probably could have knocked me over.
What’s great about this letter is that Paul wrote it to a church full of troubled, less-than-perfect people. They had tons of questions and many topics that Paul had to correct them on. And yet…Paul still says that in [Jesus] you have been enriched in every way – in all your speaking in all your knowledge. So I went to sleep, at least a little comforted that God would help me with my speaking and my communication of knowledge the next morning.
I arrived at church early Sunday morning to run through the service with our tech team. As I went through the message, giving direction to the volunteer running the slides, I had a TERRIBLE time remembering what I was going to say in between the slides. In addition to the two places I struggled with all week, I was drawing complete blanks at points in the message that I had previously had no issues. I keep my phone in my back pocket with my message on it for an “in case of emergency” moment, but I pulled it out 4 or 5 times during the run-through. I was frustrated, to say the least. I wasn’t aiming for perfection (I know that’s not a realistic goal), but the last thing I want is for my delivery to detract from the message I am trying to communicate. Pausing multiple times to pull out my phone to remind myself of what I had personally written is not a good recipe for keeping everyone’s focus on God and what He’s up to in the Scriptures.
But there was nothing left to do. No more time to prepare. No printer available, and I hadn’t made an outline, anyway. I told my sound guy, “If God doesn’t show up, then this thing’s not going to work.” I went and took my seat near the front. Just before the service started, our lead pastor leaned into me and prayed, “God, thank you for Ken. Please give him what he needs when he needs it.” After announcements and one song, I was up.
It wasn’t perfect – but then again, I wasn’t aiming for that. What it was, was amazing. I didn’t have to check my phone. Not even once. Sentences and ideas flowed easily. The sticking points weren’t sticky. Transitions between verses and ideas and back to verses were smooth. God did show up, and He took me out of the way so that the message could be heard and relevant application was understood.
You can watch the message here. I’ve rewatched it twice now – I still get caught up and nervous for myself, even though I know it was in the past. That wasn’t “my performance” up there…that was God slowing me down and speaking through me.
It’s not the first time He’s shown up like that for me though, there are plenty of times I’ve re-read a blog post and thought, ”Where did that come from? That’s too good to be just me.” So I’m not necessarily surprised at what happened on Sunday…but I am keenly aware of what did happen, and grateful that it did. For in Him, I have been enriched in every way.
Keep Pressing,
Ken