1-18-2018

Good Morning All,

           Exodus 6:30: “But Moses said before the LORD, “Behold, I am unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?””

     There are certain verses in the Bible that, as you read them, you think,” Boy is that ever the truth.”  Whenever I read this part of the call of Moses I think that is exactly what I would have said.  Sometimes, when I write a sermon, it flows and follows so easily.  The message in the Scripture passage just jumps out at you.  On the other hand, there are times when you look at it, stare at it, turn the Bible upside down to see if it makes more sense that way, try as many different translations as possible, use every internet search engine you can think of and the blank white screen of your Microsoft Word just sits there with that stupid cursor blinking at you.  It is almost as if it is saying,” don’t just sit there; write something”.  I hate that cursor.  But there has to be a sermon so you write; I try to convince myself that I am “creatively weaving an intricate thought pattern”; really it is just some random ideas that may or may not be coherent.  When I finish; sometimes I wonder if someone will stand up in the middle of the sermon and ask,” do you have any idea what you are trying to say?” 

     Sometimes when I go and visit someone in the hospital or in their home, it feels like I am just blathering on about nothing.  I wonder if they will say,” well, at least you tried but you really don’t have to try that hard ever again.”  When I leave the room, I wonder if I broke the prime directive of,” don’t make it worse.”  Some days, I wonder.

     But that is the great thing about God.  I don’t have to be that good because it is never about me.  When I visit someone in the hospital, I am not the CURE giver (that is God); I am only the CARE giver (God’s hands here at this time).  When I write a sermon, the Spirit takes my ramblings and uses them to speak to someone in a special way that I could have never imagined.  There is no more humbling experience than to have someone tell you how much they appreciated you being there for them and your words of comfort and I say thank you but I really want to ask them what did you hear because I don’t think I said anything of value.  Sometimes people will comment about how much they got out of a sermon and I want to ask, “whose sermon was it?”  What did you hear out of what I said that made sense to you?  Then I begin to realize that even though I am unskilled in speech; God uses the tools in the manner that He chooses and uses the power of His Spirit to cause things to happen. 

     Without someone holding onto us carefully and tightly; we go down in a heap.  But if we trust God to be faithful to His promises; God will use us to speak volumes to the world.  In Matthew, Jesus told his disciples,”when the time comes, don’t worry about what you say for it is not you who speaks but the Spirit of your Father who speaks for you.” (Mt. 10:23).    We need to be prepared as best we can; I still spend hours writing a sermon even if it doesn’t make sense.  We need to be ready; but a huge part of being ready is trusting God to be there with both hands to hold us up.  God is there to speak through us with His Spirit.  So trust in God to help you when it is your time to speak to others about your faith or when your actions speak for you.

 Dear Father in heaven, I am too often slow of speech and slow of action.  Forgive me for my sins.  Cleanse me and use me as your hands, legs and mouth to bring your Words of salvation into a wounded world.  In Jesus precious name we pray, Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret