The Pulpit is No Place for a Showman

            I’m reading one of the most interesting books I’ve encountered in a long while. It is called The Emperor of Maladies[i], and it is essentially a biography of cancer. Though written by a doctor, Siddhartha Mukherjee, the book is surprisingly accessible and very engaging. It traces the history of the disease, as well as the progress of various treatments, especially over the last century.

            In one particular section, the author is describing the development and emergence of surgery, and specifically the surgeon as an important medical practitioner. One paragraph jumped out at me, and spoke to me about something virtually unrelated to medicine. It said:

“In the 1870’s…surgery was a discipline emerging from its adolescence. By 1898, it had transformed into a profession booming with self-confidence, a discipline so swooningly self-impressed with its technical abilities that great surgeons unabashedly imagined themselves as showmen. The operating room was called an operating theater, and surgery was an elaborate performance often watched by a tense, hushed audience of observers from an oculus above the theater.”

            When I read that line: “…surgeons unabashedly imagined themselves as showmen…,” I thought to myself, “I know preachers like that.” To be truthful (to my shame), there have been times when I have approached preaching in that way.

            I love preaching. I love every aspect of it, from the creative process in the study, to the act of preaching itself. I strive to be the most effective preacher that I can be. I want people to listen, and I want to hold their attention whenever I “herald” the Word of God.

            Yet, I must always be mindful that the pulpit is no place for a showman. The task of the preacher is not to “show off” his oratory skills, or impress the audience with his own gifts and abilities. In reality, the preacher has the strange and difficult task of holding the attention of the hearers, even while disappearing himself behind the text of the Word of God. In other words, I need and want the people to see me and hear me, but I also want them to forget about me, and see and hear the truth that transcends me.

            If people leave after hearing the sermon, and all they heard was a great preacher, then the great preacher has failed in his ultimate task. When the people hear the preacher, but leave impressed and impacted by the fact that Jesus has spoken; that is when the preacher has done his job well.

           

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[i] Mukherjee, Siddhartha, The Emperor of Maladies, (Scribner, New York, 2010)

Where is God in 2011?

In the fascinating little book, The Sunflower, Simon Wiesenthal described a conversation he had with some of his friends while they were prisoners in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. One of the men had overheard an elderly Jewish woman say, “Oh God Almighty, come back from your leave and look at Thy earth again.” Commenting on that woman’s prayer, Wiesenthal said:

“It is impossible to believe anything in a world that has ceased to regard man as man, which repeatedly ‘proves’ that one is no longer a man. So one begins to doubt, one begins to cease to believe in a world order in which God has a definite place. One really begins to think that God is on leave. Otherwise the present state of things wouldn’t be possible. God must be away. And He has no deputy.” 1

2011 has dawned on a world that for most of us is not nearly as horrible, frightening, and seemingly hopeless as the world in which Simon Wiesenthal lived. Nevertheless, there are still those who might contend that if there is a God, He must be on leave somewhere, disconnected or disinterested in the world He created. To those who look for Him, but do not really know Him, it might be difficult to find real evidence of the presence of God in a modern world.

As a new year begins, I am mindful of the words of Jesus just before His ascension. In Matthew 28:20, He spoke to His disciples, and assured them by saying, “…I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” And how is He with His disciples, even to the end? It is through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter He sent to them (John 14:26, 15:26).

Mindful of the truth of Christ’s presence through the person of the Holy Spirit, we recognize that we do not judge the presence of God in the world by looking at the world. We look for the presence of Christ within us, not around us. Regardless of the external circumstances that surround us in this modern day, whether they seem hopeful or horrible, we are comforted by the fact that God is not on leave. He has not left us alone. In fact, He is closer to His people now than He was when He walked with them 2,000 years ago. Where is God in 2011? He is living in me, and I pray in you as well.

God bless, and Happy New Year

Terry

1. Wiesenthal, Simon, The Sunflower: On the possibilities and limits of forgiveness, (Knopf ebooks, 2008), Amazon Kindle edition