Maybe my title is overly dramatic; time will tell. But I heard some things last week that settled in my soul and sparked a resolve to reshape my future. Let me tell you about them.
What I heard came from young preachers. “We are not the future of the church,” Christian Smith, a rising sophomore at Northern Kentucky University, said in a sermon during Preaching Camp. “We are the church now.” They all preached four times, and as the week progressed the sermons got better: better ideas, better delivery. I listened; I was touched; I made up my mind to change some things.
Hanover College junior Krista Phillips preached a sermon from the commandment, “You shall not steal.” What she said to a room full of preachers was this: failure to preach is stealing from the people. “I got it from Calvin,” she explained later. But it struck me profoundly. I have largely given up preaching, but these words confirmed a growing sense that I should not abandon my calling just because I am now “identifying, networking, supporting, and inspiring” young preachers. What I need is a preaching post: jail, street corner, sanctuary, or house. This is my renewed prayer: “Lord, give me a place to preach.”
Duke Divinity School student John Jay Alvaro preached a sermon from the commandment, “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” He was not the only one to take this theme, but his words stuck in my memory. “Put the books in a case and zip it up.” He was describing now he, a graduate student, had practiced the day of rest. It triggered notions of similar strategies in my head: turning off the computer, putting down the cell phone, even closing the preaching books and hanging up the car keys. I know it sounds legalistic, but I think I need such rules to help me benefit from the change of life that the Sabbath is designed to bring. Which is why I did not write this column when it first came to my mind…..during the Sabbath.
Finally, recent Fisk University graduate Brandon Perkins made this off-hand remark, not in a sermon, but at the dinner table. “I have lost 55 pounds this year by making one change in my habits,” he said. “I quit eating pork and beef: nothing else.” He looked slim and healthy and preached well, especially his final sermon, “A Lesson from Aaron” (which we will post in print and video format in our soon-to-be-unveiled new website). I don’t want to lose 55 pound but perhaps 5-10 pounds (in part to combat high blood pressure). So I have determined to give his diet a try.
Good things come out of preaching camp, and these are just three of my fresh commitments. But there is much more, and already I have read many comments posted on Facebook by these young preachers. How I wish there would have been such opportunities when I was but 22.