There is a simple prayer I usually utter a few hours after preaching: “Lord, thank you for the privilege of preaching this day and help me to do better next week.” On an ideal week there is gladness of heart in the praise and the petition.

Last Saturday was one of those occasions where I left gathered worship with an unusually heavy soul. The accent on my weekly petition was something like, “Lord, I thought I’d be a better preacher at thirty-one years of age. But there’s still so much to learn—help me grow.” To say I felt like a failure would be to don the crown of drama, but to say I was dispirited would be more to the point. The discouragement was not because the sermon swung and missed; there was useful stuff throughout and many have told me how God used it to their benefit.

There was just so much more the sermon could have been, and probably should have been.

The Cry of the Young

It’s amazing to me how God meets us in our weakness. Sometimes His kindness amidst our troubles reveals itself over time; this is surely meant to teach us patience and trust. Other times He opens our minds to truth with astonishing speed. Last week was one of those latter occasions. I had barely made it out of the parking lot before something immediately hit my mind: I’m only thirty-one years old. A Spurgeon I am not, he who preached over six hundred (!) times by the age of twenty. A more encouraging model for me is John Piper who didn’t start preaching full time until he was thirty-four.

As hard as it is in an age that trumpets the power of youth and ignores the crown of the old (gray hair), I have to continually remind myself I’m still in the season of ministry marked “Sowing.” This is the time to get experience and gain from experience.

As I’ve meditated on this topic the last few days I’ve come to see afresh three experiential perspectives vital to those of us continuing to prepare for that ministerial season called “Reaping.”

The Experience of History

By this I mean experiencing the protective, informing power of history. Not only does such an experience often provide unique power for sanctification (consider the often-formative influence of biography), it equips a pastor to better understand his times. If there is nothing new under the sun, then rich experiences of history prepare a preacher to not be surprised. He is more able to point out anomalies and prevent his people from cultural panic.

Experiences of history come through the obvious avenues of books and documentaries. Yet, we live in an age where iTunesU and podcasting (for example, try BackStory Radio) provide numerous opportunities for pastors to have an experience with history that prevents them from falling into the abyss of the present.

Speaking of that abyss, let Piper say it as only he can . . .

Oh how fortunate we are, brothers of the pulpit, that we are not the first to face these things. We are so fortunate. I thank God for the healing of history. Do you read history? Are you slipping into the abyss of the present? It is an abyss brothers! You cannot know yourself, or your times, or your God if you only know the present. I bless God for history and books.

The Experience of Time

Like meat needs time to cure, preachers need the experience of time to grow. The trials and triumphs of life mold preachers into useful vessels. With God’s help the experience of time brings wisdom and maturity. Think not of preparation seasons as wilderness epochs in ministry, rather these are times when young men get to drink in at an oasis of God’s mercy.

The Experience of Christ

And, of course, no experience is greater than a vital, experiential relationship with Christ.

I’ve lately been working through several different biographies of Robert Murray M’Cheyne. One common thread woven through each work is how much the young Scotsman—and his school of friends—pursued a vibrant experience of Christ. Through devotion to God’s word and prayer Christ became sweetly powerful. M’Cheyne was convinced likeness to Christ is the essential ingredient to fruitful ministry. He said,

In great measure, according to the purity and perfection’s of the instrument, will be success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.

In another place he wrote,

Take heed to thyself. Your own soul is your first and greatest care. You know a sound body alone can work with power; much more a healthy soul. Keep a clear conscience through the blood of the Lamb. Keep up close communion with God. Study likeness to Him in all things.

Back to the Beginning

We preachers have a promise from God meant to encourage us in the sowing season: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9). Let us not give up on doing good in ministry, learning from experience, and growing in an experience of Christ. We will reap.

I tend to think you can tell a lot about a homeowner by looking at his yard. Is the grass thriving and weeds diminishing? Are the plants tended and trimmed? Rarely have I seen a lawn so cared for and not found out that it’s owner is not known for diligence, precision, and care.¹ The yard of a home announces something of the character of its owners—whether we like it or not.

There is something similar for those of us who preach. Something that generally comes in the front of our sermons and reveals much about how we approach God’s word: the Scripture reading.

The Forgotten Command of Pastoral Ministry?

One of the forgotten pastoral commands in Scripture is that ordinary pastors are to read Scripture in public. Paul told his young protégé in 1 Timothy 4:13, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” My aim in this post is two-fold: 1) to convince you to start your exposition by reading God’s word, and 2) to introduce your reading of God’s word in a particular way. The degree to which we are doing these things is a measure of our obedience to Paul’s command. It’s also a mirror into what we believe about God’s word.

Start with God’s Word

My first aim need not take us long. I believe the best sermons are begun by the preacher reading part of or the totality of the passage he is about to exposit. Just as a call to worship lets God have the first word in the worship service, so too does a Scripture reading of the given text let God have the first word in the sermon.² Now, I’m not saying that the first word out of the preacher’s mouth must be the reading of his passage. Transitions and segues are often necessary for services to retain some sense of smoothness. Yet, what I am saying is that before any real work of exposition is done we ought to read our passage.

This not only let’s God have the first word in the sermon, it also implicitly communicates something to our congregations. It points to hope and faith in the truth that God’s word brings life to His people. Our reading of Scripture consists of the only guaranteed-to-be-inspired-and-so-bring-life words we will speak that day.

I assume many of you are convinced of this necessity. Let’s then think about how we can introduce the reading in a way that perpetuates reverence and expectancy in our hearers.

Think Of Yourself As a Covenant Lawyer

I was trained in a Presbyterian context where the preacher would say something after, not before, reading the passage. Usually it was something like, “Thus far the reading of God’s word,” or, “Thus ends the reading of God’s holy, inspired, and inerrant word.” It must be said that such an approach is not bad, not bad at all. But I do think we can do something better.

You may not have thought about it in this way before, but preachers—like the prophets of old—are something like God’s covenant lawyers. They defend God’s word and prosecute the truths of Jesus Christ in order to establish and edify Christ’s church. Do you remember how the old-school covenant lawyers introduced God’s word? ‘Thus saith the LORD.” Now that’s an introduction to God’s word full of power. It demands attention and raises expectation. God is speaking! “Hear ye! Hear ye!”

Modern-day heralds can, and I think ought, to do something similar. Whenever we read God’s word prior to the sermon there is great wisdom in introducing it with a powerfully precise phrase. It’s my own practice to say, “Let’s hear now as God speaks to us through His word.” I want my congregation to know something supernatural is about to occur, God is speaking to us. Whenever someone reads Scripture in the middle of our service they do so by saying, “This is the word of the Lord . . .” Some other introductory statements I’ve heard from other people are:

• “These are the very words of God.”
• “These are the perfect, life-giving words of God.”
• “Listen to God’s unchanging and unfailing word.”
• “Hear God’s holy word.”

Whatever you say, say something authentic to your personality. Say something honoring to God’s word. And then unleash the power of God.

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