For our editorial lesson
today I’m going to continue with some thoughts regarding our Christian walk
through whatever portion of this new year that the Lord allows us. My
thoughts here today are about being preachers - all of us. I know, you can’t
get up in front of an audience and speak, even though you might surprise
yourself if you tried, but, there is another way of “preaching” that all can
do. And the rest of this lesson is aimed at showing you how this is done.
You see, one doesn’t
need to physically mount a pulpit in order to preach a sermon. One
doesn’t have to stand before a class in order to “teach” a lesson. It’s
because we, as Christians, are “preaching and teaching” sermons and lessons
everyday of our earthly lives by how we conduct these lives. And
remember, by our conduct, we can “preach” either a good sermon or a bad
one. And wishy-washy (lukewarm) sermons are in the bad category.
There are times when all
of us need to be inspired and/or encouraged and where we get those things is from
others, isn’t it? But, that can be a two-way street, can’t it? IE:
We want to be “encouraged” not “discouraged.” By the same token, as
Christians, we want to be “encouragers” and not “discouragers.” And
that’s the general thrust of our lesson here.
Sometimes we use an oft
said metaphor when talking about “encouragement” and how we’re affected by
it. It’s referred to as a “shot of adrenalin.” Think of it this way
- medically speaking, where does adrenalin go when it’s administered?
Right to the heart, doesn’t it? Isn’t that why we say that we “take
heart” when our spirits are lifted by being encouraged?
What we need to
understand is that each and every one of us can do some “spirit lifting” for
others by encouraging them. And, we can do that by “preaching” a
sermon. One that others can see and be inspired by. They can have
their “heart lifted” by our “sermon.”
Or, we can look at it in
the way the Apostle Paul described it in 1Cor. 16:28. There he’s talking
about some of the brethren and how their conduct affected him. He said
they, “refreshed my spirit.”
He also reminded them that they should “acknowledge
ye them that are such.” (KJV). That simply means that
we should show our appreciation to those who encourage us and “refresh our spirits.”
So, how do we preach our
sermon? Here is one thought - Did you ever consider that faithful
attendance to worship service and other church activities to be a way? As
an illustration, let me tell you a little story that certainly had a positive
effect on the original author of it. He was an American serviceman
stationed in Germany at the time he witnessed this “sermon.”
He said that one Sunday
morning, a bitterly cold, rainy and snowy day in November, he had almost
convinced himself to stay home from the church services due to the weather
situation, but he remembered that he was the only song-leader at the time, so
he bundled up, caught a public bus that would take him near the church
building. It was while riding on this comfortable and warm bus that he
saw the “sermon” that had such a lasting impact on his spiritual life.
While riding towards the
church he looked out the window and saw an elderly couple struggling to walk on
the sidewalk. He recognized them as being members of the church where he
attended and that they were headed in that direction. He knew that the
man was in his 80's and blind, and his wife was 75 and was crippled in one
foot.
He also knew that they
had very little income which explained why they were walking instead of taking
the bus as he was doing. But, despite their age and infirmities, they
were trudging as best they could through the terrible weather to attend worship
service. He said that what they “preached” to him that day was a sermon
showing their love for the Lord and their desire to do all they could to not “forsake the assembling” with
their brethren. His spirit was lifted by this “sermon” and it has
remained in his heart since then.
Brethren, all of us
should aspire to be “walking preachers.” Think about it a moment.
In the realm of faithful attendance, aren’t there “walking sermons” all around
us? They’re “preached” by some walking with crutches, with walkers and
even some in wheelchairs. They’re “preached” by those who barely
have enough strength and health to get out of bed, get dressed and make it to
the assembly location. They “preach” to me and they inspire and encourage
me. They “lift my heart” and they “refresh my spirit.” God bless
them.
I firmly believe that
this is the reason that God designed the structure of His Church to be a “body” - a family or a
congregation. So that we can “preach & teach” to each other and
thereby receive that encouragement we need. So that, like Paul, the
brethren can “refresh my
spirit” and I, in turn, can do the same for them.
Consider it this way: if
I forsake the assembly, I am neither encouraged nor do I encourage
others. We all have a duty as members of “the Body” to “preach” our sermons, not only to
our brethren, but to all about us with which we can have influence.
Let me give you another
short example of “preaching” by example. In 1953, in Chicago, a large
group of dignitaries and media gathered to welcome the Nobel Peace Prize
recipient. The train pulled into the station and the honoree, a tall,
imposing man with a great bushy head of hair and mustache, stepped off.
The cameras flashed and
the officials all started telling him what a great honor it was to have him
come to their city when he just walked through the crowd around him and went
over to an elderly black lady struggling with two large suitcases. He
helped her get on board, wished her a safe journey and then returned to the
officials and the press, apologizing for keeping them waiting.
After witnessing what
Dr. Albert Schweitzer had just done, one official said to a reporter, “That’s the first time I ever saw a
sermon walking.”
If you happened to need
a resolution for this new year, let me recommend this one. Let’s resolve
to be “spirit refreshers” to our brethren and “walking Gospel sermons” to the
world around us.
And now, let me close
this lesson with some words penned by another well-known author, Edward
Albert Guest and his poem entitled, “Sermons
We See.”
Ron Covey
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