A Plea to Preachers

This is my plea to preachers, especially those who preach at District Conventions and other gatherings of pastors.

Plea #1: Please preach Law and Gospel.

I am sure you do this with your people at home, and so why when preaching before a gathering of pastors do you depart from this practice? We do not need more exhortation to missions (that can also be, and is, done during the convention itself). We do not need to hear about your hobby horses. You do not need to impress us. We need the Law to show us our sin, and then the sweet, sweet Gospel to comfort us. The times to meet for worship at a gathering are precious to us - please feed us with Christ, not yourself.

Plea #2: Please preach on the Word of God that was read.

Again, I am sure you do this with your people at home, and so why when preaching before a gathering of pastors do you depart from this practice? We need the Word of God opened to us and its riches drawn out and presented to us. We are not listening to be critical of you, but to be fed. Please feed us with the Word. Exegete it, apply it to us and our lives, show us Christ. If conventions are not more edifying, perhaps this is the reason why. Besides, the worship folks picked those readings for a reason - for the liturgical day or the theme of the convention. Honor them, please.

Plea #3: Please be normal.

Long sermons with lots of stories do not necessarily make for a good sermon - that can actually hinder your message. Say what the Word of God says, give us the comfort of our Saviour’s love and forgiveness, and sit down. If that takes a short time or a little bit longer time, that’s fine. But don’t feel you have to “go long” and use a lot of fillers - we know they’re fillers. Give us Christ.

With these words, please do not think all the sermons I heard at my District Convention were bad - they ran the gamut. That being said, some did fall quite short. Just please, give us Christ. Please.