Preaching Challenges

Well, it happened again. I was not pleased with my sermon yesterday. I say again because it seems like I have trouble every year with Good Shepherd Sunday. Which seems strange to me. You'd think this would be an easy week, but for some reason, I don't ever feel comfortable or satisfied with my sermons on this week. There are other weeks in the year when it seems I am consistently happy with my sermons - the First Sunday in Lent and the temptation of Jesus comes to mind. But there are other weeks that I often seem to struggle with. Maybe it's like that for other pastors too. I know that God will bless the Word that was preached and proclaimed, not just in the sermon but also in the readings, liturgy, and hymns. It is a great blessing to know that and rely on it. Still, I pray the Lord help me get better every week in my proclamation of His Word. And as I have often said, one of the good things about preaching every week (though I get this coming Sunday off because Dr. Wenthe from the seminary will be preaching for me!) is that you never get to obsess about how good or bad you think your sermon was - you have to move on to the next week and the next sermon. That's good. It helps me to rely more on God and His Word and Spirit and promise to work through even a sinner and a pastor who often falls short, like me.

Maybe I'll write tomorrow about some of the challenges I think come with preaching on Good Shepherd Sunday . . .