For Preachers (March 2014)

Lord, I don’t preach often these days,
        so perhaps I’m just out of shape,
or maybe I’ve blinked and gotten old,
        or both – and grown forgetful too.
A lifetime ago I preached all day long,
        morning, evening, Bible class too;
exhausted that night and the next,
        by the task of hearing your word
and translating it into modern human;
        delivering the Word as a linguist.

The old ones said,
        “When someone preaches
        and someone listens,
        someone gets tired.”
The listener from sitting through
        a grueling sermon without end;
or a preacher: wearied and drained,
        spent body, mind, and soul
by every moment of preparation:
        the study of text and church;
and by the delivery of the Word:
        that never – never, goes right;
finished we reflect over a coffin-full
        of should’ves and could’ves.
Lord, remind us please that we preach
        a Gospel of Resurrection:
and a coffin emptied by your power,
        not because of our smooth delivery.
 
But before I forget again,
        and carve up sermon and preacher
for Sunday dinner – leftovers on Monday:
        thank you Lord for these weak vessels.
Thank you for those who go home
        from Sunday church used up, exhausted.

Lord, thank you for those who accept
        this call on their lives;
willing to base their well-being on the whims
        of public opinion and short-term memory:
too often used-up and thrown-aside
        for a newer model – without warning,
        without benefits, and without a body.

Lord, we recognize they are only one part
        out of many members in the body.
But help us not to forget that they do belong,
        essential for the well-being of others.
Help us honor those who exhaust their lives
        in service to the body of Christ.

Thank you Lord for those who take up
        the glorious ministry of the Gospel.
Proclaiming your word to the hungry,
        to those starving for a word of life;
preaching good news to the weary,
        to those beaten down by the world.
God bless and grant your word success,
        and give your servants strength
                equal to the task.

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