An Assassination
Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Wednesday.
Around the Church of Jesus Christ there was much mourning, bewilderment, a sense of despair, and in some quarters, even the wrath of man.
I heard of the assassination Wednesday evening after I had spent time preparing our sermon for the Thursday evening prayer meeting. I had exegeted Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, and an outline had been developed around the theme of “Enjoying the Good of All of Our Labour”.
But on hearing the news and seeing the church’s sorrow, I perceived a burden that the Lord seemed to be laying upon me to preach a different message. I asked the Lord, could I still preach on “Enjoying the Good of All of Our Labour” in view of it?
No.
My soul was burdened by the Lord, and I could not preach that, not when something this weighty had just transpired the day before our meeting. We also would be spending much time in prayer concerning what happened and what a tonal shift that sermon would be.
Yet, online, there are some men advocating that pastors should ignore what happened on Wednesday and carry on as they had planned to. Now, I do want to say that part of being spiritually sensitive is recognizing whether the Lord would have you do that or not. I am not indicating that all ministers should drop their previously selected texts. But for me, on Thursday night, I felt no option and was constrained by the Spirit to preach otherwise.
A minister ought to also be aware of his flock and what they need in shepherding through hard providences – how should we respond and how should we react? That too is significant when a man chooses a text. A minister who is oblivious to the needs of his congregation will not equip them to walk through the valleys of life.
Psalm 11 – Our New Text
So, I sought the Lord for a new text, and Psalm 11 was brought to mind. In Psalm 11 David said: “the wicked bend their bow… that they may privily [in the dark] shoot at the upright in heart.” That was a striking verse considering the cowardly assassination of Mr. Kirk – a man who was known for simply speaking what he believed was the truth.
In that psalm, however, God reminded me of the seething enmity the wicked have towards the righteous, those who are in Christ, and stand for the truth.
It seemed fitting as the psalm also asks, “if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
In a time where the foundations of our society are crumbling away, it seemed appropriate to have an answer to that question. David provides the answer in the psalm’s final portion:
4 The LORD is in his holy temple,
The LORD’s throne is in heaven:
His eyes behold,
His eyelids try, the children of men.
5 The LORD trieth the righteous:
But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone,
And an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness;
His countenance doth behold the upright.
I prepared and I preached. I believe that the Lord carried me through it all. For those who want to listen to how the text was treated as it was preached, you can hear the sermon on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/_1mTEXVLkhw?si=ll3fFTbOVFZ-ykSU
Or on SermonAudio:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermons/91225025465251
Preparing Sermons Quickly
But the reason that I write this is for Reformed ministers. Frankly, many of us were taught to prepare sermons in an artificial way. A way that makes it very difficult to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading. I have heard ministers say they need to spend twenty hours to produce a single sermon. That is, frankly, ridiculous. In the tradition I am in we are expected to preach three unique sermons a week – two on the Lord’s Day and one at the midweek prayer meeting. In addition, we have routine pastoral counsel, visitation, and Presbytery matters.
As I have reflected on the preparation of sermons, a large part of being able to do this, is being gripped by the Spirit in the text. To find a burden in it. This is a spiritual sensitivity that needs recovering amongst our ministers. We must seek the message to come from the Lord in prayer and sensitive to have an ear to hear what the Spirit has to say to the Churches (Rev 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22).
Most times I do find the burden in our congregation’s regular exposition of the Scripture week by week through 1 Peter, the book of John, and Ecclesiastes. We go verse by verse through them all. But sometimes I do not. Especially when the Providence of God indicates that we must lay a message aside for a time. Some men will find a link with their previously selected sermon text and Providence. I, in Ecclesiastes 5, could not.
It can be intimidating to a new minister to prepare a sermon on short order. But it is the case that when a burden comes, the Lord carries you through the preparation.
In fact, the most effective multiplier of your time in preparation every week is in prayer and seeking Christ for a burden in the text that you are preaching from. Wrestle with him over the text until you find it
From that point on, preparation can be relatively smooth — for you will be carried along by the Lord. If I find a blockage in preparing a sermon, I tend to need more time with Christ. If one prepares sermons in this manner, then being sensitive to the Spirit’s leading is possible and one can prepare a God glorifying message when Providence calls for it and not feel shackled to an artificial method of preparation.
Liberty in Delivery
But this also does not end with the preparation. In the delivery of a sermon the minister must seek liberty in the Spirit to bring forth what God has to say to him in the pulpit while he is “exegeting his congregation”. Some men are overly dependent on their preparation and are not, therefore, sensitive to the Spirit at work in them in the moment.
So, yes, carefully exegete, look at the original language(s), carefully look at all the counsel of God, verify that your work is based on the truth of God and not your own fleshly indications and your own carnal desires.
But first, be open to the Spirit’s leading – in this case I did not have much time to prepare, and my flesh wanted to just preach what I had studied, but I felt like the Spirit constrained me to press forward with a new sermon. I am grateful to the Lord that he enabled me to not only prepare but deliver the sermon in ways that I had not anticipated when I first felt the prompting of the Lord.
Let us also remember that God has something to say to us in every circumstance and situation (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and that his people are blessed to have all the counsel of God.
Addendum –
Rev. Armen Thomassian
Pastor Armen Thomassian of the FPCNA congregation in Greenville, SC (Faith FPC) added this note to my Facebook post when I first shared this article. I found it extremely helpful. He said:
The President announced his death at 4:40pm. I had two hours to write a new sermon and get to church for our Wednesday prayer meeting.
Ministers must be able to harness their training for emergencies. If the tone of a sermon isn’t fitting for the occasion, you’re a lecturer, not a messenger.
Better an unpolished message that’s pertinent to the occasion than a polished lecture that makes people feel like you’re in the wrong place.
His example is even more pertinent than my own.
Here was a minister that had two hours to prepare a sermon with the Lord’s help, but saw a need, and delivered a message from God to his people. That is God at work.
His succinct commentary is spot on and I am grateful for his example.
Christ, Code, and Kids 
Leave a comment