To
me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I
should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ…. (Ephesians 3:8)
Dryness can enter the soul of the preacher. He sends a bucket into the well of his heart
and pulls it back empty. The bucket is
dropped and retracted repeatedly; it is Saturday and there is only mud in the
bottom. What is the answer?
We do not have to worry, for there is an inexhaustible
source of sermonic wealth—a timeless topic for the message—that will overflow
our own being and spill out in blessing to others. It is a grace given to impoverished preachers
in being chosen to glory in it and bring glory to God from it: “the unsearchable riches of Christ”!
In two weeks, God willing, I will complete seventy-five
sermons on the life of Christ as I have preached through the Gospel of
Luke. Along the way, some have suggested
that the subject was worn out and that I should “let the Holy Spirit lead me”
to different topics each week. I don’t
know who they thought inspired the Book, the One I lean on to aid me, or the
subject He has made pervasive throughout!
Brothers, I am not saying you have to preach verse by
verse through a book. It is not for me
to say you must spend a year and a half in a Gospel. What I am saying is that if Christ is not conspicuously
and consistently at the center of our preaching, we are failing in our
assignment!
Let us learn of Him and the more we learn of Him, the
more we will love Him. The more we love
Him, the more eagerly we will share Him and the more we share Him, the more we
will be driven back to learn more and more. The cycle begins anew, feeds
itself, ever expands, and both the preacher and the church are edified. Such preaching may not be what the masses
crave today, but it is what the masses need.
Wherever you take a text, just give them Jesus!
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