High Stakes

“The hymn comes to a close.....fresh from breakfast with his wife and children, the preacher climbs the steps to the pulpit. His mouth is a little dry. He has cut himself shaving. He feels as if he has swallowed an anchor. If it weren't for the honor of the thing, he would just as soon be somewhere else.

In the front pews the old ladies turn up their hearing aids. A young lady slips her six year old a Lifesaver and a Magic Marker. A college sophomore, home for vacation, who is there because he was dragged there, slumps forward with his chin in his hand. The Vice-President of the bank who twice that week has seriously contemplated suicide places his hymnal in the rack. A pregnant girl feels the life stir inside her.

The preacher pulls the little cord that turns on the lectern light and deals out his note cards like a riverboat gambler. The stakes have never been higher.

Two minutes from now he may have lost his listeners completely to their own thoughts, but at this minute he has them in the palm of his hand. The silence in the shabby church is deafening because everybody is listening......everybody is listening.”

an exerpt from Telling The Truth by Frederick Buechner

Last week, the Joy of Preaching. This week, High Stakes, which emphasizes the importance of preaching to the relevant needs of people.
I plan to post a word of encouragement Friday or Saturday to my friends in the ministry. God bless you as you preach the Word. It WILL NOT return void.