Thursday, March 20, 2008

Unprepared...

No, this isn't the kind of post where I lament something about my lack of discipline. Sunday, Becky, co-Pastor @ Liberty, encouraged the congregation, not to go from Palm Sunday to Easter without going through Maundy Thursday or Good Friday - Jesus resurrection makes no sense without his death. Amen to that. But what about for those of us who lead worship - specifically, those who preach?

I'm "preaching" at our 7am service Sunday. It'll be a little cold & dark, but it'll be fun to experience this outdoor service which is a tradition at Liberty - with all it's quirks. But in order to prepare for that, I'm needing to be working through the ramifications of the resurrection - and I haven't even come close to Jesus' death. It's only Thursday morning now, much less Friday and Sunday's sermon and text have been swimming around in my head for awhile already. And I'm guessing this isn't abnormal. Maundy Thursday & Good Friday services often don't have sermons but are filled with readings and communion and even foot washings. So pastors aren't necessarily afforded the opportunity to walk through this naturally - Easter is always on the mind.

My question is, How do we get around this? Should we get around this? Maybe the "great Easter sermon" is something that we need to set aside in order to experience, if even just a little, that shock, joy and surprise that happened two thousand years ago. Maybe sometimes it's good to be unprepared...

1 comment:

Unknown said...

If we drag out butts out of bed that early to make it to Sunrise Service, your message better not suck...

...no pressure! ;)

Doesn't your question, although directly asked about your chosen occupation, represent a question everyone asks themselves about life in general? I mean, all of us (at least those of us who spend any time with introspective thought) wonder if we focus on the destination will we miss the journey.

All of life is a balancing act in that regard. You work hard to make your life better and you look forward to each new stage, the next accomplishment or tomorrow's exciting moment. But at the same time, you have to remember to live in the "now." To experience life for all it is as it's happening.

Of course, all I've done here is reinforce what you've already said in your blog while providing no real or meaningful insight.

But what's important is that, for a brief moment, I stopped focusing on 5 o'clock and the end of my work day, and instead lived in the moment of writing a reply to your blog.

And isn't that enough?