Speaking for God

Not sure how you see the preacher who stands in your pulpit every Sunday, but I am going to give you one pastor's perspective on what it means to be the one in the pulpit.

A story my wife tells about her call to preach involves disbelief, worry and seeking council.  The help given her was, "Don't do it until you can't do anything else." The pastor who told her this was saying that it must be a calling, not a career choice.  Then she worried about her abilities and was given this advice, "God equips the called."  Remember Moses? He tried to deny the call from a burning bush saying he was not a good speaker.  God said, "OK take your brother Aaron with you to do the talking."

If one is called to be a pastor, preacher, and administrator within a congregation, one is not always prepared for the variety of tasks they must face (not the least of which is standing in front of a crowd trying to bring understanding to God's scriptures).  I can attest to the fact that seminary doesn't teach it all either.  Rather, being called to clerical ministry means that one is called to share in the responsibilities of being the Church.  The work of the Church can be done by the laity without the pastor but it can never be done by the pastor without the laity.  Paul had to offer his message in homes as often as he did in synagogues.  He had no audience if the home owner didn't invite friends and family.

Back to standing in the pulpit on Sunday mornings.  I don't know about other pastors but I know I have no special claim on "speaking for God".  God doesn't write sermons and whisper in my ear. Rather, I listen to how the scriptures for the week speak to me.  I then try and impart to the congregation what I may have learned in studying those scriptures.  Then, I trust that the Holy Spirit takes the words I utter and changes them before they reach the inner ear of the listener.  I know this happens because I have often been told, "I liked what you said about . . . " and then thought, "I didn't say that".  God works the miracle of sermons, I don't.  I just try to be faithful to my calling of trying to be my best when called upon to make connections between God and the world.

A pastor is not someone that is better in any way than the congregation.  A pastor doesn't have a greater connection to God than anyone else. The pastor is just another lay person touched by the hand of God for a more specific part of the overall ministry.  We have faults, troubles, aha moments, and tears of both joy and frustration - just like you.