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For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give His life a ransom for many. Mk 10:45
In Mark 10:32-45, for the third time Jesus says, “The Son of Man must suffer, die, and rise.” For the third time the disciples insist, “We want to be number 1.” For the third time Jesus says, “Number 1 is in the back of the line.” You get the idea that maybe this is something that we need to hear more than once.
I preach three times on Sunday mornings. The first time didn’t go as planned. Our reader read Matthew 10 instead of Mark 10. Stunned, I just sat there. Gosh, we have been studying Mark all year. Then I had a powerpoint slide (that I had made) with a mistake on it. The slide came at a point in the sermon where I felt things were not going well. In the middle of passionately speaking of the greatness of Jesus, a cell phone started ringing. I am sure it rang for at least 5 minutes. After it stopped, I guess the caller decided to try again. Another 5 minutes. With all the distractions I basically ran out of time and crash landed the plane. I felt like the crash landing put everyone out of their misery. Except me—I was miserable about this the rest of the day. I was the poor pilot who survived.
What was my problem? Right before the service, I had prayed with an elder. We actually talked about the fact that it is okay to make mistakes. I just finished reading 1776 before going to bed Saturday night. George Washington made some huge mistakes the first year of leading the army. What was my problem? In the act of preaching and leading that service, what I really wanted was to serve Jesus so that I could look like a put together leader who does everything right. What I really wanted was the same thing all the disciples wanted from Jesus…personal glory. Ugh! It is painful to be a living example of failure of the very lesson you are preaching.
If you heard the sermon I said that we didn’t need to play Whac-A-Mole with our failures but instead think hard on Jesus’ death. I went ahead and played Whac-A-Mole for the rest of the day.
PRAYER:
Jesus, You alone are holy, perfect, righteous, together. You alone are worthy. I confess that my flesh insists on being number one. Purify my heart of this selfish service that plagues me. Not only do I have too lofty of a view of myself, I have too lowly a view of You. Open my eyes to see more clearly Your greatness. May I learn to serve and give freely as I follow You.
In Mark 10:32-45, for the third time Jesus says, “The Son of Man must suffer, die, and rise.” For the third time the disciples insist, “We want to be number 1.” For the third time Jesus says, “Number 1 is in the back of the line.” You get the idea that maybe this is something that we need to hear more than once.
I preach three times on Sunday mornings. The first time didn’t go as planned. Our reader read Matthew 10 instead of Mark 10. Stunned, I just sat there. Gosh, we have been studying Mark all year. Then I had a powerpoint slide (that I had made) with a mistake on it. The slide came at a point in the sermon where I felt things were not going well. In the middle of passionately speaking of the greatness of Jesus, a cell phone started ringing. I am sure it rang for at least 5 minutes. After it stopped, I guess the caller decided to try again. Another 5 minutes. With all the distractions I basically ran out of time and crash landed the plane. I felt like the crash landing put everyone out of their misery. Except me—I was miserable about this the rest of the day. I was the poor pilot who survived.
What was my problem? Right before the service, I had prayed with an elder. We actually talked about the fact that it is okay to make mistakes. I just finished reading 1776 before going to bed Saturday night. George Washington made some huge mistakes the first year of leading the army. What was my problem? In the act of preaching and leading that service, what I really wanted was to serve Jesus so that I could look like a put together leader who does everything right. What I really wanted was the same thing all the disciples wanted from Jesus…personal glory. Ugh! It is painful to be a living example of failure of the very lesson you are preaching.
If you heard the sermon I said that we didn’t need to play Whac-A-Mole with our failures but instead think hard on Jesus’ death. I went ahead and played Whac-A-Mole for the rest of the day.
PRAYER:
Jesus, You alone are holy, perfect, righteous, together. You alone are worthy. I confess that my flesh insists on being number one. Purify my heart of this selfish service that plagues me. Not only do I have too lofty of a view of myself, I have too lowly a view of You. Open my eyes to see more clearly Your greatness. May I learn to serve and give freely as I follow You.
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6 comments:
Two comments:
1. A little encouragement: I was at the second service, and am both convicted and encouraged by the message. I love your teaching and know that God has used you to bring me back to Him.
2. General comments: I find the blog posts very useful and am glad you use it to communicate with the church. I hope people take advantage! Keep it up! Thanks.
Pastor Neil, thank you for being so honest and real with us. I just want you to know that it's such an encouragement to the body of Christ when our pastors are genuine and don't put on fronts. Thank you for reminding us that only God is perfect and holy, and it Him that we should be esteeming, not ourselves.
And just so ya know, we still love you even if you think your sermons bomb :)
Hey Neil,
God used your sermon Sunday to reveal to me that I am a habitual whac-a-mole-er with my sin,, but also to show me a major sin in my life that I can't even begin to whac-a-mole- I have no solution for it. I have been on my knees over it ever since. I just wanted to tell you that God spoke to me through you on Sunday.
Neil,
Sounds like step 1. Powerlessness to me! Your worst sermon is another's best! And, I've yet to hear your preach a bad sermon.
For all who read this, please remember where you are on Sunday. Please remember Who you are serving. And, please be courteous enough to silence or turn off your phone (for those of you who don't know how to work your phones). It is so incredibly distracting, and so disrepectful to Neil who serves our LORD so well. That goes for the sweet babies as well. Please remember the cry room or step out into the hall when your child starts to cry. Or you can drop them off in our wonderful nursery! How would you feel preparing all week and serving whole heartily to have distractions in the middle of a beautiful sermon? And, if you need to sneak out early, please sit in the back or in the
balcony!
Neil, you are a "put together leader" and you serve Jesus well. He knows your heart and knows of your desire to do a great job giving Him the glory. He also knows you want to feel secure in serving Him. You give your all; the rest is out of your power.
Please show respect for Pastor Neil this Sunday and the Sundays thereafter!
Amen!
Neil-
I laughed at this whole story. Whac-a-Mole is everywhere--even in church on Sunday morning for the Pastor. Fortunately for me I get to play the game from a corner office with far fewer people watching. Unfortunately, the frustrations and drive for significance, accomplishment and "no more moles up" is still there.
Neil, I loved this post. I have some stress going on at work and at the heart is a disappointment in me for not being perfect in my job. I read your post at the perfect time. Thanks for sharing it - Fran P.
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