Back in the Pew

Something that I really miss is being able to listen to other people preach. As a pastor, it's an incredible treat and privilege to hear sermons delivered by anyone other than me. For years listening to good biblical messages was what I enjoyed most about going to church. I can still recall what it was like to hear for the first time a Baptist pastor preach (I was raised Catholic) and how amazed I was at the time and care they had obviously put into their message. As a former Catholic, I was more accustomed to homilies or brief sermonettes that rarely delved deeply into the biblical text. The message itself may very well have been biblical, but I never came away with a better understand of a specific text.

This coming Sunday is my last until mid-September. For three Sundays in a row I'm on vacation; and it's often when I'm on vacation that I get the chance to hear other pastors' sermons. I am truly looking forward to it.

These days, of course, going to church isn't the only way to hear sermons. You can listen to (and see) plenty of sermons online. This past week, partly through the initial prompting of my mother-in-law, I listened to some online sermons; and I was blessed, for the most part, by what I heard. While most folks only hear one, maybe two, sermons a week, I found myself listening to several. Probably around 5 or 6. Amos 8 speaks of a "a famine . . . of hearing the words of the Lord," and while this is not what he meant, I realized this week in hearing some good messages how much I had missed being back in the pew. I realized my own hunger and need for hearing the word of God proclaimed. No wonder I listened to so many!

And it made me realize that, though I am very blessed to be a pastor, there is a genuine sense at times that I miss being back in the pew. In being a pastor, it's not at all as though I have graduated or progressed past my own need for edification; I just need to seek it through avenues other than Sunday morning worship. Although now I have to be more deliberate in seeking out ways of getting fed by the word of God.

What's funny, too, is that I can easily forget what it is like to be at the receiving end of a sermon. I can find myself convicted as well as fed, admonished as well as quenched. Some messages simply remind you of simple but crucial truths. Others point you more fully to the holiness of God. Still others challenge you to follow Jesus and to walk with him more faithfully.

And listening to other pastors' sermons challenges me in another way, also; that is, they challenge me to listen as if I were back in the pew and not another pastor. So often when I do listen to another sermon, it can be far too easy to slip into professional critique mode. In other words, I begin thinking about how good the sermon is, how effective the illustrations are, how organized the points are, etc. And I may even find myself thinking, "Hmmm, that was well done. I can apply that to my own preaching." Nothing wrong with this perhaps, but better that I listen with my heart and mind. Better that I listen for what God wants me to hear.

Then I am challenged to be more reflective at times about my own preaching. Because there are times that watching other pastors preach makes you think about your own preaching habits, your own mannerisms, style, themes that perhaps you continue to use, etc. It makes me think: what are people hearing when I preach?

All in all, hearing other pastors preach is an incredibly valuable experience on many levels. Of course, thinking about all of this brings to mind one of the things that makes me as a pastor very nervous at times -- when another preacher is visiting our church and I'm the one preaching! Because then I know that just as I watch other preachers with a critical and evaluative eye, so they must be watching me. That can induce a little holy fear! I can only hope that those preachers, in finding themselves back in the pew, listen to me and hear not only my flaws and mistakes but also God's word proclaimed faithfully. I can't ask for much more!