No more “Good Sermons”

I have a confession to make: I like and dislike when people say to me “Good sermon!”
On the one hand, I like it because it boosts my feelings, since I normally feel discouraged after I preach.
But on the other hand, I don’t know what that statement really means.
And what does it mean when the next Sunday they don’t say it?

I have a suggestion.
Would it be OK if you said to me, “I heard God speak to me today!”
This takes the emphasis off the minister and places it on the listener.
Here is what I mean.
God is always speaking, but we are not always hearing.
Whether a sermon is great, good or lousy, God is still speaking.
Wherever God is, wherever His Word is present, wherever His Spirit is moving, wherever the Bible is read… God is communicating.
Sometimes it is easier to hear Him than other times, but He is always communicating.

If a minister reads “God is love” from (1 John 4:8,16), then proceeds to massacre the text, or speak pure nonsense, God will still have spoken.
The message may be opposite of what you hear from the minister, but God’s message was still present.
If we focus on the sermon, on the minister, then we become passive observers, evaluators, judges passing judgment, teachers giving a grade.
It enables us to walk away complaining about the failure of the minister, unconvicted in our own failure.
It would be better to say, “Well, I know that is NOT what that verse means, but what does it mean, and what will I do about that?”
If you do not attempt yourself to decide what the verse does say, then you are no different than the minister, walking away from the message without hearing what it does say.

My sermons will vary from Sunday to Sunday, sometimes great, sometimes good, sometimes lousy.
But whether you hear God or not does not ultimately depend on me, but on you.
Are you open to hearing from God?
Are you listening and looking for His ongoing communication all around you?

Guess what?
“I heard God speak to me today!”