I knew a pastor who prided himself on having his sermons prepared 3 months in advance. That’s right. Read that again. His response to any critique of this method was: “I preach from the Gospel, not the newspaper.”
Of course there must be a balance. The newspaper, largely, spews the bad news of the day, of the human condition. If you beat that drum over and over, well, how would a sermon be any different from the newspaper? The news is never fair and balanced, just as the Gospel is not fair and balanced. It’s way out of whack in the way of God’s faithfulness to us. And “fair” has a whole other look to it.
Inspiration comes in all forms. My friend, Mark, sent me a recent quote from Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, poking at the people commenting about the financial tail spin we’re in. Basically, and I paraphrase wildly here, he remarks about how many 24-hour financial news networks there are, talking every day, all day about all things money. And now that the bottom has dropped out of Wall Street, these networks are filled with experts shrugging their shoulders, saying “We don’t know.”
Well, if you’re in Syracuse on Sunday and happen by Onondaga Valley Presbyterian Church (where I have 1/3 of my time on internship) I’ll be invoking the spirit of Jon Stewart as I compare the Jewish elite’s “I Dunno” response to Jesus to that of our financial elite’s “I Dunno.”
Of course I believe Jesus is my Lord and Savior. (HERESY ALERT!) Isn’t it interesting that Jon Stewart is a Jew? That’s all I’m sayin.
