Clever vs Inspired

This past week I was working on my annual Father’s Day sermon. I don’t know if I’m ‘old school’ or not but I like to take advantage of holidays. Holidays are those times when friends, relatives and others who don’t normally go to church, attend. They generally do so because of the particular holiday, so why disappoint them? Besides, each holiday has its own unique emphasis which makes it special.

That being said, holidays can be tough for pastors as far as sermons are concerned. I mean, at this point I have preached 18 Father’s Day sermons. How many different ways can you say that fathers are important, that they are needed, that we should honor them? Another aspect is that there just isn’t a lot of material about fathers in the Bible. Sure, there are a few standard texts such as ‘Honor your father and mother’ and the Apostle Paul has some advice to fathers, but it’s not exactly like the Bible is a handbook on fathering. So, after a while, preparing sermons for holidays (Christmas, Easter, Mother’s & Father’s Day, etc.) can be very challenging.

Well, this past Mother’s Day I felt that God gave me a good theme to preach on without duplicating much of what I had said in the past. The same thing happened this week. Out of the blue (while watching TV with my wife while I was working on my laptop, no less) God gave me a theme for this week’s message. Now let me tell you, there is nothing like when a good idea comes together - when that small seed of a thought mushrooms into a sermon, a good sermon, a sermon that you know has substance.

As I was putting the finishing touches on my sermon I was proud. I can’t wait to preach this! This is good. Man, am I clever. Clever? Did I just think clever? That’s not good. As I thought about this I came to the conclusion that clever is a human word. When someone is referred to as ‘clever’ the emphasis is on them - their talents, their abilities, their ideas. No, clever will never do because the idea for this message didn’t originate with me. What would be a better word? I know, inspired! Yes, that’s the word! In my way of thinking, it is the exact opposite of clever. Inspired is a ‘God’ word. It means that the emphasis is on God’s talents, God’s abilities, God’s ideas.

So, I will be glad to go into the pulpit on Sunday with what I know is an ‘inspired’ message - a message that God gave me, that God developed and that God will bless. I like inspired. I am going to use it in my vocabulary a lot more. I’m just happy that I was clever enough to come up with it! :)

Lord, thank you for Your divine inspiration - for those times when You give me an idea, or a solution to a problem, or the right word to say at the right time. I know that these come from You. Thank you for speaking to me. May you get all the credit and the glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.