Gain enough!

"For preachers, preaching is a no-win situation. We can never greet opposition as sure evidence of sin without first examining our own thoroughly mixed motivations, our lack of love, and our strident self-aggrandizements; and we can never bask in praise as if we are anything more than mediators, the servants of grace. Though we can take no credit and, indeed, must accept our share of blame, there are compensations. Because we are preachers, we are afforded the gladness of exploring the gospel week after week and thus coming to know the Mystery of God through Jesus Christ. Gain enough!"

David Buttrick, Homiletic: Moves and Structures (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987), 456.

Illustration-a-day: Delight is incomplete until it is expressed

From about September 1st through the first weekend in February, an amazing thing happens in towns all across America. In coffee shops, and in homes, in Sunday School rooms, and in restaurants, men (and a handful of women) who otherwise find it difficult to express emotion, will pour forth their souls concerning the simple, almost silly events, of high school, college, and professional football. If their team loses, it can be horrendous, but if their team wins – oh, how their faces can dance. But what is interesting, is not that people get excited about football, but that they can so enjoy reliving the game. You can take two men, both of whom witnessed the game, and one will say to another, “Oh, could you believe the catch that so-and-so made?” The other, almost interrupting, will reply, “That was amazing wasn’t it. He was all the way stretched out for that one.” The first will contribute, “I didn’t think he had a chance – great catch – great catch.” “Sure was.”

We may laugh, certainly my wife has laughed at me, but reliving a football game is part of what completes a football game. It really isn’t over when the clock stops, it must be rehashed, reexamined, and the good plays must be praised. It is almost mandatory, isn’t it – that good things must be praised? If you go to a good restaurant, you almost feel compelled to tell others about it. If you hear a good joke, you almost feel compelled to share it. Praise, is simply a part of life. Even non-religious people are full of praise. Whether about football, fine art, or fine scenery, people like to praise things.

Thinking on this very same truth, C.S. Lewis noted, “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you are for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with (the perfect hearer died a year ago)” (Reflections on the Psalms, chapter 9) Praise completes our enjoyment. What a wonderful way to put it.

Illustration-a-day: People long for the majestic

The poet Gerald Manley Hopkins stated, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” That's true, but to experience that grandeur, you have to stop and look. This past weekend, my family went camping in Central Texas. On the way we had noticed a random spot on the highway where about a dozen cars were stopped on the side of the road. People lined a fence looking out into a rather ugly, uncultivated field with binoculars and large lensed cameras.

My wife asked if I knew what was going on. I'd seen a large nest in one of the trees and something sparked to life in the back of my mind. "I think that must be where the bald eagles nest. I read something about it in a magazine I think. But I'm not sure." We continued speeding on down the road filled with nothing but mild curiosity.

On the way back home, we noticed the cars again, and decided to stop. Just as we did a magnificent bald eagle took off from one tree and soared across the field, wings outstretched, its majestic white head gleaming in the spring sun. People cheered and cameras clicked. We all felt enriched by simply witnessing the grandeur of the moment. For me personally, mild curiosity had been replaced with the desire to offer praise to the Maker of eagles, spring days, and my own two eyes with which I had been able to take in such sights!

James Mays, an Old Testament scholar, explains that all people have a need for doxology, that is the need to be moved by the glory of another. Doxology is a fancy church word that simply means to speak praise. And as creatures, we were created with a built in desire to give praise. It's why we're drawn to stop and look, at eagles, and canyons, and any number of other spectacular sights. We yearn to be moved by the glory of another, but that can only happen if we pull over and take a look.

For pictures of the site on Hwy 29 between Burnett and Llano, click here.