Sunday's A Work Day

One of the things about preaching is that you have to hear a fair amount of it in order to do it well yourself. For those of us who's vocations require regular preaching of the word, taking intentional time to listen to other people preach does wonders.

NPH has regularly tried to do this by listening to mp3 sermons, mostly those of Josh McPaul and Mark Labberton at The First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley. Also, when they're available, NPH likes to listen to the sermons of Dave Davis, the pastor of Nassau Presbyterian Church, in the town where we went to school. The styles of these preachers are quite different from one another; two of them ply their trade in a west coast university town known for its liberals and hippies, while one of them works in an east coast ivy league university town renowned for its intelligentsia.

Note to self: add non-presbyterians and non-men to the list of preachers to whom we regularly listen.

As great as mp3's are, however, there's no substitute for the real thing. And last Sunday NPH had a double-dose of the real thing which, a week later, paid immediate dividends. Getting to lead worship with The Very Left Reverend and listen to him preach was a real treat, and getting to participate in his installation later that day and hear another great sermon was also special. But it wasn't until seven days later that NPH got a sense of how useful it was to be in the company of those preachers. We found ourselves unwittingly adopting some of their phrasing, even their mannerisms, and we felt more grounded and comfortable in the pulpit than we had in awhile. We are thankful for our calling and those who model it for us well.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, gentlemen, you have cause to be flattered today.