1
Tim 1:12-17
While preparing a message recently on why I personally
love to be a preacher, I was reminded of the following powerful piece. It is
written by Dr. David L. Lane and adapted for use here.
Preaching is the
highest and holiest of all vocations under the blue canopy of heaven. It ranks higher than the prestigious,
presidential powers of the President of the United States. It's higher than the financial powers of the
Rockefellers or Bill Gates. It's higher
than the scientific powers of Albert Einstein, or the military experts of a
Patton or Eisenhower.
The great God who
painted the skies blue, who flung the stars into orbit, who dug deep the gorges
and who piled high the mountains, has committed His gospel to earthen treasure,
that His manifold wisdom might be made known in the world.
I thank God that He
made me a preacher. Bible preaching
kindles the mind, energizes the will, disturbs the conscience, stirs the heart,
clears the vision, purifies tainted motives, rectifies distorted perspectives,
guides lives, and sets joybells ringing.
I thank God that He
made me a preacher. I thank Him in
health. I thank Him in sickness. And when at last I stand in the full
inheritance of my sonship, I will thank Him then that He made me a
preacher. We are such privileged
people. Not only has the Prince of Glory
made entry into our lives, He has permitted us to participate in the work of
redemption. The Almighty has given us
special access to the sanctuary of His truth.
He has made us keepers of the angelic proclamation, emissaries of
eternity, bearers of blessedness.
The preacher is a
herald of the flaming news of Calvary.
The preacher is a bell ringer of hope.
The preacher is a fixer of broken homes and a restorer of broken down
relationships. The preacher is a voice
of God crying in the wilderness saying, “Repent, get right with God!”
If people's lives
are going to be transformed, if people's lifestyles are going to be
revolutionized, SOMEBODY MUST COME PREACHING.
If men are to know that there is liberty for the prisoner, help for the
helpless, grace for the guilty, salvation for the lost, healing for the sick,
peace for the confused, and life for the dead, SOMEBODY MUST COME PREACHING.
If men are to know
there is freedom for the enslaved, welcome for the wanderer, reception for the
prodigal, sight for the blind, mercy for the wretched, riches for the poor,
abundance for the needy, wisdom for the ignorant, and victory for the defeated,
SOMEBODY MUST COME PREACHING.
It's painful and
perplexing, but I'm proud to be a preacher.
The preacher connects the infinite with the finite, the ultimate with
the intimate. He is a man in the middle,
between blessed divinity and wretched humanity, between a changeless Creator
and His erratic creatures.
No other work deals
so directly with the eternal verities.
No other labor deals deeply with the twin themes of time and
eternity. No other task is so intently
engaged in pulling meaning out of mystery.
I'm proud to a preacher.
I'm glad to be a
preacher. I make no apology for it. I'm God-called, God-sent, Christ-centered and
Holy-Ghost-empowered. This is no easy assignment. If I did not have to do it, I would not
preach. I'd pack up and re-deploy my talents. But I can't pack up, because I never took
preaching up; it took me up. I tell the
glorious story out of compunction and compulsion. I tell it because I have to tell it. If I couldn't tell it here, I'd tell it there
or somewhere. If I didn't get a hearing
here, I'd have to move to there. If I
couldn't get a hearing there, I'd have to keep moving until I got a
hearing. Were the highest heavens my
pulpit, and the whole host of the redeemed my audience, Jesus alone would be my
text.
Dr.
David L. Lane (Adapted)
