Sin.

I'm blogging right now because the sermon isn't finished; at least, not the sermon I'm preaching tomorrow. I've written two this week, but neither of them were any good. The problem is that in my attempt to preach on the Big Picture of our faith, I've come to the sermon on sin and the fallen humanity we inhabit. And as of 3:15 pm on Saturday, I have no sermon (as indicated symbolically by the above picture).

I focused the first sermon in the series focused on hope. If we yearn for things that are not possible, we don't have hope; we have despair and depression. If, however, we yearn for things that God can and has accomplished, then we have hope. So ... that was the starting point. That can make for a happy sermon, one that even Joel Osteen would find appealing.

The second sermon in the series focused on creation; specifically, on why God created (and continues to create). I believe that creation is (as one has put it) an act befitting God's nature. I also believe that humanity is God's most excellent achievement in creation. After creating humanity and giving us our purpose on earth God said "It is very good," as opposed to the "it is good" statements he supplied after the other stages of creation. Sermons on how magnificent humanity is can leave people feeling really good, too. Joel could flash his handsome smile over that sermon.

The third sermon, though, is about sin, the fall, and evil. Man, oh, man...THIS one has been tough. The biggest problem is that I feel like I'm slitting peoples' wrists and then leaving them in the pews until we get to next week's sermon on redemption.

One of my problems is that I have too much material, personal and otherwise, from which to work when I talk about sin. The pulpit is no confessional, but a preacher dare not pretend he's not infected and afflicted with sin. Also, I've been haunted this week by a story out of Aleppo, Syria that four young men, ages 14, have been accused of raping a four-year-old girl. The story is tempting to use because there isn't a person I've met who could believe that such a thing could be classified as anything except sin and evil. But the story is too heavy and would make the rest of the sermon go unheard.

That's why I'm taking a break for blogging. I'm hoping that the solution will come to me as I type these thoughts.

Preachers ... it's late ... do know where your sermons are?

Thankfully, Bob Hall has finished his prayer preparation. If you're interested (and you really should be!), you can follow this link: Bob's Pastoral Prayer.