The Monday After a Bad Sermon

Mondays are notoriously the worst day of the week for most people … especially pastors.

For pastors, Mondays are days in which we regurgitate the Lord’s Day in our mind, think back over all the conversations we had, ponder what we preached and what was preached to us, etc. We think about the missed opportunities to impart wisdom with someone who needed encouragement; we think about the silence we enjoyed when someone spoke error; we think about the bad illustrations or transitions or unclear lines of reasoning in our sermon; we think about how unable we are to keep on doing this thing called pastoral ministry.

I share all that just to inform or educate you that Mondays can be a challenge for a pastor. So today, I thought I would seize a teachable moment I experienced yesterday, counsel myself (making Martyn Lloyd-Jones and the psalmist of Psalm 42 proud) and learn from something I did quite poorly yesterday.

I have been preaching on the Ten Commandments and yesterday we arrived at the Sixth: “Do not murder.” Admittedly, this is one of the easier Commandments to explain, unpack and illustrate not just from the Scripture but from society as a whole.

But the unexpected, as sometimes will happen, came. The level of confidence I brought to my mental preparation and prayer for Sunday’s lesson was over the top. In other words, I didn’t really get my soul into that lesson as I should have.

Thus, when I stood up Sunday morning to teach, I felt as if I was not communicating clearly, rambling at times, stumbling over words and phrases I rarely struggle with, having a hard time recalling my chosen illustrations, etc. When I said “Amen” I knew it was not a good sermon.

I have never been impressed with my sermons but sometimes as a preacher you really preach a dud. You just don’t get it done as you should. And yesterday was that kind of a day for me. Even my wonderfully honest and loving wife affirmed all this for me on the way home when I asked her how my lesson went.

So where do I go from here? Where does any pastor go from here? How can and should we as ministers of the Word respond to preaching a bad sermon? Here are some tips for the next “dud” you or I will preach.

1. Don’t loathe in self-pity. God is much more able and powerful than our preaching failures.

2. Be willing to laugh at yourself. Self-deprecating humor keeps us humble.

3. Remember we live in an imperfect, cursed world. Bad sermons will be preached and there are more on the horizon for me.

4. If anything was taught in error, correct it publicly.

5. If people were very confused about your message, be willing to re-preach or write a blog post or something else to make things more clear. Anticipate lots of questions for clarification.

6. You never preach as good as you think you did or as bad as you think you did.

7. Be thankful the Holy Spirit changes hearts and the Word of God is still living and active.

8. Keep worshipping God. Get back in the preaching saddle and preach the Word.

Certainly there are more things that could be said. In fact I invite any and every one to add to the list of counsel if you desire.

Thank you for letting me think through this issue in this public format. God is and will always be good. May I re-commit myself to being a faithful herald for Him. See ya next Sunday