“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:10-11
Every pastor remembers his first sermon, probably during his first homiletics course at the seminary. Perhaps it was at his field education congregation near the seminary. In my case, it was at my home congregation during a break. There was little sleep the night before. Anxiety bordered on nausea as I stood next to the pastor to greet the worshippers before the service. However, during the sermon hymn, I closed the hymnal during the final verse to pray that God would do His work through His Word, even if spoken by me. As the hymn ended, God did His work as He promised.
Since that time, I have been blessed by the words of Martin Luther’s Sacristy Prayer that reflected the trepidation of every sinner who has been tasked with proclaiming the Word of God. It reads, “Lord God, You have appointed me as a Bishop and Pastor in Your Church, but you see how unsuited I am to meet so great and difficult a task. If I had lacked Your help, I could have ruined everything long ago. Therefore, I call upon You: I wish to devote my mouth and my heart to you; I shall teach the people. I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon Your Word. Use me as Your instrument — but do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all. Amen.” Those are words that pastors understand all too well.
However, the promise that the Word will do what it says is a comfort to every father who leads the devotions for His family. It is the comfort to every teenager who volunteers to teach Sunday School. It is the promise attached to the witness of a Christian to a friend in need. We need to live in fear as Christians, unsure about how capable we are in speaking the Word of God in our various vocations. We have confidence that the Word of God will do exactly what it says it will do as we speak and study it each day. The Word of God reveals Christ to His people and that it is why it always accomplishes what God intends for us. May we hold that Word sacred and gladly hear and learn it, speaking and trusting that the Word will do what it says.
Prayer - Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it; through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Fraternally in Christ,
President Lee Hagan