Thursday, May 4, 2006

Random Thoughts on Grief, Holy Ground, and Hard Preaching


These three paragraphs come from several years ago, but they bear repeating, I think. Hopefully, you will be as provoked to think as I was to write. In any case, here they are.

● Grief ●

“…none spake a word unto him for they saw that his grief was very great.” (Job 2:13)

Some grief is too great to be expressed. While at the same time, we often search for words of comfort when there are none. Not because there is no comfort, but because the comfort will not come through words. Grief that cannot be expressed, like “groanings that cannot be uttered,” call for a specialist—the blessed Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26). It is not for nothing that He is called “the Comforter.”

● Holy Ground ●

“Then said the Lord to him [Moses], Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.” (Acts 7:33)

I have seen preachers take off their shoes before they preached, the idea being that they were standing on holy ground. I suppose this could indicate either humility or pride. I do know that when God told Moses to remove his sandals, Moses was not standing behind a pulpit; he was standing in the presence of God. And anyone who finds himself or herself in such a place will feel anything holding him or her to this earth is unnecessary baggage. Wherever God condescends to meet with us is holy ground, whether it is behind a pulpit, on the backside of a desert…or sitting in a rocking chair.


● Hard Preaching ●

“Therefore it is no great thing if his [Satan’s] ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness…” (2 Cor. 11:15)

Apparently, hard preaching against sin by “ministers of righteousness” is not a guarantee that the one doing the preaching is actually speaking for God. It’s no big deal for the devil, says Paul, to find someone to condemn your sin; the trick is to find that saint, preacher or otherwise, who will help you on your way to victory over that sin. The one whose ministry could be defined as “confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith…” (Acts 14:22)

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