Opus 2016-60: Monday Pulpit: A Feel Good Day

I visited a Methodist church recently.  As I was leaving I heard an elderly couple discussing the service, “Wasn’t that a lovely service?”  said one.  The other agreed.  Yes, it was a lovely service.  Other adjectives I could think of were insipid, lulling, pointless and you get the drift.

If I needed to summarize the entire sermon I would say something like, “There are a lot of unhappy people out there.  Go out and do something nice for someone.”  Now that is a wonderful thought.  There are unhappy people out there.  We should do nice things for people.  The problem is that the preacher knew what he wanted to say before you looked at his sermon text.  His sermon seemed to be based on the following verse,

(Luke 13:34 KJV)  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

The context was a warning for those who refuse to listen to what God has to say.  It was not an admonition for us to go out and gather people under our wings.

This abuse of scripture and preaching is a problem.  My fear is the problem is bigger than this local church.  It is not just a Methodist problem.  The desire to not offend anyone and ask people to be nice is pushing out the reality of sin and the necessity for repentance. 

It was a nice service.  Everyone was clean and smelled nice.  The congregation was diverse and friendly.  The pianist was top notch.  The choir was on key.  The sanctuary was attractive.  The devil was quite happy with the arrangements.

homo unius libri