Osler's Razor

Last Sunday, I gave the sermon at a wonderful place, First Covenant Church in Minneapolis.  You can hear the podcast here.

It occurred to me last night that I have given sermons in five different states (Alaska, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, and Wisconsin), and in the past few years I have given about four a year (though never at the Free Indeed Jubilee House in Detroit, pictured above-- though I probably would if they asked).  It's something I am not trained in, other than spending eight years teaching oral advocacy with Randall O'Brien and Hulitt Gloer at Baylor.   THAT was quite an education, though.

There is this moment, right before I go to the pulpit, that happens every time I preach.  As I walk, there might be a stutter-step because I am having this thought:  "I have no business doing this."  Each time I am filling the spot of an exemplary preacher who leads that church, someone who has honed their craft and excelled, and in that moment of doubt I feel like I am just faking it. 

Early Sunday morning last week, I thought about that moment of doubt.  Should I try to avoid it?

In the end, I chose to embrace it.  I think that humbling makes me a better preacher-- it makes me vulnerable and real and uncertain, all of which are part of a deep truth.  I present myself as someone from the pews who got up that day and gave the sermon instead of listening to it, and that is good and honest.

In the end, I am the man before that church, flawd but hopeful, nothing more and nothing less.