Sunday Next. 11.25.2022

    I am sitting in my study after church on November 20th. I am thinking about Sunday, next. Mrs. Beckman and I will leave Wednesday morning to drive to Central Illinois for Thanksgiving with Katy and her family. We return on Friday. That’s a couple of days carved right out of the middle of the week. This blog is generally posted Thursday mornings. That’s why I’m getting an early start. 

    I’ve already finished my first draft for next week. Sunday school is thought out, but not on paper. The first part of the week is chock-full of pre-Christmas season stuff to be completed. Men are coming tomorrow (Monday the 21st) to put up the Christmas Tree and erect the outdoor Nativity. These things need to be done early in the week so that next Sunday evening we can decorate the Church for the Advent/Christmas season.  And I’m thinking about Sunday, next. 

    The last sermon from the last series for the whole year. The following week the march to Christmas begins in earnest. This year I have preached from the NT works of John. Gospel, Epistles, Apocalypse. I have thoroughly enjoyed the year. I am sure I will kind of miss the ol’ guy around mid-December. I am already well into my study for next year, so I won’t have any time to mope. I am struggling a little bit with my Christmas sermon schedule. Every time I go over it, I want to start over. Then I just sit for a bit and think through the whole season and how I am trying to link the sermons to common “holiday” themes. I just sit quietly and think through each sermon, week-by-week and try and paint the “big picture” I had in mind when I brainstormed the series in question.  Then, after a bit, I will think about Sunday, next. 

    One of the compelling aspects of preaching, at least for me, is the constant tension between big-picture preparation and next week. Sermons are written and preached one at a time, but our minds are always putting this Sunday to bed while we are waking next Sunday up. 

    I was reflecting yesterday (Monday) on a particular syntactical issue in Mark (my next big preaching project), and I used a particular phrase in my note taking which serves as a good reminder about our mutual work. The phrase, working exegete. It is true that scholars and commentators also work diligently at their exegesis, and our preaching and teaching benefit enormously from their technical work. Yet there is a subtle distinction between what scholars and preachers do. It is a matter of deadlines. I’ve mentioned this before, and it is worth mentioning again. The scholar has quite likely already “left work” for the Thanksgiving holiday. The way that Colleges are now synchronizing their schedules some will not return until after the Christmas break. They may continue their writing and research, but their deadlines have relaxed enormously. 

    This is not how it works for the preacher! Sunday is coming even if Mrs. Beckman and I are leaving tomorrow morning for Thanksgiving travels. I can either prepare ahead or rush to finish when we return. I am, a prepare-ahead sort of guy, so the work is done. Now my focus is on what comes next. By the end of work today my Christmas preaching will be laid out in its entirety. Why? Because Christmas is a busy season, and I don’t want to be unprepared. Sunday, next, is always somewhere around 6 days away.

    So, my beloved friends and colleagues in ministry; enjoy your family, enjoy the feast, enjoy the football. And spare some time Thursday evening, when the leftovers are stashed and the dishes washed to sit back and “rest your eyes”, while thinking about the message you will bring to your flock Sunday, next.