preaching the gospel

I’m numb and can barely keep my eyes open. Another sermon come and gone.

Each Sunday it’s pretty much the same. I preach, God does His thing, and then I feel like collapsing afterwards. I love preaching, but wish it didn’t take such a toll on me.

At first I wondered whether my exhaustion was a result of getting old. After all, I’m not a spring chicken anymore. But I’ve concluded that it just goes with the territory. To preach passionately and enthusiastically just takes a lot out of me.

Yet, I can’t help wondering if other pastors feel the same way as I do, or am I somehow defective? And what about the biblical prophets? If I’m spent after preaching a sermon, they must have been on their deathbeds after saying what they had to say to an often hostile audience!

And then, inevitably, a familiar question pops into my head, most of the time on Sunday afternoons:

“Is it worth it?”

Is it worth preaching to the point of exhaustion week in and week out? Is it worth the headaches that I get on Sunday nights and Mondays? Is it worth the physical and emotional toll that it takes?

Yes, it is.

You see, I’m convinced God has called me to do this. More than that, nothing gives me more joy and fulfillment than ministry, especially the preaching and teaching part. It’s what I was designed to do, what I’m supposed to do, and what I’m driven to do.

And so, next Sunday after preaching I’ll be numb and barely able to keep my eyes open.

Again.

But that’s okay—I’m cool with it. You see, it’s what I’m called to do.

“Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”1

1  1 Cor 9:16