Revival and Renewal

To make it plain, ironed and pressed
Ground and brewed, poured and served. 
Prayed through, pained through, caught through
The tide of mined eternity, the incarnation 
When the mine came in form of the miner
And spoke in words of gold: prophet and poet
Salesman and scholar
Watchman and woe-worker
Soldier and scribe. 

To disturb and prune
Dress and bind the wounds. 
Halt the hard of hearing, make them face the sounds
Salve their ears with muddy mixture 
Of wrath and mercy
Both soft and sour
Words, their own kind of incarnation
Bodying forth, grafting in, building up
Setting on edge, giving All in power
And after, rest. 

I’m drawn to Wordwork. As I was talking to a friend this morning, we both lamented the increasing pressure and emphasis from ministry leaders, even in my association, to focus on things other than the Word preached in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:1-2). The Word preached changed the world once. I believe it can do so again.

I wanted to share this poem that describes the preparation of a sermon, and on a deeper level, the purpose of preaching. We don’t just exegete the Word; we exegete our people, inviting them into the deep mine of life with God, seeing all things through that moment when “the mine came in form of the miner/ And spoke in words of gold…” As I’ve been reading in Luke 4-5 recently, it is Jesus’ words that brought liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, and good news to the poor. Too often, my words make his words seem optional. I want what I say of his Speaking to fly like birds, invade the mundane, and set it aflame.

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