Long-Winded Preaching
I read a meme one time that said, “There is a fine line between a long sermon and a hostage situation.” This reminds me of a story about a congregation who was having trouble with their preacher preaching too long. They had a meeting, and they and the preacher decided that they would buy a gavel, and after one hour of preaching someone would tap on the pew to signal that time was up. So, in the next worship service a young boy asked if he could man the gavel. Initially, all went according to plan, but after one hour the boy was too embarrassed to use it, so the preacher continued to preach on. Some of the members of the congregation began looking sternly at the boy until he became so angry that he tried to hit the pew with a loud knock......however, as he came down with the gavel, he hit the person on the head sitting in front of him. The wounded member, as he was falling over in the pew, said, "Hit me again, I can still hear him!"
All humor aside, lengthy sermons have always had mixed reviews among brethren. For one thing, not everyone agrees on what constitutes a “long” sermon. Most would likely agree that an hour is a long time to sit and listen to someone talk (unless it’s at a comedy club, or at the reading of a will of a large family where they expect to inherit something meaningful). To some, if the sermon is longer than 30 minutes, it’s too long. (Several years ago I overheard a member of the church actually say to the preacher, “After thirty minutes, you’re on my time.” I always wondered what God thought about that). So, clearly, not everyone is going to agree on “how long is too long.”
To be fair, when I think of those who have physical limitations, or who are wrestling little alligators (i.e., infants and little children), it can be challenging to have to sit very long. And, once in a while, due to people’s work schedules, a lengthy worship service might result in some unintentional inconvenience for them. We always need to be mindful of such things.
But not every excuse is a good excuse. Sometimes it’s the attitude of the one sitting in the pew that needs an adjustment, and not necessarily the worship service. Most churches probably have an established length of time that they plan to meet (for example, “Wednesday evening from 7:00pm to 8:00pm”), and for people’s scheduling purposes, and for continuity, it's generally a good idea to try to stay true to the timeframes agreed upon. However, let us also remember that these time blocks are manmade, and not a restriction God puts upon us.
It is curious how people sometimes can’t seem to sit in worship for an hour or so in a comfortable, air-conditioned building, yet they have no problem sitting on hard bleachers under a hot sun or in the bitter cold to watch a 3-1/2 hour football game. It just depends on where your heart is (cf. Matt. 6:21). The Israelites once stood from daylight until midday while Ezra read aloud to them from the Law of Moses (Neh. 8:1-8). They wanted to hear it. While in Troas, Paul preached until midnight (Acts 20:7). This was important. In the spirit of Matthew 26:40 (to borrow from the principle of thought), imagine Jesus saying, “What, could you not worship me one hour?” (or “an hour-and-a-half” or whatever?)
Friends, God gets so little of our time as it is. Let’s try to keep that in mind when we assemble to worship.
Aaron Veyon
