May the Gift You Give Be Yours to Give (A timely word for the preachers I serve)

I’ve been thinking about the sermons we preachers preach… and about the gifts of the Magi. The gold, frankincense, and myrrh—each gift was unique and personal. What I mean by that is that Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar (as tradition names them) didn’t approach worship bearing someone else’s treasure. They each came with their own distinctive gift.

Are the sermons you preach your own distinctive gift? Or are you presenting to Christ and His Church someone else’s treasure? There is a difference between perusing a book or a website for a sermon idea that you develop yourself, and surfing the internet for a ready-made, cut-and-paste message. While one cannot be expected to create a sermon ex nihilo, one can be expected not to simply label another’s creation as his/her own.

I’ve been thinking about the sermons we preachers preach… and the sacrifice King David made at the threshing floor of Araunah. You remember the story – how Araunah offered to give David the land and the wood and the oxen for the sacrifice. But David responded, “I will not give an offering that is not my own…”

There is a growing concern that some pastors are putting very little of themselves into their weekly messages and are borrowing liberally or even plagiarizing from the work of others. We preachers need to personally engage the text in our sermon preparation, and not just simply take a shortcut through the process by pilfering someone else's work.

Many pastors across the country and around the world have pledged not to take shortcuts in preparing their sermons. "The Preacher's Pledge" (sermoncentral.com) calls for the following commitments:

I will make the Bible my primary resource in sermon preparation and preaching.
I may use other resources, such as commentaries and websites to enhance, not replace, my personal interaction with Scripture.
As I study, I will strive to accurately understand and honestly apply God's Word, allowing Him to uniquely proclaim His truth in a relevant way through me.

The fact is that God called you. He gave you a voice, a mind, and distinct, personal gifts. He wants to use you as His spokesman to His people. May the gift you give be yours to give.