#208 Old Favorites

Sometimes as a pastor I find myself preaching an extremely familiar Bible passage. In the past few weeks I've preached on a couple stories that Jesus told that have worked their way into our everyday language: Jesus' story about a good Samaritan and Jesus' story about a prodigal son. Preaching a passage that probably everyone listening to me remembers and has even heard a sermon or two or seventeen on before can be intimidating. I can start wondering about whether or not my own proclamation of the passage will hold up to what others have said. I can begin to worry about whether or not I'll just repeat what the congregation has already heard before and leave the bored. There can be a temptation to really focus on some tiny details or unexpected perspective to make sure that I'm doing something new.

But lately I've been thinking that trying to be different and fresh with a familiar passage shouldn't be my goal. Some Bible passages we use over and over in church because they're central to our faith, like the stories of Jesus' birth and death and resurrection. Others we come back to because we need to continue to be challenged by them, like God's call to love our enemies or to be transformed rather than conforming to the world around us. And some old favorites I think are a little like our favorite meals. One meal we eat at our house we simply call chicken and rice. It's chicken, rice, cream of chicken soup, and a little milk—that's it. Maybe you add a dash of seasoning salt. It's not the most exciting meal in the world. Certainly you could make fancier dishes with chicken and rice. But we like this dish; it fills us up. It's the first thing Tess made for us after we got married. It reminds me of her and of my mom. It makes me feel loved. Maybe preaching familiar passages isn't about breaking new ground or spicing things up. Maybe it's about being filled by God's Word once again and being reminded of His love. We can't only focus on our favorite passages in the Bible and ignore the rest. We need some balance and variety in our diet. But sometimes we need the comfort of an old favorite.

Grace and peace,

BMH