On July 10, 1986, President Ronald Reagan visited Dothan, Alabama. It was a big deal for the mid-sized city tucked into the southeastern corner of the state — the one that everyone up north “passes through” on their way to the beautiful beaches on the Florida Panhandle.
Dothan still displays the china on which President Reagan ate his southern meal of fried chicken, potato salad and lima beans. There’s now a “Ronald Reagan Boulevard” to commemorate the route of his motorcade.
It was 98 degrees that day, and 98 degrees in South Alabama isn’t quite like 98 degrees anywhere else in the United States. But that didn’t stop over 30,000 people from lining the roads to catch a glimpse of the popular president.
One young mother shared her rationale for bringing her two young children to the occasion, “We feel like he’s a president we can respect. So we decided it would be worth it to come out here to sit in the sun a while.”
I was one of those 30,000 people. I was 4 years old. And while I have vague memories of a hot day and waving miniature American flags, I know beyond doubt that I had no conception of the true significance of the moment. If Ronald Reagan would have stopped his motorcade and picked me up, I would have been completely unimpressed. At 4 years old, I was physically present but completely oblivious to the meaning of the event.
Something similar happens in churches every Sunday.
Consider this. The Bible teaches that when the word of God is faithfully preached, God speaks to his people. John Calvin put it this way: “When the gospel is preached in the name of God, this is as much as if he himself did speak in his own person.”
Protestants have always believed this and have consequently made preaching the word the climactic event in our worship liturgies. Historically, the Protestant tradition, following Scripture, demands clear and faithful gospel preaching toward the end that God’s people may hear from God directly every Sunday.
Protestants didn’t make this up, for Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica: “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
Paul showed up to preach the gospel, and the people in that Macedonian city, instead of hearing Paul’s sermon as the speech of a mere man, recognized the very voice of God in it. That was a good thing according to Paul because the word of God is “what it really is.”
Now, back to my example. When you are physically present at church on Sunday morning, are you cognizant of the significance of what is actually happening? Are you aware that God is speaking through the faithful preaching of the word? When you show up after a stressful morning of wrangling toddlers, coffee stained and arriving just in the nick of time, are you at that point aware that you are about to hear from God himself? If I had to guess, I would say that thought rarely crosses our minds. But how can we benefit from what is happening if we are not aware that it is happening?
Notice what transpires when we are aware that God is speaking—when we believe that the preached word is God’s word. Did you catch the end of the verse? The preached word, received by faith as the word of God, begins to “work in you believers.” Martin Luther once reflected on the impact of his preaching ministry, “I simply preached God’s Word. Otherwise I did nothing…The Word did it all.”
When faithful gospel preaching is received in faith as God’s very word, the word begins to work in unimaginable ways to save, to sanctify and to transform. If we want to benefit fully from what really happens during the Sunday morning sermon, we need to show up ready to receive God’s words by faith as God’s very words.
How do we ensure that we don’t miss out when God’s word is preached? Here are five habits that will help. First, show up expectant. Pray beforehand that God would make you ready and ask God to speak clearly and powerfully to you. Second, assess every message. Use discernment to compare the preacher’s message to the Bible.
If you determine that your preacher consistently misses the mark or fails to preach Christ, find a new church that prioritizes faithfulness. Third, always assume God is right. In other words, come humble, knowing that you can’t save yourself and that you’re often wrong. We come to God’s word for correction. Fourth, never listen alone.
Make sure that you are an accountable member of the church and that you are relying on others to help you respond faithfully. Finally, apply every message. God’s word has not been heard until it has been believed and obeyed. Determine to be a doer of the word.