Do you ever sit there listening to a sermon and think, “I wish so-and-so were here to hear this”? (Come on, I can’t be the only one!)
During the sermon on Sunday I was looking at a handful of young people sitting in front of me and thinking of how I could reach out to them. The young man had visited our Bible study and asked a lot of questions. Then during the sermon I saw his face lighting up with interest as he listened. That had to be a good sign! The pastor even quoted the passage (from Revelation) that we had studied the previous week. Could God use this as confirmation?
Then I had to laugh, because the main passage was about the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18); how the Pharisee stood there praying and “thanking” God for being righteous and not at all like those poor sinners. And here I was staring at someone else, waiting for HIM to realize he was a sinner. Surely the sermon is for the visitors, and not for the expert Christians, right? ;)
To be honest, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to recognize someone else is a sinner (well, separated from God) and to pray for God to touch him. But I felt a little embarrassed that instead of testing my own heart, I was looking around to see who might receive this message. The question is, am I a Pharisee? Am I proud? Am I sincerely setting a good example for others, or just playing a role?
Oh! WHENEVER my husband is at a different Mass than I attend, or I hit a daily Mass, and he isn't there, I am SURE that the sermon is the VERY ONE he needed to hear. Then, when he IS there, they never seem to preach as well (or as well for HIM). It's funny....and then when the sermon IS something that I think is just SO on target - afterwards I say, "What about such and such...." and he just looks at me, like he wasn't in the same church.
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