Father McKenzie

kingwriting

I’ve been wondering…

Am I Father McKenzie?

I hope not.

I’m built to be a preacher.

Writing and preaching sermons is my favorite part of ministry.

I look at it as a spiritual art form.

I may not always score a bulls-eye with my sermons, but it’s what I do and who I am.

I don’t think I’ll ever want to stop.

And that’s a problem.

You see, apparently, Millennials tend to hate sermons.

So, 20 years from now will this be me?

Father McKenzie, writing the words
Of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.

–The Beatles, “Eleanor Rigby”

Gulp.  I hope not.

My anxiety is this:  Am I part of a dying industry?

Are sermons on their way out?

Am I Father McKenzie?

I hope not.

I’m willing to change.  I’m willing to grow in my craft and my calling.  To find new ways to proclaim the old, old story.

I’m willing to listen, to share space, to adjust my words so they might best be heard.

I’m willing to do the hard thing, because I love God, and because my heart longs to make a connection.

But with whom?

Maybe with “all the lonely people”.

No matter the age.

All the lonely people who are searching, who feel disconnected from God and from other humans.

20 years from now, I hope these are the people I am preaching to.

Romans 10:14 says,

 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

I don’t want to be Father McKenzie, wiping his hands as he walks from the grave, where no one was saved.

So I am committed to preaching the Word the best I can,

to children of this new century,

and every Eleanor Rigby.

Have a great week,

Mitch

P.S. Eleanor Rigby on Youtube

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5 responses to “Father McKenzie”

  1. Linda Rice

    I love your Weekly Devotions. How are you and Jan doing? Linda Rice

    Sent from my iPad

    >

    Reply
  2. Corey Stone

    I miss your sermons! Worst case scenario, you can always give unsolicited random sermons to the KU students on Wescoe beach. 🙂

    Reply
  3. James R. Reed

    Thanks, Mitch. Reminds me of a sermon I preached when in campus ministry at UNL back in 1967. All the lonely people…. You are not Fr. McKenzie.

    Reply
  4. Paul M Reed

    Hi Mitch,
    I am one from your Larrytown flock, I miss hearing your thoughts delivered directly from the pulpit, but am thankful for your weekly devotions in my email. I often will print to take home and share with my family the message of the week. So as you are working, darning your socks
    In the night when nobody is there, I hope you know that we care. Your message, your art-form goes out into the ether and may be track-able in 1’s and zeroes like never before, but you can’t know what good you are doing unless you hear some feedback from us, so here, I want to say thank you, so that you don’t worry that no one is hearing. Thank you for your connections that you share with us, and Thank you for the next 20 years, and I hope YOU have a great week!
    Paul Reed

    Reply
  5. revruss1220

    Great thoughts and important questions, Mitch. I often ask myself the same thing and am not sure I really have an answer. So I will just keep pushing the rock up the hill.

    Reply

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