I’ll admit that preaching is something I’m absolutely terrified of. I feel like it’s a huge responsibility and I’m not qualified to do it. There are so many things that go through my head when I think of preaching. Like, what if my theology is wrong? What if I don’t really understand that topic? What if I totally took scripture out of context? What if what I just said confused someone even more? There’s a lot of reasons why I think preaching is scary. So of course, when we’re asked to share and prepare a word for our Sunday service, I’m not someone who jumps at the opportunity to do so. But this time my team leader Alex encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and preach. I told her, “I’ll pray about it, but I don’t feel called to do it.” (Yes, that was my excuse to get out of it. That was my way of letting her know that it was probably not going to happen.) So I went on with my day. But when I had my alone time with God, He said, “Listen to Alex, and just trust me on this.” (when I heard this, I’ll say I was not a happy camper. I didn’t fight it, but I was definitely not pleased LOL)
The thought of preaching in front of the whole church made me so uncomfortable. I didn’t even know what I could preach on. I began to think of topics that I’m very comfortable with and that I knew I could go up there and totally rock it. But I quickly knew that wasn’t the plan God had for me. I prayed and prayed and the Lord asked me to preach on Justice. That’s a topic I’m passionate about, but I didn’t really know what to say or how to turn it into a message.
One day, as my teammate Heather and I were walking back home, we came across a bus stop where tons of people were standing around. And by tons of people, I mean TONS of people. As we got closer we began to hear a woman crying out. We quickly looked around and found a drunken woman on the ground, who was being helped up by a drunken man, while being kicked in the face and punched by another drunken woman. The fight was happening right next to us, so Heather and I quickly stepped in. I rushed to help the woman up from the ground and she squeezed my hand balling her eyes out. Heather told the other lady to stop hitting her friend; and the man thanked me for helping her up and tried to take her away, but she wouldn’t let go of my hand. When she finally calmed down she walked away with her friends, and Heather and I went on our way. Of course we had a huge crowd of people staring at us because we’re these two tiny Americans that just broke up a bum fight.
I was pretty upset that night. I couldn’t believe that out of all the people standing by the bus stop nobody cared to step in to help. It was obvious that all 3 were intoxicated and they were homeless people, but that didn’t change the fact that someone was getting hurt and everyone standing there allowed it to happen.
That Sunday I got up in front of the church and I shared my story about breaking up the fight. I shared how Jesus was extremely straightforward and repeatedly asked that we show no favoritism. I talked about the meaning of loving your neighbor. How it’s not up to us to pass judgment on others, but rather treat everyone with the same love, mercy, and grace that is given to us. Talked about how that is the way that God is just with us. I shared how we are to lead by example, and the importance of standing up for the things that are just even if nobody else is doing it. I mean, that’s what Jesus always did isn’t it?
I didn’t know if my sermon was going to make any sense to anyone. I felt like I might have had too much emotion attached because I’m very passionate about showing mercy and being just. But when I was in front of the church sharing I was overcome with peace. God told me, “Just deliver the message, I’ll decide who receives it.” So I spoke boldly and with confidence. At the end, the pastor of the church came back up to the front and took the microphone from my hand. She had tears in her eyes and she thanked God for using “this little girl” to share that message with her church. She repented for past sin in front of her church. She shared how she struggles to show compassion to those people, and she explained how in Mongolia alcoholism is a huge struggle and many families suffer from it. She said that was a message that touched many people’s heartstrings, and she thanked me for it.
Shorty after two people decided they wanted to give their lives to Christ. So my team and I got to witness that and it was so awesome! I realized that allowing God to use me in those areas I feel inadequate for, could turn into such a beautiful thing! I received very positive feedback from my team about my sermon, and all of a sudden I felt like preaching wasn’t such a terrible thing. God used me to lead the pastor of a church back to Christ, and bring two people to Him! My prayer is to continue being obedient to God. That I don’t back down from anything He has for me out of fear or insecurity. I’ve witnessed Him work through me for His glory, and honestly, that’s all I ever want to do.
“For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:13
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1-2
