Leaving Space for the Holy Spirit

When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of the Father speaking through you.
Matthew 10:19-20

“Do not worry about how you are to speak.” Those words are not often believed by those of us who are called to preach. Yes, we read the lectionary selections for any given Sunday and pray for God’s guidance that the words we speak will indeed be those that God would have us speak. But we always worry about our sermons, classes and presentations. Of course, preaching and speaking are not exactly like being called upon to speak in defense of our faith and beliefs, but there is a similarity in that we are being asked to talk about God’s Word to help and empower God’s people.

I remember being invited to speak at the Rev. Otis Moss Jr.’s church in Cleveland many years ago. A few days before I was to preach he called and asked that I not have a written script because he always wanted preachers to “leave space for the Spirit.” You cannot imagine how terrified I was at that idea. Yet, the invitation to leave room for the Spirit to use me to speak to God’s people ended up being one of the most liberating and humbling experiences of my preaching life. The sermon itself would not win any preaching prizes but opening my head and heart to the Spirit’s call filled me in a way I had never experienced before. It also changed the way I heard this particular scripture. I now hear it as an invitation to recognize that all our wisdom and knowledge is worthless if we do not “leave a space for the Spirit” to use us.

Let us pray:

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord my Strength and my Redeemer. Amen (Psalm 19:14)