Key Verse: Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”
Do you ever get tired of preachers? I do, and I’m a preacher! I’ve often tried to analyze this fatigue, and I think I’ve hit on at least one thing about us preachers that makes me tired: we so often hammer away on the obvious. Our sermons are time and again framed around “should”, “woulds”, and scoldings — as though we had a parent-child relationship with our congregations. On the other hand, a preacher who simply preaches the Bible, letting it speak for itself, and then making practical application, is someone who has my attention.
But there’s another messenger who should have our attention. It’s creation itself: they world around us.
Paul says we can hear a sermon in the trees, the sky, the waters, and the mountains. And, rather than assault us with “should” and “woulds”, creation eloquently speaks of its Creator. Not only does it cry, “God exists!”, but it tells us what God is like. His “invisible attributes” and His “eternal power and Godhead” are uncovered in what He has made. All we need are ears to hear, eyes to see, and a mind to think.
Maybe there’s another flaw in us preachers — we tend to think for our people, instead of challenging them to think for themselves. The creation, after all, is the great thought-provoker: it makes you think thoughts of God.