Why are Sermons Boring?

A friend sent me a link to an article in a leading Christian magazine that focused on the subject of why sermons are boring. In it the author points out that if you look at sermons throughout history, there seems to always be a sense of most sermons being preach as boring. What the author explores is that possibility that we are bored or boring in and of ourselves because we have laid to high of expectations on the sermons and most of them have not delivered.

This article intrigued me and left me asking some interesting questions. Are we failing as the preachers to preacher good sermons? Our we failing to use good communication practices in preaching? Is the spirit of God failing to be present when we are preaching? Are we failing to be open to the Spirit of God when we are listening to a sermon? Is the failure a combination of all of these? The author of the article cited Barth's great questions for preaching, "Is it true? Is God present?"

But what if it is none of these? What if the real reason we are bored is that our boredom allows us to hide from the truth which might simply be that we don't like God. That at an unconscious level we are really afraid of God. Think about it this way, in my life all of growing up and the journey into adult hood has been about learning to do and act in ways that show my value to the world around me. This puts me in control whether I realize it or not. If I take serious the God of the bible and the cross of Christ, then I find I can not do anything to impress God, to show God that I am of value. My value comes from God as gift. Grace takes away my control and this scares me even though I want it and need it. Boredom gives me back control and allows me to not face the God who takes away my control. Of coarse this makes the issue God, us and the preaching and brings us back to Barth's questions, "Is it true? Is God present?" which maybe could be seen as we don't know it is true or are afraid that it might actually be true and we aren't sure God is present or are actually afraid God is present.

This is worth thinking about more.