Obi-Wan and Preaching

If you preach a theologically sound sermon, but it doesn’t relate with the reality of life then it won’t connect. My friend Nadia feels that she has to use illustrations from her life, otherwise it won’t be genuine. Nadia may be one of the best living preachers, but I’m not her. Maybe its my introversion, but I’m not always comfortable talking about myself.

Five years ago, I met with Bob Moon—one of the most genuine pastors I’ve ever known. Bob was kind enough to sit down with me and have a long talk about sermon preparation. One of the things he said was, “When you tell a story from the pulpit, never make yourself the hero of your own story.”

Stories are important; they connect us and ideas. The illustrations in sermons do not always have to be from our lives—they can come from anywhere we hear the truth: movies, music, plays, TV shows. I’m going to use this blog to share some of the stories and illustrations that have made their way into my sermons. The following one is from Pentecost 2022:

The girls went to the beach Thursday, and since I had the TV remote all to myself, I watched the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+. To give you the premise of the show: Princess Leia is a 10 year old girl and she is kidnapped. Obi-Wan has to come out of retirement to go rescue her. In the second episode there’s a scene where Princess Leia, as a young girl, asks Obi-Wan, “What does the force feel like?” Obi-Wan asks her, “Have you ever been afraid of the dark?” She nods her head. He then says, “How does it feel when you turn on the light?” Leia says, “I feel safe.” “Yes, it feels like that.”

If you ever feel bad like you’re not doing enough, or you’re not being a good enough Christian—that’s not the voice of Jesus. If you’re tired, weary, exhausted, the voice the Jesus says, “Come to me and I will give you rest.”

The Spirit points you back to Jesus, reminds you of the grace of God, and reminds you that the work has already been done on your behalf and you are safe.

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