“A pair of barn owls nested in a neighbor’s barn for three consecutive summers and successfully fledged from five to seven young owls each year,” writes Ohio Amishman David Kline in his book Great Possessions. He continues, “On one Sunday during the second summer, the farm family held church services in the barn. The farmer, who is also the bishop of the church, worried a bit that the extra activity might disturb the young owls. As the congregation filled the benches he would periodically glance at the double beams near the peak of the barn where the nest was located. There was no sign of unrest until the congregation started singing. Then the heads of seven owlets popped above the beam, stretching this way and that, eyes blinking to see what in the world was going on. But my friend soon relaxed, because shortly after the preacher began his sermon the owls went back to sleep, awakening only at the closing hymn. “
Was it the content of the sermon, or was it the length of the sermon that put the owlets to sleep? Or was it both? After Jesus appeared to His disciples following His resurrection, He admonished Peter to “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). “Feeding” calls for sermons to be nutritious, to be practical, to be candid, and to be relevant.
On a hot Sunday morning in mid July, the church windows were open, and as the preacher got up and delivered his sermon, a gust of wind blew his notes right off the podium and out the window. A cow happened to be grazing nearby, and ate the notes. Would you believe, the cow went dry!
Sermons ought also to be short. What some preachers lack in depth they make up for in length. They just keep talking, hoping they’ll think of something to say. Early in my ministry someone said to me, “Paul, if you don’t hit oil after twenty or twenty-five minutes, you ought to quit drilling!” Because the mind can only absorb what the seat can endure, preachers should be guided by the words of Ecclesiastes 5:3: “As a dream comes when there are many words, so the speech of a fool when there are many words!”
As preachers, let’s not put the “owls” to sleep!
May/June 2000