Preaching When Times Are Tight

In a sense, for much of our nation the idea of a better place and future glory has failed to capture the imagination, even the attention, of so many in recent years because, well, it has been pretty good down here. But as the years of plenty possibly give way to leaner times, preachers should take the cue and dig out the old classics about Heaven and its glory.

As the 1950s gave way to the 1960s and 1970s in this country, a generation—the Baby Boomers—questioned authority and challenged assumptions. They saw their parents, who had endured the Great Depression and a global war, as obsolete. Many dismissed traditional values and theological concepts like Heaven. It was commonplace to hear talk of a celestial home mocked as the myth of “pie in the sky by and by.” This was a generation who had never really suffered or seen suffering.

It is a sobering truth that we tend to only learn to appreciate Heaven and its glory when we are faced with suffering or some present distress. We can then identify with Paul in Romans 8 when he spoke about the unworthiness of comparisons between future glory and present difficulty.

So as the nation slides into a possible period of suffering, preachers should be voices crying in the wilderness about a better place. Some may object that to be too heavenly minded is to be little earthly good, but authentic believers understand what those in generations past grasped—when we set our hopes on things “above,” we can manage things here below so much better.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews talks, in chapter 12, about a contrast between things that can be “shaken” (read: this world, human life, created things) and “a kingdom that cannot be shaken.” In a sense, this is exactly the fault-line our nation finds itself on at this critical moment in our history.

Politicians and social leaders will promote and apply their remedies for the nation’s ills—some things will work; others will not. But the preacher must never become distracted by any of it. When the foundations are shaken, we must speak boldly about the security and serenity of Heaven and all that it means.

When times are tight, when abundance gives way to want and prosperity is left behind, preachers of righteousness have something to say. There is a place, a better place, a glorious place, a place prepared by God Himself.

Or, put another way: I am putting a sign on the wall in my study this year, and it says: “It’s about Heaven, stupid!”