Jump directly to the Content

The Most Powerful Sermon I Ever Heard

It started in the bathtub, the sermon I most remember. The preacher said, "The water is running; the tub is filling. I've forgotten the shampoo. 'I'll get it for you,' she says. Then after a moment her small voice from the other side of the curtain, 'Daddy, I'm bringing you no more tears.' And her hand reaches in with the baby shampoo.

"Thank you, dear."

The preacher went on to say no one, least of all those we love and those who love us, can promise us no more tears. It's a condition of love that tears will flow.

The text was Revelation 7:9-17-"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Until this vision in Revelation comes, tears and laughter will be mixed.

I nodded, and for a moment at least, it set me free to love.

H. Benton Lutz

St. Stephen Lutheran Church

Williamsburg, Virginia

The most powerful sermon I ever heard was one I actually saw. A full hour of worship one Sunday morning centered around the Lord's Supper. A drama group-all church members-dressed as Jesus and the disciples ...

October
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
Trend Watch
Trend Watch
From the Magazine
The Cost of Creativity: Bonhoeffer Set Aside Ethics For Art. Did He Choose Well?
The Cost of Creativity: Bonhoeffer Set Aside Ethics For Art. Did He Choose Well?
The theologian set aside his nearly finished magnum opus while in prison, investing instead in creative writing.
Editor's Pick
Come Ye Pastors, Heavy Laden
Come Ye Pastors, Heavy Laden
Learning to walk under the weight of ministry's many hats.
close