Daily Scripture Reading: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Isaiah 30:19-26; Acts 13:16-25

For anyone who has ever heard a word from God under my preaching ministry, Dr. Stephen Johnson is the person you have to thank. For those who think when I received my call to preach that God dialed the wrong number, Dr. Stephen Johnson is the person you have to blame.

Beginning my senior year at Abilene Christian University, I knew exactly three things about my future life plans: 1. I wanted to do ministry in Churches of Christ, 2. I did NOT want to do youth ministry, and 3. I did NOT want to preach. Preaching was what my dad did. And my grandfather. And two of my uncles. And a bunch of other family friends. I had very little interest in it.

However, my degree required two preaching credits and I did want to graduate. So I signed up for Dr. Johnson’s Introduction to Preaching. Stephen’s first assignment for preaching class was called “Exploding a Biblical Metaphor.” It was pretty straightforward: find a single metaphor in scripture and prepare a 5-minute verbal presentation exploring that metaphor. I chose John 15 – God as the gardener of the vine. I don’t remember much of what I said. I do remember being extremely nervous. But I also remember Dr. Johnson’s smile and raised eyebrows as I finished, “That was really good!” he said. More to the point – I actually enjoyed it.

Truth be told, even as a Senior Bible major at Abilene Christian University who had taken a number of courses in biblical studies, I had a strained relationship with Christian scripture. I suppose you could say encountering the Bible felt to me a bit like meeting some important dignitary from a foreign country who had come to lecture on a topic I knew little about. I knew enough to be polite, formal, and respectful as I listened. But I also felt stiff, awkward, and it seemed a little boring or “out of my depth” most of the time.

Stephen’s gift to me (one of many), was helping me connect the interpretation of scripture and preaching to my creative interests. I felt like I didn’t really get the Bible, but I did get songwriting, poetry, literature, and storytelling. And – lo and behold! – turns out a whole lot of scripture is songs and poems and literature and stories! Stephen’s reverent and yet playful relationship with scripture opened up space for me to hear God’s word in new ways as well. Stephen would say things like, “Don’t just read the text, let the text read you!” and “Wrestle with that text like Jacob on the River Jabbok and don’t let go until it gives you a blessing!”

Stephen’s friendship and mentoring during the next season of my life helped illuminate two things for me: First, He helped me learn how to listen to scripture. Over time, reading and studying scripture felt less sitting in on a lecture I don’t care much about, and more like I was consulting the wisest of companions as I continued their and my pilgrim’s journey into the heart of God.

Second, Stephen helped me discern my vocation as a preacher of the gospel. In fact, Stephen’s “final exam” in preaching class was a roundtable discussion where we evaluated our personal growth and the growth of our classmates during the course. When the discussion turned to me – the part of the conversation I was both looking forward to and dreading - Stephen sort of broke protocol, and turned to everyone else at the table and said, “I think Ben’s got a gift for preaching. I think this is something he could really do. Does anybody else think that?” Several nods and words of affirmation followed. I was so mad at him! I didn’t ask for that! Besides, I’m not even sure I was the most gifted preacher in the class. I certainly had a lot of room to grow!

Looking back, however, I’m pretty sure he knew all that. But I think he also knew something else that I didn’t yet know about myself: I never would have gone into preaching without that kind of obvious and over the top encouragement. Sometimes the way the light of Christ comes into our lives is when someone else – who is paying attention to the movement of the Spirit on our behalf – helps us begin to see what we cannot yet see clearly. Even learning to see ourselves in a brand new light. If you see the light of Christ in your brother or sister this Advent, I do hope you’ll let them know. They might not know it yet themselves.

—Ben Fike