Excerpt from Acts 2:22-41 

"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, 'What should we do?'"

Reflection by Martin B. Copenhaver

Most preachers I know have a collection of stories about things people have said to them while shaking hands after worship.  (One of the favorites in my own collection is from early in my ministry.  Someone said, "You know, Martin, every sermon is better than the next one."  I thanked him.  He was in his car and driving away before I realized what he had said.)  Of all the things a preacher could be told, however, the words offered to Peter after his sermon on Pentecost are the most fitting response to a good sermon:  "What should we do?"

A lecture can be deemed successful if it is informative or interesting.  Someone giving a speech might strive to be funny or moving.  A good sermon, while it may have elements of all of those things, strives for something more.  It moves the listener to action.  A good sermon not only prompts one to think about things differently, but also to live differently.  That is why the most important response to a sermon is not what is said to the preacher at the door of the church.  The most important response is what the listener does during the week.

Prayer

God, take our words and speak through them, so that we see more clearly what needs to be done and also so that we are inspired to do it.  Amen.

About the Author Martin B. Copenhaver is Senior Pastor, Wellesley Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is the author, with Lillian Daniel, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.

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