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 ...

April
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
John Ortberg's Lessons from the Election
John Ortberg's Lessons from the Election
The seven deadly sins of evangelicals in politics.
From the Magazine
Fractured Are the Peacemakers
Fractured Are the Peacemakers
A Christian reconciliation group in Israel and Palestine warned that war would come. Now the war threatens their relevance.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close