Real-time Sermon Commentaries
The Up Side of Passing Notes During the Sermon
Posted
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
by
Brian Beers
Sunday following our Easter dinner an unusual topic of conversation came up: congregational comments during the sermon. I don’t mean the loud “Amen!†or “Preach it!†comments. I mean the passing of notes or leaning over to your neighbor and whispering kind of comments. Strict etiquette may forbid such exchanges, but perhaps they aren’t all bad. Maybe they can even be beneficial.
My sister-in-law brought up the topic by telling on the wife of one of our deacons. Our pastor had been exploring the crisis of faith the disciples experienced between Jesus’s death and their coming to believe in his resurrection. When he talked of how the disciples dismissed the womens’ report as crazy talk, our deacon’s wife leaned over and said, “Some things never change.†We all found this account funny. It was like apples of gold in settings of silver. A comment like that can open up the heart with humor and help us connect with the disciples and understand them at a gut level. And her comment doesn’t apply to me – only other guys.
Another couple was then mentioned as having quite the reputation for real-time commentary. Also during this Sunday’s sermon, I jotted a note to my wife, “How strange that we have to be continually reminded about reality.†She jotted back, “We are still operating under the rules of death. We are unfamiliar with the physics of life.†I thought, “Wow!†That’s it: Wow! There was too much there for anything else, but her reply tied in to the sermon and increased my wonder over Christ’s death and resurrection. They changed everything.
To be honest, not every note or every comment contributes positively to comprehension. One Sunday during Sunday School I received a note from one of the other men. The lesson was over 2 Peter 1:1 and included a description of becoming a bond-servant. The note I received suggested that we both come to church the following week wearing fake earings. I didn’t take him up on it though he promised to do it if I would. Some notes enhance understanding. Others are...not.
Do you pass notes during the sermon? Do you lean over and make comments to your neighbor? Are your comments the “earing†kind or the “physics of life†kind? Share your kind of comments here, and maybe our pastors won’t be concerned about notes and comments while they are preaching.
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