| |
Esther
It was, without a doubt, the worst sermon Esther had ever heard.
Pastoral candidate Adam Lattin had announced his intention to share the four essentials of worship, but as far as Esther could tell, the train had gone off the tracks on the first essential. Or at least it had skipped onto another track. To support his first point, Adam shared several anecdotes. He would pause after each as if expecting laughter, and a few times, the kind and generous Lauren Puddy had obliged, but his pauses were mostly answered by expectant silences. And Esther wasn’t sure how any of the little stories connected to the first essential of worship.
During the second essential, Adam started to sweat profusely. He seemed to sense his sermon wasn’t delighting his listeners. And the more he sweat, the more words he skipped, the more times he said uhhh, and the more times he looked down at the notebook in front of him. At one point he started gripping the pulpit with both hands as if he was afraid that he couldn’t stand up without it. Zoe, her teenage granddaughter sitting on her right, gave her a worried look.
He skipped the third essential altogether. Walter Rainwater, sitting to Esther’s left, snickered into his hand.
By the fourth essential he seemed to have given up, surrendered to the fact that his sermon was a train wreck and that he wasn’t going to get the job. This essential went smoother than the rest, but it still didn’t make much sense.
He projected no confidence, had no charisma, and left everyone wondering what they’d just sat through. The exact second that he enunciated the final consonant of his last word, Fiona started to play the organ with extra verve, as if she hoped the music would push him away from the pulpit and out the door.
As the music started, Adam looked at Esther and attempted a smile, but there was an apology in his eyes. Esther returned the smile, trying to pack it full of as much meaning as possible: Don’t worry. I’m not giving up on you yet.
Cathy went to the front of the room and hollered over the music, “Please stick around for a few minutes if you’d like to ask Pastor Lattin some questions!”
Esther stood and turned toward the door, expecting to see people flood in that direction, but no one was leaving. She was greatly encouraged by this. When she turned back toward the front, she startled; Barbara was right in her face.
“Why are we still having the question and answer time?” She was in a panic.
Why was Barbara asking her? Cathy had announced it! “Why wouldn’t we? That was the plan.”
Barbara’s eyes grew wide. “But we’re obviously not going to hire this man. Didn’t you just listen to that message? It was horrific!”
This was an exaggeration. “He was nervous. We need to extend grace.”
“I’ll extend grace till I’m blue in the face, but I’m not going to pay someone a salary”—Adam started toward them. Esther tried to shush Barbara, and failed—“to babble on like that every week. No wonder he flunked out of—”
“Ladies,” Adam interrupted, his cheeks red. “I’ve just said this to Cathy, and now I’d like to say it to you.” He took a deep breath. “I can do better. I’m embarrassed of how nervous I was, and I let it get to me. I’m sorry I wasn’t more confident in the Lord and what he’s trying to do through me, but I know that with his help, I can do better.”
Barbara’s face relaxed.
Then Adam saw fit to add, “And the preaching portion of the job isn’t really my strongest asset,” and Barbara’s face twisted up into a knot again. “Thank you for your patience.” Adam smiled and then headed toward Vicky, and Esther mumbled a prayer for his safety.
“I say we give him another chance,” Esther said, but Barbara was too upset to hear her.
“I agree,” Walter said, and Esther’s heart warmed. “It’s hard to judge someone on a single effort.”
Barbara left them then, probably to find a more agreeable audience.
“What did you think, Zoe?” Walter asked. He’d really been trying to befriend her lately. His efforts made Esther adore him even more.
Zoe shrugged. “I’m just glad he’s not a hundred.” She jerked and looked at Esther. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t supposed to be as rude as it sounded.”
Esther laughed. “It’s all right, honey. I’m also glad he’s not a hundred.”
“Do you guys want a doughnut?” Zoe asked, probably trying to make up for her faux pas.
“No thank you,” Esther said as Walter eagerly said, “Sure! Butternut, if there’s any left.”
Zoe nodded and headed toward the back.
When the line at the coffee pot dissipated, Cathy called them back to order. Not a single soul had left the building. Zoe returned with two doughnuts and handed one to Walter. It wasn’t butternut, but he didn’t complain.
“Thanks for staying, everyone. First, I’d like to thank Pastor Lattin for being with us today and for sharing the word. Now this is your chance to get to know him. Who has a question for him?”
Derek’s hand shot up in the back pew.
“Yes, Derek?”
Esther braced herself. Derek didn’t prioritize conforming to social norms, and Esther feared he was going to say something that would send Adam running for the hills.
“Are you a Patriots fan?” Derek asked.
The sanctuary erupted in laughter. Adam didn’t laugh, but his shoulders relaxed and he smiled. “You all laugh,” he said over the fading chuckles, “but that’s a serious question, and one I appreciate. Yes, of course I am a Patriots fan.”
“Excellent,” Derek said. Then he started to hum a song. “Oh, Come All Ye Faithful,” Esther thought.
Roderick Puddy raised his hand, and Adam called on him. Cathy looked pleased that he had taken the helm and discreetly slid toward the front pew. “Can you tell us a little bit about your vision for our church?” Roderick asked, raising his voice to be heard above Derek’s humming.
Adam took a deep breath. “First, let me say that I don’t have a vision.”
Vicky gasped.
“There’s a vision,” he added quickly, “but it’s not mine. I know that God has given you all a vision, and that’s why this church is here. My job is to work toward that vision, toward God’s vision. Now, if you’re asking me for my take on that vision, I would be honored to share it. I see that you all are motivated to love God. That means that you put him first in everything and that you rely wholly on the word of God to make decisions. And I see that secondly, you are motivated to love others. And I am thrilled beyond words to see that you don’t just mean love them with words. I don’t see you praying for the homeless on Sunday and then pretending they don’t exist for the rest of the week.”
Esther fought the urge to sneak a peek at their resident Patriots fan in the back pew. There was no way Adam could know that Derek had no home.
“Instead, I see you all working to listen to people, to feed people, to clothe people, to get a roof over their heads. I see your eagerness to share the Gospel with your hands and feet as well as your lips. And this excites me. I am beyond eager to help you do all this in any and every way that I can.”
Zoe leaned toward Esther’s ear with powdered sugar on her upper lip. “We should have let him do the Q and A before the sermon.”
