Do you like sermons?

Do you like sermons? Short sermons? Long sermons? Meaty sermons? Story-oriented sermons? I was reading in Middlemarch (by George Eliot) and I came across this little quote. It made me smile. Because, like it or not, she's got a few things right. I think you can 'train' yourself to like listening to sermons. Maybe not each and every sermon you hear. You will, of course, have your favorite preachers and your-not-so-favorite preachers.

"Oh, my dear, when you have a clergyman in your family you must accommodate your tastes: I did that very early. When I married Humphrey I made up my mind to like sermons, and I set out by liking the end very much. That soon spread to the middle and the beginning, because I couldn't have the end without them."

I haven't always liked listening to sermons. I actually don't like sermons-in-church so much as sermons-in-the-convenience-of-my-own-home. At churh, I'm distracted. Distracted by my stomach. Of thinking that I'm hungry. Of thinking about what I want to eat. Of where I want to go. I'm counting down the minutes--in a way--to when I can get out of there. But in another situation when I'm full and content and ready to listen, to really listen, then I love listening to sermons.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible