No Excuse for Garnish!

How many times have we sat down at a restaurant, ordered our meal and it arrives with that little extra something on the plate that we weren’t expecting?

You know what I am talking about. It’s that little sprig typically in the form of lettuce, parsley or some other leafy green that resides strategically at the edge of your plate just waiting to be removed before we engage in the culinary masterpiece in front of us.

Have you ever pondered its existence or mulled over why someone who made the effort to prepare your meal would place it there? What I am referring to is what we know as “garnish,” and its purpose, I believe, is problematic. The reason it is used may be simply for decoration, but it may also serve in making the dish look more appealing to the eye. After all, what’s a good tex-mex dish or even a filet mignon without a little color to really set it off, right? That said, I could do without it. I believe garnish is a waste of time and resources that only detracts from what I am there to enjoy. That little piece of parsley on my steak, or even worse, in my mashed potatoes or stuck to my mac and cheese frustrates me more than anything else. The time it takes for me to remove something so I can “down” what I have been patiently waiting for is annoying.

Obviously, there are some in favor of the garnish and if all we were talking about was your trip to the local restaurant, it would be nothing of great concern. However, there does exist a huge problem when we consider our time at the Lord’s Table on Sunday morning! We preachers are tasked by Scripture to deliver a meal to the Lord’s people. It should be a meal that the Lord has provided, but how can we know that?

Well, consider where the recipe came from and how it was prepared. Does the meal come from Scripture? Was the meal prepared at great length through your interaction with the Lord and His Word to ensure its nutritional value? Did the Holy Spirit deliver the meal when it came time to serve?

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

If the answer is “yes” to these questions and you can say with certainty that the Lord “hath provided,” then why put that meaningless, unnecessary something with it that does nothing more than diminish from what the Lord has given? You may be asking, “What garnish are you talking about?” We all know exactly what I am referring to; the stories about family and friends, the latest vacation or other life experiences, the jokes or the endless illustrations to help people understand something the Holy Spirit is there to take care of.

The Lord needs no help from us.

He only requires our obedience. It is our responsibility, our obligation even, to stay true to the Scripture, to slave over the meal each week and put ourselves in that place of glorious rescue as God does what only God can do and that’s to deliver through His instrument the food that He has given for the sake of His people’s satisfaction to His own glory! The last thing we need to do is garnish the proverbial plate with something we think will make what God has provided more palatable. Yet, this is happening all the time. Preachers can go online and purchase sermons, icebreakers and many other tools referred to as “sermon-helps” to “…take their sermon to the next level.” Pathetic!

God delivers His message to His people as He sees fit. The Scripture is sufficient by itself to handle the wrenching hunger pangs of God’s people!!

There have been times in ministry when I have been insecure about my delivery or worry about not having enough in the message to keep the attention of those in front of me. If this happens to you, the following questions are worth examination:

1. Am I called to preach?
2. Is my relationship with the Lord suffering on a personal level?
3. Do I need more training?
4. Is my prayer life lacking?
5. Am I more concerned about the Christians in front of me than Christ who owns the Table?

If these five things are a non-issue, there is no reason for garnishing in the pulpit. Just serve the meal and enjoy the feast God has provided!

If you are reading this and you are a hearer on Sunday, I would ask you:

1. Do you require garnish? If so, why?
2. Are you willing to pray for the Lord to guide your pastor in his sermon preparations?
3. If you are dissatisfied with the constant garnish, are you willing to speak up in the fruit of the Spirit and encourage your pastor to leave it off the plate?

Be like the Bereans, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11

Resist the temptation to make excuses for garnish. It is inexcusable!

Honestly, has anyone ever asked you, “Hey, can I have your garnish?” or “Are you gonna eat your garnish?” Likely not. So, that said, let us come to the Lord’s Table with great anticipation for His food, garnish free, equipped with all the caloric value necessary to go about the days He has ordained for us all!