Is This Anything?

Jerry Seinfeld came out with a new book this year. It chronicles his life in comedy. It shares the story of how he decided to be a comic. It’s a lot like any other comic’s story. It talks about his early years. Each section covers a different decade of his life. 

But the title was just odd. What did it mean? Seinfeld explains. He says: “‘Is this anything?’ is what every comedian says to every other comedian about any new bit…You see that same comedian later and you will be asked, ‘Did you get anything?’ All comedians are slightly amazed when anything works.”

Preachers are not comedians and anyone who thinks he is is in the wrong field of work, yet I can relate to Seinfeld in a number of ways. I can’t tell you the number of times a thought from a text has bounced around in my mind and I wonder “Is this anything.” Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren’t. But the longer I preach the more I realize the power is not in me but in the Word itself, breathed by God.

This thing we do taking the ancient word and bringing it into the current. The Word is always relevant but our attempts are often over or under or not quite there. 

Is this anything? I think God gives us the very best of assurances in an answer: “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). 

When we believe it all depends on us, our creativity, ingenious approaches, homiletical skills, we will forever be on the edge of quitting and will forever be second-guessing. But when we learn that our purpose is to do our best to get God’s Word into hearts and that He has so created that Word that it will not fail, we can with confidence always know “THIS is something!”