The Mysteries that Separate a Mere Preacher from a Beloved Pastor
The veils that cover magical mysteries are seven.
Magical mysteries are those artistic aspects that are felt by the audience despite the spectators being unaware of the existence of the veils.
And are felt without knowing why.
And this, not knowing why the are felt, their being unknown is, in each of the seven cases, a true magical mystery.
Feeling, not unveiling those mysteries is to dance to the true performing art of magic.
Let’s talk about those veiled mysteries.
- Juan Tamariz, The Magic Rainbow
I don’t know anything about magic. Like a lot of kids I was intrigued by it and even tried my hand at some simple tricks from time to time. But I never studied it, nor the people who devoted their lives to it.
Recently, the Spanish magician Juan Tamariz died, and for the first time I heard about his philosophy of magic. And I as I heard it all I could think about was being a pastor. As Baptists we place our sermons front and center in our worship. We literally station the lectern or pulpit at the center of the stage - sometimes behind a communion table. It’s our main thing. Preaching has the biggest slot in our order of service. We are people of the Word. And yet, so many times I find that something’s missing. And maybe that something is, well, magical.
Tamariz writes about veiled mysteries in magic that in so many words are these partly inexplicable things we in the audience feel when we are in the presence of a great artist. Sure, someone can practice lots, log their tens of thousands of hours, technically do everything right, and even look slick presenting it all to an audience. But in the audience something just feels off. That’s where the seven mysterious veils come in - and whether you are a magician or a preacher these mysteries are at work in, through, and under our craft as artists.
First Veil: The Mystery of Love for What You Do
“The love of magic—it’s useless if it’s not passionate.” I’ve met pastors who love preaching more than they love being pastors of a flock. Pastors do a whole lot more than preach.
A congregation can feel if the person leading them is passionate about being their pastor. That doesn’t mean you need to openly say this out loud all the time to anyone who’ll listen. In fact, the ones who do that are likely trying to convince themselves that it’s true. But it does mean that the call to ministry is the call of shepherding souls, which includes preaching. But that preaching won’t really connect with a congregation unless they feel their preacher loves being their pastor too. Why does this matter? It’s a mystery.
Second Veil: The Mystery of Effort
Tamariz noted that some magic tricks required a lot more effort than others, but the payoff at the end wasn’t always directly related to that effort. Nonetheless, as a magician he could tell that an audience could sense the effort that went into a trick and appreciate it all the more.
While preaching is not magic, I do think of the practice of expository preaching where one goes through an entire biblical book, maybe even a minor prophet of the Old Testament. No, those sermons aren’t all going to have the same impact as one on John 3:16 or Romans 8. But your congregation will sense the effort and work that went into wrestling through Judges 20, right after Judges 19 and right before Judges 21. And sometimes they’ll love those sermons even more than the ones on the more familiar texts.
Third Veil: The Mystery of Knowledge and Wisdom
When preparing to preach there is often a lot to take in: from the syntax of the original languages, to the context of the biblical book or sometimes the canon, and then all the commentaries from people dead and alive. This process will lead to the preacher having been exposed to vastly more information about a text than they could possibly share in a single sermon. But the congregation somehow will feel that you the preacher know more than you are sharing in this sermon and they will appreciate it. It mysteriously matters.
Fourth Veil: The Mystery of Energy
Any public speaker knows about the need for physical energy - sleeping well, breathing deep, and often napping later. The energy Tamariz mentions here is an inner energy that somehow seeps out of the performer and into the audience. They can just feel it when someone has it, and it cannot be manipulated or faked, for it’s an energy that comes along with all the other veils.
Unlike magic, I think of this veil as the Holy Spirit. Throughout biblical times and church history the Spirit has blown where he wills. And his presence in and through someone, whether that's a teacher, singer, server, or preacher is unmistakeable, albeit a little indescribable.
Fifth Veil: The Mystery of Truth
In magic it may seem counter-intuitive to mention that underneath all that deception has to be something true. In preaching we believe we are sharing the truth. But do we really? The audience can feel this. It’s not for nothing James warns all us teachers and preachers about being true. The biblical qualifications for being an elder touch on character and truth for good reason.
Sixth Veil: The Mystery of a Rich Inner World
Our inner world will always come out in our preaching. I used to joke about a pastor’s “getaway sermon,” where he knew he was going to be away for a couple weeks and would share things a little more punchily than usual. But beyond things like that an audience connects with someone who has a lot going on in their life, whether that’s always learning about various things or enjoying various hobbies with various people. This rich inner world is nearly impossible to have without regularly being present with others in a way that is curious and non-judgmental.
Seventh Veil: The Mystery of Love
This is just the first veil all over again isn’t it? Well, no. There’s a difference between loving what you do and actually loving your audience or congregation. They can tell if the performer or speaker loves them. They just can. I once had a friend confess to me that he had to step down as a pastor because his love for his church was tied to their performance for him, or the lack thereof. Thankfully, he could tell. I imagine his church members had already felt this for a while.
In one interview Tamariz summed up everything this way: “For me, you must use magic to express love, to express passion, to express your feelings about life. [. . .]. If you do not express your interior world, if your interior world is not rich and interesting, you can still be a great showman. You can be a great communicator. You can be a great performer. But, for me, you cannot be a great artist.”
Likewise, a person can experience call to ministry, get it confirmed by their church, receive formal training, and even get the opportunity to preach several times - maybe even nearly every week, maybe for years or decades. They might even be a polished speaker who can sometimes bring people to great emotional highs. But without these veils—which admittedly are merely approaches to describing the Spirit who is at work in and through our proclamation of the word of God—without these, that person will just be a preacher at best. But they’ll never become someone’s beloved pastor.