Pastor Lee took off his jacket and immediately slumped into the living room sofa. It was four o’clock on Saturday afternoon. The heat had been sapping his energy and goodwill. He had returned home after the funeral service at the crematorium. He stared in silence at his own weary face on the television screen. He dozed off.
The noise in the kitchen woke him up. The domestic helper was washing the vegetables and chopping the onions and garlic. The rhythmic tok, tok, tok gently reminded him that the Sunday sermon had not been prepared.
He reviewed the week, as though to seek an excuse for not being prepared yet.
On Monday, he ran errands and met his wife in town for lunch. It was his day off, but he had many boxes to tick.
Tuesday’s staff meeting went on for the whole morning. Evaluating the worship service, hearing reports on the events and ministry of the previous week. The staff discussed problems and pastoral matters. Finally, they prayed together for the various needs of the church. Administrative work continued after lunch, and by 4pm, Pastor Lee slid into his comfortable office chair and shut his eyes.
On Wednesday, he worked from home and began by looking at the scripture text for Sunday. He read too quickly. The second and third time, he lingered over each phrase and sentence, going back and forth to reread and ponder. He groped for the main idea without success because, as yet, he had a few unanswered questions about the cultural background of the text.
That was when a WhatsApp text informed him of a member’s hospitalisation. He called the church office and asked a pastor to visit the member. He had a prior meeting with a denominational committee that was planning the 70th founding anniversary of the organisation. The meeting continued for several hours, and he returned home at 7pm. He gulped down his dinner, went into his study, and wrote out a bulletin message and some announcements. That was when news arrived to inform him that the hospitalised member had passed away.
It was a close friend, and he could not even be there for him. “How has modern ministry evolved into this monster that takes him away from real ministry?” he thought to himself. Thankfully, another pastor was with him and the bereaved family.
On Thursday, Pastor Lee went to supervise the wake arrangements, bereavement notices, and to visit the bereaved family. Other pastors would take the two-night wake services, while he would do the final funeral service.
Pastor Lee postponed a few appointments, but he could not escape the training session he had to conduct for the cell leaders. He was relieved he could use the old materials he had prepared a few years back. He referred to them and added some new dimensions and reflections to give it freshness and relevance. The questions about the Sunday sermon text remain unresolved as he returned home on Friday night from the wake.
That Saturday morning, he slept in and had a late breakfast. He researched the Sunday text and managed to tie down two possible trajectories for his sermon. However, he did not have the time to finalise the central truth for his sermon.
It was getting late. He had to run through the funeral liturgy and sermon one last time before he drove to the Mandai crematorium.
And here he was, emotionally drained, eyes still half-shut. Only a few minutes ago, he was awakened by the noise that the domestic helper made in the kitchen. He wished he had asked a colleague to stand in for him as the Sunday preacher. Too late for regrets, he determined to get ready for Sunday.
He opened his laptop and clicked on ChatGPT. He typed, “You are a seasoned evangelical preacher. Please supply an analysis of 2 Corinthians 4 and two alternative sermon outlines with three points each, including expositions, illustrations, quotations and applications. Let the tone be conversational and let the sermon inspire hope and build faith.”
Within twenty seconds, Pastor Lee saw two full sermon outlines, each with three points, and bullet points giving explanations, illustrations, quotations and applications.
It was 11.30pm and Pastor Lee felt a tinge of anxiety and guilt about using the material from ChatGPT. He was too tired to fight temptation. He copied and pasted the one he preferred. He set the alarm for 6.30am tomorrow, so that he could modify and edit some parts of the A.I. sermon and stamp his thumbprint upon it. He prayed, “Lord, help me. Use this sermon to edify the church and glorify your name. Amen.”
The moment he lay his head on the pillow, Pastor Lee fell into a deep sleep.