(NOTE: I published a much shorter version of this review on Amazon.com this past Saturday night. This is the complete original version, which I cut to fit Amazon’s standards.)
My wife and I joined Wilshire Baptist Church in August 2004, on the very Sunday that Wilshire was celebrating George Mason’s 15th anniversary as senior pastor. He retired 18 years later, on his 33rd. So I’ve heard/observed a little over half of the sermons he preached as Wilshire’s senior pastor.
I’ve known – and known of – pastors who “mailed it in,” who preached the same set of sermons year after year, even some who have preached other preachers’ sermons year after year.
George Mason has never mailed it in – not once! He is a consummate wordsmith and a theologian of great depth who preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that teaches, challenges, provokes, comforts, while making that gospel accessible to all who, in Jesus’ words, “have ears to hear.”
Allen Walworth, in his preface to the Christian Faith and Formation section of The Word Made Fresh, perhaps says it best when he writes, “George carefully selects words like jewels, and then polishes and sets them in sentences designed to reflect light into the secret places of the heart. Sometimes his words of invitation to faith are a warm embrace, and at other times they are a poke in the ribs. But always George weaves together the strands of the Biblical story with the threads of the hearer’s story, creating a tapestry unique and relevant, especially for those who usually feel far off from – or repelled by – the traditional language and practice of the Church.”
A George Mason sermon weaves current circumstances and needs – of the hearers . . . the church . . . the community . . . the nation . . . the world – with timeless truths. The words of a George Mason sermon are intended specifically for that moment in time yet are still relevant years, even decades, later.
The Word Made Fresh consists of 80 sermons carefully culled from 33 years’ worth, organized into 12 distinct themes. I have been in church from the time I was born – my Daddy was pastor of our little church back then in 1951. I have heard sermons ad infinitum from a countless number of pastors, evangelists, and so forth. George Mason has shaped my understanding of God, and the gospel of Jesus Christ – and that of my wife, Joanna – far more than any other preacher.
For those of you who don’t know George personally, though, I need to add another word – about his authenticity. I first met George in May 2004, when he spoke at a conference I was attending. Two months later, Joanna and I visited Wilshire for the first time, then joined a few weeks after that. Since then, I’ve heard him preach week after week, been in meetings with him, had one-on-one lunches with him, traveled to Israel with him and about 90 others, and seen him minister to our family during our numerous health crises and Joanna’s passing.
Through those years and experiences, I’ve witnessed a George Mason who is the same person in his everyday life and ministry that he is in the pulpit. I have seen him consistently live out the ethics of Jesus. The depth of his grace astonished me on the Sunday of our vote to affirm LGBTQ members, when he said that he had only one thing to say to members who might decide to leave because of the results of the vote: “Thank you,” assuring them that they would always have a home at Wilshire and be treated as family should they choose to return or simply visit.
I’ve experienced the friendship of a pastor who truly cares about his people. When our then-27-year-old son suffered a stroke late one night in April 2013, George was at the hospital at 6 a.m. the next morning to pray with us. He has been a constant source of comfort and concern throughout the health crises of both my son (who survived and is still with us today) and wife. When Joanna passed away from kidney disease in 2021, and we inurned her ashes in the Wilshire Columbarium on Easter Sunday, George preached Joanna’s inurnment service (along with three Easter services that day). Again, he didn’t mail it in. He spoke lovingly of the Joanna he had known and said, “Joanna had resurrection eyes.” How beautiful. His pastoring has always matched – even exceeded, if that’s possible – his preaching.
The Word Made Fresh is not your typical book of sermons, not your typical inspirational religious book, not your typical anything, for that matter. When George did baby dedications at Wilshire, he would tell the parents that our prayer for the baby is that the child have a good life, not an easy life. Well, The Word Made Fresh is a good book, not an easy read.
You’ll be inspired, but you’ll also be challenged, and sometimes – trust me – you’re going to be a tad uncomfortable as George challenges you to get out of your comfort zone if you hope to be faithful to God’s call to you.
Above all, though, you’ll be enriched, and you’ll come out the other side with a deeper appreciation for God’s love and grace – for you . . . for others . . . for – as we say at Wilshire – every body.