Where two or three are gathered...

We had a small crowd at First Baptist of Palo today; all the men were gone trying to shoot deer, and several of the women other non-shooting reasons for their abscence.  I was asked before the service started if I wanted to "save" my sermon for next week and just have a prayer/song service instead.  I have nothing against spending time with prayer and singing, but to me, it just doesn't seem right to not share what I've prepared from the Word of God.  It doesn't really matter that this person or that person wasn't there for the message, (although at times I'm hopeful for a "good" crowd when a message has particularly moved me during my preparation of it) because the message itself comes from God and is for His people.  This isn't some mystical thing, I'm certainly not claiming to "hear" what God wants me to preach, but the work that I do in preparation for each Sunday's worship service is work that is for the people.  They don't have the time or training to study God's Word in the depth that I do, so I use the God-given talent that I have to share with my fellow Christians what I've learned from the Bible during that particular week. 
As such, when I was asked if I wanted to "save" the sermon, I declined.  It may be a bit odd to give a message when so many of our regulars were missing, but the Word of God has its own power.  Who knows?  Perhaps one of those who were there received a blessing from this message that was timely for her this week (I can use her, all the men ran off in their orange and cammo).  As a pastor, it isn't for me to decide that a particular message isn't necessary.  That's why I try to work my way through the Bible in a systematic way; to ensure that virtually no portion of Scripture is left behind without being preached (I do "skip" passages such as geneology lists, or perhaps something repetitive that we've just covered a week or two ago, for example). 
Does it really matter to me that I had a small audience this morning.  Yes, but not for the reason that most people would think.  I don't need to be heard by a large crowd, but I certainly hope that as many people as can be will hear what God's Word has to say.  Save my sermon?  Nah, I'll be working on another one real soon.