The question that led to the previous post implied the problem of repetition of style when preaching epistolary texts. It is easy to get into a rut of one deductive sermon after another. One option to consider that may help bring some variety into a preaching series, is to preach an epistolary text as story.

A story has characters, a situation, tension, and some form of response to that tension. Most stories resolve, although a story without full resolution can be very powerful. In reality, an epistle is an episode in a story. There are characters (the writer and recipients, at least), a situation, some type of tension that the writer is responding to through writing the epistle. Furthermore, in most cases, we do not know how the story actually resolves.

So when preaching a text from an epistle, consider telling the story of the situation. Perhaps offer some incomplete responses that might only make the situation worse. Then introduce the actual response of the apostle. Describe how that response might resolve the situation. Describe what successful application of the passage would look like back then, and today. Make clear the claims of the passage on the listeners both then and now. Conclude without resolution, recognizing that the story is incomplete until the listeners have become doers of the Word also.