Two Main Types of “Illustration”

June 3, 2011May 10, 2011 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

I recognize that there are multiple legitimate ways of “illustrating” a sermon, although I suspect the helpful options are sometimes more limited than we might imagine. I sometimes prefer to think in terms of explanations, proofs or applications rather than the more generic term “illustrations” (which can and does slide into time-fillers, interest-adders or expected-anecdotes . . . all of which I would resist). To simplify things, I think there are essentially two sources of helpful “illustration” that we should always look at.

1. The Contemporary Life Example. How did Jesus illustrate? Generally not with other biblical passages/stories (and this to very Bible aware Jews, totally unlike the increasingly biblical illiterate listeners of today). Nor with historical examples (and this to a very historically oriented people). But with everyday examples that listeners could easily relate to. Good illustrative material comes from the everyday experiences we can describe and use to help people to understand biblical truth, or visualise themselves applying the message.

2. The Inherent Textual Imagery. Generally speaking, Jesus was teaching new and direct truth, we are teaching Bible passages. So the other main category of “illustration” material is the imagery right in the text itself. Help people to see what the passage is saying (whenever possible use the imagery implied by the passage itself rather than rushing to another passage, or rushing to some “interesting” extra-biblical material).

So What You Are Saying Is . . .

June 2, 2011May 10, 2011 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

So let’s say you are preaching on Ephesians 2:1-10. And you happen to see on Facebook that the Apostle Paul is preaching at an event not far from you on that very text, just two days before you are due to preach. Let’s assume he is not able to come and take your preaching engagement, but you can get to hear his.

After he preaches the passage, explaining his way through it, you decide to cut to the bottom line. You approach him afterwards and get to him before any of the others who line up behind you. “Thanks Paul, great to meet you, so you are saying, in Ephesians 2:1-10…” then you just decide to state your main idea of the passage to him, “that God saved us by grace, making us alive so that we can do good works?”

If Paul’s response might be, “uh, yes, sort of, but what I’m mostly saying is that it is all of God’s grace that he has made us who were dead, alive with Christ . . .” then you should change your message. If your main idea is not what he’d say his main idea was in the passage, then your main idea should change.

Remember, as a preacher your task is not to come up with your own message somehow based on a text. Your job is to re-present the message of that text, targeted to a new audience and situation, but remaining genuinely faithful to the intent of the author. Be nice to ask him in person, but let’s be sure to check our main idea against the text itself, and to do so more than once. Feel free to ask someone else too, not the author, but someone who will look at the text carefully and test your idea.

Look Wider to See Deeper and Higher

June 1, 2011June 2, 2011 / Peter Mead / 5 Comments

Interesting comment today. After interacting with students’ sermon outlines on a passage I got the privilege of preaching the passage. One participant observed afterwards, “we were looking at this passage on a very human level, but you went deeper to show us God and how He sees us, which made it so much more powerful.”

Very encouraging feedback, but my point is actually this: they were looking at a list of instructions in an epistle. I probably did dig a little more than they could in the passage itself. But the God vision came from a wider lens, not a bigger shovel. I looked at the passage in its context and saw God at work. They looked at the instructions and felt pressure to obey. I looked at God’s work and saw a privilege to participate in.

Sometimes we need to dig deeper in the text (actually, always). Sometimes we need to look wider at the context (actually, always). Always we need to make sure we are preaching God and not just human.

Momentum Matters

May 31, 2011May 21, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

When you are preaching, your listeners will subconsciously be looking for unity (a single focus to your preaching), and order (a clarity of structured presentation), and progress (a sense that you are moving forward and getting closer to the end). It is this progress that can be easily lost causing the message to feel like it gets stuck in the mud.

What causes momentum to be lost? Could be one of several things:

Is momentum about content of the message? Yes it can be. Is one part of the message too dense or extended in terms of explanation? Is there too much repetition that might give the sense of you losing your way or going round in circles? Content issues can cause a loss of momentum.

Is momentum about structure of the message? Yes it can be. If you haven’t previewed the structure, or don’t give effective and deliberate transitions, then it can all meld into one and feel dense or still instead of progressing. If you structure your message so that you keep jumping around the text, listeners can lose the sense of progress that comes from a sequential following of the passage (it can be appropriate to do this approach in a text, but make structure and transitions extra clear).

Is momentum about delivery of the message? Yes it can be. If you lose energy, or become monotonous in voice or visual presentation, then momentum can seap away. If you lose your initial enthusiasm (or if your enthusiasm is at a constant high pitch without releasing that tension), then momentum can be lost.

Momentum can be hard to get hold of, but for preaching to engage listeners, we have to consider not only unity and order, but also progress. Don’t take this the wrong way, but they like to know you’re getting closer to being done!

The Image of the Invisible OmniBeing

May 30, 2011May 29, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Today’s post is found here. Glen Scrivener offers a guest post on Cor Deo and I think you should read it. It has massive implications for preachers. Enjoy!

Is a Theme Sentence a Main Idea?

May 27, 2011May 10, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

It all depends what you mean. Some people use the notion of a theme sentence to refer to exactly the same thing as the main idea or big idea of the passage or message (the exegetical idea or homiletical idea in Robinson terms). Others mean something entirely less specific.

The main idea, or big idea, or theme and thrust, or proposition, or whatever you want to call it, should express both what the passage is about (the subject of the passage), and what it says about that (the complement of the passage).

When we have only the theme without the thrust, that is, the subject without completing it, then we may have a theme sentence of sorts, but really it is something significantly diminished. The theme without specificity is perhaps a title (though probably a weak one), but it is not the succinct, pregnant, clear, focused distillation of the details in the passage that is a main idea sentence.

If you have a theme sentence that is a couple of words long, and may not even be a sentence (i.e.a title lacking a verb or completion), then you do not have a sermon ready to expand into the time available. You have a title. You have a start. But to have the single sentence summary of the whole passage that is worth it’s weight in gold, be sure to complete the sentence, complete the thought. You’re preaching about God’s love? Great. What is the passage saying specifically about that?

Extended Sermonic Incubation

May 26, 2011May 10, 2011 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

I’ve been struck again recently by the challenge of regular preaching. Sometimes regular preachers might look with envy at those who only get to preach every two or three months. Weeks on end to ponder a passage before preaching it. For too many of us, the sermon for next Sunday is not really considered until the Tuesday before (and for some, later than that).

A friend recently suggested that without enough incubation time, the preacher will end up preaching while they have a mass of information accumulated, like a firework box of ideas going off all over the place. Better to give it the necessary time for your heart and mind to stabilize and settle on the main idea of the passage. Amen.

Then there’s another reason for preparing over a longer period of time. It simply takes time for passages to work in our lives, as God’s Spirit moves in us using that Word on which we are dwelling. So if you start your preparation on Saturday night, there is no time for the passage to be truly owned, because it has really gripped you. It hasn’t. You may be excited to preach it, but it hasn’t got hold of you and worked itself out yet. So five days is better than one.

But ten days is better than five. Haddon Robinson advocates the notion of doing the first day’s worth of passage reading and study in the Thursday of the week before you start preparing the sermon (day’s worth may not equate to eight hours, of course, it may only be one or two). Then you press on with this week’s sermon prep, before returning to it the following Monday or Tuesday. Perhaps refer to yesterday’s PEPPERS approach to reviewing the text for added blessing!

Several weeks are better than ten days. As well as the above approach, I really appreciate knowing what passage I’ll be preaching on in a month or two or even longer. Knowing that I’ll be preaching on Mark, or Acts, or Proverbs, or whatever, allows me to pick at the text and gradually accumulate over the course of time – accumulating not only helpful resources, articles, illustrations, etc., but accumulating the experience of that text starting to work in my life.

Personally Engaged Preaching Passage Easy Review System (PEPPERS)

May 25, 2011May 10, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

It sounds like an acronym from NASA, something with a massive federal budget and cosmic goals. Actually I just made up the acronym, it requires the smallest budget, but it does have eternal goals.

Most preachers don’t have great blocks of time in which to prepare their messages. Even if we did, it would still be good to spread the preparation out over at least five days, if not more. Taking small bits of time and working on a passage allows it to work on us (this is why more than five days is even better). Part of that process is getting the passage into us as we get into it.

A friend was recently describing his habit of seeking to memorize the passage he is going to preach. This is a great habit and I commend it, although I don’t tend to memorize the next passage I’ll be preaching. But his suggestion sparks one from me. One of the best ways I have learned to review and potentially memorize a passage. To live up to our image for the day, let’s call it the PEPPERS project (ok, could have gone with the vegetable look, but didn’t.)

Typically we tend to read and re-read a passage when reviewing it or memorizing it. I have found it very helpful to write out a set of acronym style notes instead. So for verse 1-2 of Psalm 1, for example, I would have on the page (this is NIV in case you look it up):

1. Bitmwdnwitcotw, ositwos, ositsom,

2. bhdiitlotL, aohlhmdan.

I follow the capitalization and keep the punctuation, but only put in the first letter of each word. Then when I want to review the passage, it forces me to engage my mind, instead of simply scanning over words while thinking of something else. It allows for a small card or note to be carried, instead of a lengthier piece of paper. This note would be a very useful way to engage quickly, but effectively with a passage in the days of preparation, during those times when you have to be doing something else. In the line at the bank, pull out the notecard. Waiting for a haircut, pull out the notecard. You get the drift.

Shotguns and Sniper Bullets

May 24, 2011May 9, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Generally speaking I urge preachers to stay in their preaching text as they prepare, and as they preach. It is too easy to drift into another passage (or ten) and dissipate the impact of the passage we said we would preach. However one of the exceptions that I do tend to mention is when the passage you are preaching quotes or alludes to or relies in some way on another Bible passage. What then?

Actually, the more we know our Bibles, the more we see by way of allusion as we look at the text. I did an exercise with a group of pastors where we worked through Ephesians 2 and thought about Old Testament passages that might have been in Paul’s thinking as he wrote, or even specific wording that he used. We were coming up with Old Testament passages for almost every verse in the chapter! What to do?

1. In preparation, go to OT passages that may be helpful, but don’t lose your focus on your preaching text. It can be a rich exercise to go back and see the text and context of the fall in Genesis 3, the possible wording from Genesis 6, the session of Christ in Psalm 110, the far and near reference in Isaiah 57, the background of circumcision language in Genesis 17 and elsewhere, etc. But remember that you need to be able to preach Ephesians 2! I may feel like a sawn off shotgun has scattered marks all over the canon, but that is my blessing, not my listener’s burden!

2. In preaching, only go to one or two OT passages if they are genuinely helpful, but don’t lose your focus on your preaching text. Listeners simply cannot handle masses of other references. It turns a sharp and pointed message into an annoying multi-point prodding. If one, or maybe two, are particularly helpful, then use them carefully. In Ephesians 2:1-10, for instance, I’d be inclined to go to Genesis 3 in the early verses, but I wouldn’t chase multiple other references. Perhaps Psalm 110:1 in reference to being seated with Christ. Probably no more. Better to hit home specifically than to scatter shot everywhere.

My personal goal includes getting to know the Word of God as much as possible (not as an end in itself, but since through the Word I can know God). My goal in preaching is not to show that off, but to help people be impacted by this particular text.

Pulpit Sin

May 23, 2011May 9, 2011 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Generally I’m very hesitant to add sins to the lists we are given in the Bible. I’d rather preach the power of life transforming grace than the pressure of legalistic righteousness. But forgive me this one time, I am going to add a sin to our lists. It’s a sin some preachers commit. It’s a sin we should never commit:

In my opinion preaching that is boring is a sin! There, said it.

There is nothing spiritual or godly or Christlike or commendable about preaching in a boring manner. The Bible is not boring! Our task is neither to make it interesting, nor to add illustrative extras to make it interesting (add them for legitimate purposes, of course, but not because you think the Bible is boring!)

How can we avoid boring preaching? There are many ways, but here are two pairs to bear in mind:

Avoid boring with poor content. Look for ways to preach in a manner that is visual, i.e. that will make listeners respond with “Oh, I see what you’re saying!” So in your explanation seek to help people “see what you’re saying.” And in your application help people to “see what you’re saying.” What does that involve? It involves doing more than merely presenting information, or stating propositions, or making points. It involves painting pictures with words of the imagery in a passage, or vividly describing the action in a narrative. It involves painting pictures with words when describing application of the message. Preach vivid so the listeners can see what you mean to say!

Avoid boring with poor delivery. Look for ways to add energy to your presentation. There are two primary areas to keep in mind. The vocal needs energy. And the visual needs energy. Be sure to vary your volume, your pace, your tone, your use of pause. Be sure to add energy to your eye contact, facial expression, gestures, movement, your whole presentation. It is very easy to turn vivid and compelling content into a boring message by forcing it through the filter of poor delivery. There is no virtue in looking and sounding as if the passage has been nothing more than soporific in your preparation. Did Jesus preach in a bland voice and without expression? I suspect not. So let’s try to be more Christlike in our preaching!