Just to let you know that we’ve added a new category in the menu to the right. If you click on “Preacher’s Personal Life” you will be given a list of all the posts related to this vital subject. Hope that is helpful.
Homiletics
Preaching Passion – Checking the Foundations
According to Augustine, our task is to say what God says. One of our core convictions must be that when the Bible speaks, God speaks. So let’s take a moment or two to run a quick evaluative test to make sure our passion in preaching has not grown pale. These three indicators are by no means an exhaustive list, but they represent perhaps the foundational layer of passion for us as preachers. How would you rate . . .
Your passion for God Himself. This is primary. As Christmas approaches and we contemplate the incarnation again, are we stirred by the passion of a God willing to go to such extreme lengths, to step into His creation, to become like us and redeem us? The spreading goodness of God spread very far and very low in reaching us. Are we truly captivated by the great and glorious God who in grace reached out for us? Is He the object of our affection, our worship, our attention?
Your passion for God’s Word. This is how we know Him. This is the means by which all other channels of spirituality and experience can be evaluated. The Bible is an amazing gift. Has it become just a tool of your trade? Or is it still gripping your thoughts as you dive ever deeper into God’s great revelation to us?
Your passion for God’s people. This is not just the concern of those in formal ministry. This is an indicator of spiritual health in all of God’s people. We become like the One we love and worship. Over time His values become ours too. Consequently a passion for people is an indicator of spiritual health. People you will preach to this Sunday, and people you will never meet until heaven. Local, global. For God so loved the world . . . so if we are close to Him, we will too.
Then there is the strand running through it all. It was implicitly there throughout yesterday’s post, it is here stated overtly. The strand going through all three indicators in this post is prayer. Prayer indicates your passion for God. Prayer shows the difference between dutiful drudgery through required study and delight-filled questing through God’s Word. Prayer reveals your heartbeat for others.
How is your passion for preaching? Paler than it should be? As hot as it could be?
The Path to Preaching With Passion?
It is easy to fake pulpit passion. All you have to do is raise the voice, pound the fists, point the finger, grimace a little and before you know it, you have fake pulpit passion. But what does it take to have genuine passion? And why would you want it?
Why? Because genuine passion marks deeply. Genuine passion is contagious, people catch it. It is commanding, people aren’t easily distracted from it. It is convicting, people have hearts changed by it. It is challenging, people see their apathy wilt under it. Genuine passion marks people deeply. (Just in case you’re tempted to fake it, remember that fake passion is off-putting, embarrassing, ineffectual and counter-productive.)
How? Genuine passion is a spiritual dynamic. It all seems to come down to, and flow from, the heart. A heart captivated by a passionate God. A heart filled with the Word of God. A heart walking in step with, beating in time with, the Spirit of God. A heart moved with compassion for the people to whom it will preach. Gripped by God, saturated in the Word, filled with the Spirit, and crystal clear on the urgency of the task of preaching that particular text to those particular people at that particular time. A genuinely passionate preacher is truly a potent tool in God’s hands.
All this is not to say that relaxed or carefully casual delivery is wrong. I often use both and see others doing so effectively. But there is also a time for allowing the passion to show. May God give us the wisdom to know when.
Review: Preaching the Gospel from the Gospels, by George Beasley-Murray
This book is far more a book on the Gospels than it is on preaching. It would serve well as a reference tool for the gospels, having an accessible scripture index included. Yet while not addressing homiletics very much, what it does is share a fundamental conviction that the gospels were written out of preaching, by preachers and are ideally suited to the contemporary preacher wishing to preach the truth of the gospel today.
George Beasley-Murray is a top gospels scholar. This book was forty years in the writing, beginning as a series of lectures, then published, then revisited and rewritten in light of developments in the field. Preaching the Gospel from the Gospels is an academic work with a door left open for ease of access for preachers. While aware of aspects of form criticism, the historical Jesus quest, British and German scholarly traditions, etc. the book does not get weighed down with such matters.
The book, as you might expect from a series of lectures, consists of five lengthy chapters. The first chapter focuses on the relationship between preaching and the writing of the Gospels – it is worth the value of the book. As Martin Dibelius said, “In the beginning was the sermon.”
Certainly the evangelists were collectors and compilers of known stories, sayings and events of the life of Christ. However, they were more than that. Through the process of redaction they were theologians with unique and distinct emphases to bring out regarding the work and mission of Christ. One great insight from redaction criticism is that of how the gospel was presented to a specific audience. As we see the evangelists using the history for a specific group of people, there is scope for the modern evangelist to see how the story of the gospel can likewise be used for a different contemporary audience.
The remaining four chapters deal with the life, the miracles, the teaching and the parables of Jesus. Each writer began conceptually with the resurrection of Christ, then told the story, theologically, according to their specific goals. The stories from the life of Christ, such as the miracles, are designed with the gospel as central rather than appended. The teaching and parables are grouped and explained in five categories each.
In conclusion Beasley-Murray finishes with a postscript that affirms Jesus himself to be the parable of God. As such, the truth of His teaching is ultimately found in His person. This would be true of the whole book – His parables, but also His miracles, His teaching, His life, His passion. Jesus is the revelation of God. In preaching Jesus, the gospel is preached. I suppose the big message of the book is that you don’t have to hunt through the gospels to find a gospel message. If the content of the gospels are preached faithfully to their original intent, then the gospel will be preached.
Top Trumps: Genuineness
My post on the 12th, Do They Know That You Know?, received a helpful comment. I wrote that “The preacher must build confidence in the listeners; confidence that the preacher knows the message, knows how it will progress and knows when it will end.” The comment in response included this statement, “A good balance of the two would be great, but if I had to choose, I would be more receptive to someone who is genuine than confident.”
I heartily agree. Confidence is a matter of presentation and I would encourage a quiet confidence that relaxes the listeners. But genuineness is a matter of integrity. Integrity is not a help for preaching, it is a fundamental for preaching. All the technique and skill and training and gifting and experience in the world is undermined instantly by a loss of integrity, or even the perceived lack of genuineness.
Preaching is not like the game of top trumps. As a child I had a set of fire engine top trumps. More water tank capacity, more speed, more versatility, more crew . . . more likely to trump the card of your opponent. If preaching were top trumps then you would be a fool to sacrifice genuineness for most other “preacher’s features.” Since preaching is not top trumps, we have the privilege of seeking to develop all aspects of personal life, spiritual gifting, ministry skill and so forth.
Genuineness is one of those things that undergirds all we do. And over-confidence is not helpful. So perhaps we should be deliberately under-confident? No. When it comes to genuineness, it would be wrong to try and fake it!
Sermon Preparation – How Long?
Some people wonder how long it takes to prepare a sermon. Some seem blissfully unaware of what it takes. But honestly, is there a right amount of time? Someone famous (you can remind us who it was), said a sermon takes a lifetime to prepare. That is certainly true. I had an instructor that suggested taking one hour for every minute in the pulpit. That’s a nice thought, but it raises two questions – 1. How does he prepare any sermon on top of all his other commitments in teaching, family, etc.? and 2. How come a ten or fifteen minute message seems to take longer to prepare than a thirty or forty minute message?
So here’s my somewhat unhelpful guideline. Sermon preparation time is a blend of two realities:
As much time as it takes – to prayerfully select a passage, exegete the passage in context, determine passage purpose and idea, then evaluate congregation, define message purpose, craft the message idea, design the preaching strategy (outline) and fill in the details, then also prayerfully preach through the message a few times. Realistically that could add up to tens of hours.
As much time as you have – You must take into account the reality of ministry pressures, other responsibilities, unforeseen circumstances, family illnesses, emergency room visits with your injured child, late night crisis counseling with dear friends in marital meltdown, and so on. God knows about these things and perhaps sometimes allows them to keep us from trusting in our preparation routine. If you procrastinate preparation and only take a couple of hours, that’s between you and the Lord. But if life hits and you honestly only have limited time, He knows.
My ministry varies because no two weeks are the same. It’s nice to have a predictable schedule, be thankful if you have that privilege, but in reality no preparation schedule is really predictable! The bottom line is this – we do our best, but always relying fully on God to do God’s work.
The Heart of Biblical Ministry
If you study through the Scriptures, it is clear that ministry is not just about the crowds. There is certainly that large-scale aspect to ministry, but we must always be alert to the smaller-scale ministry of mentoring. Moses led the Israelites, but mentored Joshua. Elijah prophesied to a nation, but mentored Elisha. Jesus could certainly preach and minister to the crowds, but he mentored the twelve. Think of Naomi and Ruth, Barnabas and Paul, Paul and Timothy and on it goes. Mentoring is the heart of biblical ministry.
TD Jakes made the comment that “success is not complete without a successor.” So as a preacher, it is good to take stock of your ministry. Are you investing yourself into a small handful of key individuals? The pulpit may be elevated and somewhat distant from the “crowd,” but are you also pouring yourself into others, up-close and personal?
In the complex world of church ministry many do not have the privilege of grooming their replacement. However, even if your church could fire you in three months time, pour your life into others now. Ultimately it is not about how individual churches choose to work, it’s about us choosing to do ministry God’s way. And this mentoring is not just about pastoral ministry and leadership, think specifically about pulpit ministry and preaching. Some churches actively encourage a pulpit team, others treat preaching as a one-person role. If you are the preacher, you have influence. Use it to build up others in their gifting and opportunity. Even if opportunities are restricted in your church, there are many other churches around who would love to help developing preachers by benefiting from their ministry.
Mentoring – it’s a key part of all our roles, for it’s the heart of biblical ministry.
Do They Know That You Know?
The preacher must build confidence in the listeners; confidence that the preacher knows the message, knows how it will progress and knows when it will end.
Structure of Message – If the message is deductive, then the main idea is stated early. Confidence can be built by an effective preview of the message. Even something as simple as, “So we will see four things in this text that prove this is true.” If people know there are four “things” to get through, they won’t worry if the first point takes a while and covers only the first verse of a fifteen verse text. The more you preview, the harder you have to work to create tension and desire to listen, but don’t think you’re adding great tension by omitting a preview. You’re only undermining confidence in you. With an inductive message you also need to preview, only you cannot give away as much. But no preview will feel like a wander in the woods blindfolded, and most people don’t prefer that experience. Make sure they know that you know where you are going!
Transitions in the Message – It is hard to put too much work into the transitions. These key moments in the message allow opportunity for reorientation to the main idea or the subject of the message, review of terrain already traveled and a reminder of how far there is left to go. Well worked transitions do wonders for attentiveness, understanding and listener confidence.
Style of Delivery – Confidence is somewhat intangible. I’m not saying you should come across as arrogant or over-confident. However, there is a lot to be said for quiet confidence, for a calm assurance that you know what you are doing. Seek to overcome nervous habits, twitches, mannerisms, and so on. Avoid apologizing, even in jest, during the introduction. Make and maintain meangingful eye contact. If you have to use notes, use them well, but also consider not using them at all.
The preacher must build confidence in the listeners; confidence that the preacher knows the message, knows how it will progress and knows when it will end.
Getting to Grips with the Genres: Narrative (2)
So if narratives function through plot, how does that look in 2 Samuel 11 and following? What is the rhetorical impact of the story of David and Bathsheba?
Narrative affects the reader/hearer through association or disassociation with/from the main characters. The story contains five parts. Background/Introduction: David should be at war like the other kings, but instead is in the palace lounging around on a sofa. He sees Bathsheba, lusts, fornicates, and sends her away. Inciting incident: David finds out that Bathsheba is pregnant. Rising action: David attempts to save face by bringing the noble Uriah home from war (Interesting to note that Uriah is one of David’s 30 mighty men – 2 Samuel 23:39). Uriah refuses to sleep with his wife after two attempts by David. Uriah is sent back to war with a letter sealing his own death. Uriah is killed. David receives news and comforts his commander. David marries Bathsheba and the baby is born – months go by. Climax: David is confronted by Nathan the prophet. Resolution: David repents and finds forgiveness for his sin… but forgiveness does not annul loss and pain. His son through Bathsheba dies. A son (Solomon) is promised to Bathsheba.
As this story moves along, listeners/hearers inherently associate with/from pre-Nathan David, Bathsheba, Uriah, Nathan, and post-Nathan David. The rhetorical impact is different for each person. For some there is comfort, for others there is conviction, etc. Like David, the story urges some to confess sin. Like Uriah, it encourages some to remain faithful to the Lord despite the wickedness and sin of others. Like Nathan, it urges some to confront sin in others. Like Bathsheba, it comforts the weak.
Getting to Grips with the Genres: Narrative (1)
Following-up on my 11/20 post, I will describe how biblical narrative functions and make some simple suggestions today. Tomorrow I will demonstrate its intended rhetorical impact using the story of David and Bathsheba.
Narrative is distinct in the way that it works as a type of literature. It employs plot to make its points. There are five parts to plot. “Introduction” is the first part. Introduction, introduces time and setting as well as the main characters. The stage is set in the introduction for the second part of plot to begin. “Inciting incident” is the second part of plot. In the inciting incident, some kind of problem or tension is set into motion that requires resolution. This problem or tension draws in the hearer and drives the plot forward. “Rising action” is the third part of plot. Rising action is usually the longest section of a plot. In this section, characters develop and tension builds. Rising action always leads to “climax.” Climax is the culminating point in the story. Here tension reaches its apex. “Resolution” is the final part of plot. In resolution, the result is harmony and happiness if it is comedy. The result is disharmony and sadness if it is tragedy.
Preaching suggestions for narrative:
– Tell the entire story. This ensures that you tell the story’s point, not your own.
– Faithfully develop the main characters. By this, I do not mean avoid any kind of imagination. Rather, I mean spend time imaging the main characters in ways that faithfully develop and highlight their parts in the plot.
– Allow the story itself to speak conviction, encouragement, exhortation, and comfort.
– Be careful not to kill the story by explaining it away. This is so easy to do in narrative! We treat it like an epistle and feel the need to explain every little thing. Let plot do the talking.
Biblical Preaching 