Homiletics

Do We Pray Too Small?

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In a world that is highly charged, energized and empowered, somehow life can be such a draining experience. In the busy-ness of life it is easy to lose track of the space necessary for thinking, for communing, for dreaming. I’ve written about the critical importance of our personal walk with Christ. I’d like to consider a related concept. Over time we too easily lose the capacity to dream. What I mean by that is “sanctified big praying.”

At the end of Ephesians 3 Paul tells us that God is able to do immeasurably abundantly more than we ask or even imagine. I suspect that with many Christians, God is not feeling stretched. If we don’t imagine big, then we don’t ask big. God can do more than we ask or imagine, but too often we make fulfilling that Scripture far too straightforward for our Lord. Let’s not only approach the throne of grace with the jaded requests of a tired minister. As preachers who seek to stir the faith of others, let’s take some time and dare to dream big dreams.

Perhaps you dream of bigger crowds in your church, large numbers of local folk captivated and drawn in by the power of the gospel? Perhaps you dream of bigger life change in your listeners – John who sits in the second to last row over to the left and seems to be going through the motions year after year . . . imagine his life set on fire by the truth of God’s Word. Perhaps you dream of specific situations transformed for the glory of God? That family breakdown still under wraps but known to you. How about your own ministry? While holding on to humility is it possible to dream of your own ministry breaking into new areas, utilizing different media to reach more people, doors opening that would really mean a lot to you? Perhaps your imagination moves toward key relationships that could help your ministry – a mentor, someone to mentor, a support team who would diligently pray and help your preaching in practical ways?

The great thing about turning on our imagination is that God can filter what actually wouldn’t help, or what we couldn’t handle. But praying bigger prayers is ultimately a statement of absolute dependence on the power of God in your ministry. Perhaps we should make sure we incorporate prayers as big as we can imagine . . . not that they will cause our infinitely powerful God any stress or sweat, but they may well stir a smile from Him.

Strive to be an Expert in This

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One more thought from the life and ministry of Jonathan Edwards. Piper states that Edwards probed the workings of the human heart and gained a profound understanding of it. He did not achieve this by “hobnobbing with the Northampton parishioners,” but by three things:

1. Diligent reading and contemplation of his own heart. Perhaps this was typical Puritan introspection, but he knew that his own heart was the one human heart he could inspect most closely. He sought out all the “subtle subterfuges” of his heart, appetites and thoughts.

2. The necessary sorting of the wheat and chaff in the religious experiences of his people. While it may be tempting for us to bemoan the lack of a great awakening in our day, perhaps we would do well to give serious thought to the experience of religion among our people anyway. In Edwards’ time there was both the genuinely Spiritual and deeply discouraging self-deception. Perhaps if we look we will see the same today, and in doing so we might get a fuller understanding of the workings of human hearts and affections.

3. Passionate pursuit of the teaching of God’s Word. This is not last in importance, but last for emphasis. To be a genuine “surgeon of souls” like Edwards, we must pursue years of serious study in God’s Word. The heart and affections of humanity, and their primary role in spirituality are foundational aspects of biblical teaching. With our eyes open we will discover that the heart is one of the most neglected, overlooked and yet prevalent teachings in the canon.

As preachers we are often more aware of our inadequacies than any sense of expertise. Yet with all the aspects of ministry clamoring for our focus, perhaps we should give thought to striving for greater understanding, perhaps even expertise, in the workings of the human heart. If we don’t, who will?

First Things First

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While I add a lot of posts on this site that are somewhat technical in nature, the foundation of effective preaching has to be our personal walk with the Lord. As good stewards we must do everything we can to be the best that we can, but none of that can replace the fundamental reality of a close personal relationship. I appreciate this quote from Jonathan Edwards reflecting on his early years in ministry:

“I spent most of my time in thinking of divine things, year after year; often walking alone in the woods, and solitary places for meditation, soliloquy, and prayer, and converse with God; and it was always my manner, at such times, to sing forth my contemplation. I was almost constantly in ejaculatory prayer, wherever I was. Prayer seemed to be natural to me, as the breath by which the inward burnings of my heart had vent.”

For many of us the danger of busy-ness and distraction is higher than it has ever been. Let’s be sure to turn off the mobile, the email, the internet, etc., and deliberately make time to think, to pray, to stir the burnings of our heart. Our listeners will benefit greatly, but that is secondary. First things first . . . you and God.

Surrogate Sermons – Part 2

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Continuing on with Dwight Stevenson’s list from yesterday . . . “surrogate sermons” we should be avoiding:

Palace propaganda – Catering to the specific audience in a church by giving exactly and only what they want to hear (often determined by their socio-economic class, race, etc.)

Theological lecture – We must be able to give reason for our faith, but that does not mean we substitute dogma for faith in preaching.  Preaching can be doctrinal without sounding doctrinaire.  Preach the inspired text, not only a system.

Argumentation and debate – We are called to be Christ’s witnesses, not his lawyers.  It is easy to level our guns at a theological position, or a moral concern, but let us be careful not to breed counterattack, controversy and division.

Eulogy – A syrupy diet of simplistic non-answers to life’s realities that sound acceptable because they elevate Christ continuously.

Ecclesiastical commercial – The promotional work for the programs of the church can be done effectively and creatively outside of the sermon.

Monologue and soliloquy – Communication that is effectively the act of hearing one’s own voice, because the preacher is unaware of the internal and explicit reactions of the listeners.

Surrogate Sermons

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It is easy to preach something less than a sermon.  We thought of one example yesterday – the curiosity satisfier.  Today I’d like to list a few from a list by Dwight Stevenson (published in A Reader on Preaching).  His goal is to help us spot sermon replacements and erradicate them from our ministry.  Here are his titles with brief explanations:

Moralistic harangue – The exhorting, punishing or whipping of our people because they are not living up to their obligations.  Many people seem to appreciate receiving these bashings.  Why?  Perhaps because they don’t like themselves much anyway, feel guilty and appreciate taking their medicine.  “It is a fine way of paying for sin without repenting of it.”

Aesthetic artifact – The carefully produced work of art that one hopes will be a blessing to behold for generations, rather than carefully designed nourishment for these people now.

Pontifical pronouncement – The preaching of one who seeks to do the thinking for the people, standing in authority for the immature who find security in such “assistance.”

Museum lecture – Often the best one can hope for is mildly interesting and informative, but often becomes dull and boring, and is almost always irrelevant.

Palliative prescription – As we run from moralistic harangue we are always in danger of falling into cheap grace, easy assurance, repentance free pardon and superficial pain-relief.

That’s enough for today.  It’s only half his list, but that’s enough.  Again, these examples of surrogate sermons remind us of the importance of the Bible in expository preaching.   The Bible does not merely give a starting point, or illustrative material, or a stamp of approval.  The Bible has to be in charge of the message – the idea, the content, the relevance, the mood, the goals.

Preach to do More Than Satisfy Curiosity

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The Bible was not given to satisfy curiosity.  It is truth that always intersects life in some way.  Consequently as preachers we must not pretend that arms-length analysis is sufficient.  We have to wrestle with how to help our listeners experience the truth that is being preached.

Haddon Robinson has pointed out that for many people, most of the preaching they have heard has satisfied only to the level of meeting some level of curiosity.  Sadly many in our churches have had years of Bible studies that are not dissimilar to filling out a crossword or Sudoku puzzle.  You get all the parts in the right place, get the thing completed and then feel satisfied.  But the Bible does not work merely at a curiosity level.  It digs deeper, intersects more fully with life.

Haddon was interviewed in 2001 by Preaching magazine.  In his words, “I think God’s truth is always designed to challenge us and change us.”  Let us pray that we never settle for satisfying curiosity when we have the privilege of being involved in transforming lives.

Don’t Shoot the Wheel-Nut

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Today in the news there is a story of a man who got frustrated trying to loosen the wheel-nut on his car and decided to try blasting it from close range with a shotgun. The ricochet of buckshot and debris peppered him from ankle to abdomen.

While not wanting to make light of his severe injuries, I would like to draw an analogy for our thinking as preachers. Use as much force as necessary to achieve each goal in a sermon, but don’t exert excessive force that will backfire on you. Here are some examples of backfiring preaching techniques:

* Overstating the introduction. Don’t promise to solve all the problems of the world in your introduction if your message only addresses some of the problems. If the goal is modest, then strive to create a thirst for the message, but a thirst that will be quenched. It is easy to take onboard the importance of surfacing a need and then over-promise. It will backfire.

* Overbearing illustrations. Perhaps you come across a moving story, or have a powerful experience that fits with your message. Be careful it is not too powerful or you might overwhelm the message. Illustrations and stories should drive the idea forward, not overtake it. Even if it happened to you, even if it is all true, even if it agrees with the text . . . if it is too strong it may backfire.

* Over-the-top word choice. Sometimes shocking a congregation can be effective, but you must plan carefully. Just because Tony Campolo once swore at a congregation does not mean we should all try it. For effect or shock value or even for a laugh, it is tempting to go too far. Don’t. It will backfire.

Peter has responded to a comment on this post.

Being Natural Often Feels Unnatural

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While this may not be true in every culture, many have little time for “pulpiteering” these days.  The appearance of performance is significantly off-putting to those who place high value on genuine, vulnerable, honest and natural speaking styles.  People do not appreciate the sales patter of a car dealer or the obvious reading of a script in a phone conversation.  And in many churches the ranting, prancing or different enunciation of earlier generations is long gone.  But the key to being both natural and effective is not simply to relax.

As a general rule, the bigger the congregation, the bigger the gesture.  This can feel unnatural.  Yet the goal is not for you to feel natural, but for the listeners and observers to feel that it is natural.  Consequently a “natural” small gesture might look ridiculous to those in the pews.  It may feel natural to point to the left in reference to the past and gesture to the right when speaking of Christ’s return, but this is not effective as it looks awkward to the congregation.  After a while, the gesturing from right to left for time or logical progression starts to feel natural to the speaker, but only after thought and repetition.

As a general rule, a group of people require more repetition and restatement for concepts to formulate in their consciousness.  This can feel unnatural.  In a conversation with a friend it may be enough to say something once, but in a group you must allow several sentences for an initial thought to register, and then several minutes of careful work for the thought to form into something they can see in their minds.  This feels unnatural to you as the speaker, but that’s not the point.  The point is to come across as natural and to be effective in your speaking.

I am not advocating performance.  I am saying that effective preaching takes hard work, thought and much prayer.  Just relaxing doesn’t cut it.  Perhaps the real test of naturalness is the one that comes when the service is over.  As a listener approaches for a conversation, do they get the sense that you are a different person out of the pulpit?  Hopefully not.  Hopefully the switch back into conversational mode will not reveal that you are somehow acting when preaching, and a different person when not preaching.  Effective God-honoring preaching calls for real integrity in the pulpit, in conversation, in private . . . and we should learn our own appropriate communication approaches in each setting.

Plan to Pause

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A pause is a simple concept.  Stop for a moment.  A non-preacher might assume it would be easy to stop talking, especially since most people would rather not talk in front of people anyway.  But no, pauses are hard to do.  Almost a constant piece of constructive feedback to beginning preachers is “a few pauses would help.”  I still find it difficult to pause enough after almost 15 years of preaching.

A pause is a very powerful weapon in the preacher’s arsenal.  After a pause, studies suggest that listeners are alert, attention is high and they listen well.  This increased focus will only last for a few sentences before fading to a more relaxed state again.  This means that after a pause we only have perhaps three or four sentences to establish what we’ll be saying next.

Be sure to pause between the chunks of a sermon.  Give listeners that opportunity to be fully with you as you set off on the next chunk.  Then be sure to start the chunk clearly.  Think through those first sentences and be sure that everyone will be onboard before the relaxation of attention.  If we really think through the power of purposeful pause, we’ll be motivated to pour over our outlines or manuscripts and carefully select key moments to stop.  Plan to pause.

Remember Your First . . . Sermon?

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Yesterday I had the privilege of evaluating fifteen sermons at the end of a preaching course.  For five days the students had been working through an introductory course in preaching at Tilsley College, many of them never having preached before.  I’ve heard negative comments from preaching instructors before about having to listen to student sermons.  I have to be honest, I enjoy it.

Nerves sometimes show, some mistakes may be made, but ministry happens.  Even though in every case there are helpful suggestions made by the listeners to improve in the future, at the same time there are positive affirmations and encouragements also shared.  I may sit there with my evaluation sheet and be making notes, but still there are moments of real encouragement, real conviction, and real ministry in my life.

There is something about the in-class preaching experience that I wish could be experienced in the church too.  A sense of excitement, of openness, of camaraderie.  A lot of that has to do with the attitude of the listeners.  Perhaps we need to consider training our listeners how to listen to sermons.  At the same time perhaps we need to make sure we have not lost that sense of dependency on God, that awareness of someone evaluating what we do, that sense of relief at the end, maybe even a momentary inner cry of “I did it!” which quickly gives way to “thank you Lord, we did it!”

If you are married, it is healthy to think back to that first date, first kiss, first sensation of being in love.  If you are a preacher, think back to that first in-class message.  Not as romantic, but it may stir some helpful feelings though!