The outline of a message is often compared to the skeleton in the body. The most transformational and life changing encounters with a person are never focused on their skeleton. I stayed awake through an anatomy lecture as I learned the difference between a clavicle and a scapula, but my life was forever transformed by meeting the beautiful lady who would become my wife. Her beauty required the presence of a skeleton, but my heart was captured and my life transformed by the smile, the character, the life, but not the lower mandible’s connection to the cranium. As we preach the Word of God, may the goal be the transforming life and beauty of His Word, rather than an unnecessary display of the skeleton of our thoughts.
Homiletics
Luke 18:9-14 – Contemporizing a Parable
Timothy Reynolds commented on my post regarding the preaching of parables. I’d like to elevate that comment to a post, along with my response, so that perhaps others might want to have a go at a modern retelling of Luke 18:9-14. If there is some activity on this, I might also post what I actually preached. I used a contemporary version of the parable as my introduction to the message. My introduction is by no means a great example, but it is an example. Anyway, Timothy wrote:
Interesting idea to retell the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in a modern context – I’d be interested to know how you did this in a way that would gain the same reaction or anticipation as Jesus’ audience had. I can’t see how it would work, because congregations don’t have the same sort of expectations of religious leaders as those in Jesus’ day did. Let’s try:
An elder arrived early for the service and sat down on the other side of the chapel from the young lad he’d never seen before. He looked like one of that gang that hung around outside the swimming pool being a nuisance on their skate boards. The elder bowed his head to pray as he always did and said, “Thank you, Lord, that by your grace I have been kept from that sort of life and was a member of the church and had a good job by the time I was this guy’s age.”
The young lad didn’t even bow his head or close his eyes, but just said , “God, I don’t even know why I’m here, but I know I need you. Please forgive me for ignoring you.”
Are we getting any where near with that? I’m not sure – I think most congregations would see it coming!
My response:
Thanks Timothy – perhaps you have started something here. Your story certainly parallels the original in many respects. Like you wrote, I also think most congregations would see it coming! Of course, it’s hard to really surprise people when the reference for the message is in the notice sheet. Having said that, I think it is possible to think through a modern version of a parable, deliberately paralleling key points, but also deliberately obscuring some parallels, so that the tension is not given away too early. The goal is not to totally surprise people, but to have our story “do” what the original story “did.” So, perhaps others will follow your lead and give modern versions of this parable.
Peter has responded to a question on this post – see comments
Preaching Familiar Texts
What should we do with stories that are very familiar to our listeners? For example, a friend of mine recently preached the crucifixion account in Matthew 27. How should he approach a passage that is so familiar and is a subject addressed every week in his church in one way or another?
1 – Know your audience. For some groups, more emphasis on explanation or proof of the passage would be necessary. In this particular case the people would generally understand the passage (apart from the miraculous events as Jesus died). They also have little need of proof. This leaves the majority of the focus on application.
2 – Retell familiar stories, but help people feel them. It is easy for people to hear something often and be familiar with it. This does not mean the passage should not be preached. People often know Biblical stories, but rarely feel them. Take the opportunity to tell the story in a gripping way, helping people to feel as if they were there. You cannot force this to happen. It doesn’t help to keep haranguing people with phrases like, “Imagine you were there, come on!” It takes the skill of vivid description and effective story telling to achieve this. Perhaps a slightly unusual angle could help. Since the text eventually brings in the centurion’s perspective, why not tell the whole story from where he is standing, still keeping to the details in the text?
3 – Apply, apply, apply. Don Sunukjian teaches preachers to give only as much explanation and proof as necessary, then apply, apply, apply. This is good advice. It is easy to give redundant explanations and exegetical details. As preachers we are prone to do information dumps on our people (after all, we worked hard on this message!) But people can always benefit from more application.
4 – Apply specifically. What does the crucifixion story mean to a Christian working in a factory this week? What does the familiar story mean to a mother of small children and sleepless nights? What difference could this make tomorrow morning at 10am? It is easy to preach a “church” sermon, and easy to listen to one, but get the Word into real life by being as specific as possible.
Explaining the Stages
I recently added a 7-stage process to the categories on the site. This is simply to give another way to find posts on the site. Instead of using Robinson’s 10-stage process, I decided to use the slightly shorter 7-stage process I use when teaching preaching. I believe Ramesh Richard’s approach is similar. The 7-stage process essentially integrates some of Robinson’s 10 stages, with the only major difference being to bring purpose earlier in the order, before working on the idea for the message. The thinking here is that having studied the passage, the purpose for the message is a key influence on all aspects of sermon strategy, including the statement of the message idea (homiletical idea), outline (structural strategy), and the detail. The 7-stages are as follows:
- Passage selection. Once a passage is chosen, the key concern here is whether the passage is a legitimate unit of thought or not.
- Passage study. This is the place where significant work must be done in all aspects of exegesis, including original language work, discourse analysis, etc.
- Passage idea. The goal of study is not endless information on sundry details, but clarity and confidence regarding the main idea of the passage.
- Passage & message purpose. What was the author trying to achieve? What will you, the preacher hope to achieve in preaching the passage? These may be similar, or different, but clear view of purpose will influence all the subsequent stages.
- Message idea. This is the homiletical form of the Big Idea, or the sermonic proposition.
- Message outline. How to deliver the idea in order to achieve the purpose – the message outline is the sermon strategy. What shape will the sermon take?
- Message detail. How will the skeleton be fleshed out? Illustrations, support materials; and very importantly, the introduction and conclusion.
Clicking on each stage will give an index of posts that relate to it. After these stages, then comes the important issue of delivery.
Sermon Subtleties
Basics matter most. However, subtleties can add to the credibility and reinforce the unity and progress of a message. An intriguing title subtly stated at a key moment in the sermon. The opening phrase of the message repeated later, perhaps even twisted. Subtle humour when appropriate. These things are usually better subtle than blatant. If some people miss it, there is no harm because it is subsidiary to the important elements of the message – the big idea and purpose, etc. However, if some people catch the subtleties, then the message effect is reinforced.
Clever Wording is Not Always Clever
Listeners do not want to feel like the preacher is unprepared and making it up as they go along. This undermines credibility. At the other extreme, today’s listeners are often unimpressed by excessively crafted wording. Gone are the days when crowds would “Ooo!” and “Aah!” at unending alliteration (did those days really ever exist?) Our challenge is to find the balance.
I recently heard someone preaching a literary masterpiece of a sermon. It was too much. The craft was overwhelming and it became totally distracting. Once people become impressed, or even distracted by your ability to memorize, you’ve probably gone too far. When preparing a sermon I usually aim for a “prepared natural” style.
Writing a manuscript allows the preacher to give attention to every word in the message, but this does not mean that the sermon should end up as a literary masterpiece. Write the sermon for the ear, but with a “prepared natural” style, then the wordcraft should not feel excessive.
Let “clever” be the seasoning. A little alliteration, assonance, wordplays and pithy sayings tend to go a long way. Be subtle lest you overwhelm the listener, because clever wording is not always clever.
Absent Illustrations Perceived Present
The term “illustration” is very broad, but I’m referring to those moments in a sermon when the thinking work of explanation, support or application of the text is interrupted by the color and life of something apparently more relevant to the listener. For example, when the preacher begins to tell a story, listeners tend to lock in their attention and fully engage. But it is also possible to get this same attention and engagement without using any “illustration” from outside the passage. How?
The wise preacher does not present the text itself in the form of dry analysis of “the long ago and far away.” With careful preparation and thought, most texts can be preached in such a way as to engage the listener here and now. Tell biblical narratives compellingly, present textual imagery vividly, and give explanation relevantly. Allow enough time in an explanation for listeners to enter into it and feel it for themselves. It is possible for listeners, after a sermon is complete, to feel that there were lots of illustrations used, even when technically there were none. Maybe the listener feels as if they were there (in the world of the text), or they delight in how the preacher made the text “come alive” (their words, not ours). This is possible through careful and effective description and explanation of the text. If the preacher is able to handle the text in a thoroughly engaging, descriptive and vivid manner – then that preacher will be considered a masterful communicator (even without using numerous external or modern illustrations).
So, we should work on our ability to effectively and compellingly describe scenes in a biblical story, or images in a passage. We should also be sure to use appropriate variety – some texts and messages lend themselves to vivid, engaging, and compelling description, while other messages thirst for external and contemporary “illustrations” to add to their efficacy. Wise is the preacher who neglects neither and knows when to use both.
Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
Have you ever found in the middle of writing a sermon that you have ten minutes of preaching material that has nothing to do with your main idea? This is easy to do. Some possible factors…an unclear main idea, too much time on one point, an illustration that is over the top in length and detail or too much time explaining what the text is not saying. These are just a few reasons that the main thing ceases to be the main thing in our sermons.
Lately, our church has been working its way through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. A recent sermon covered Matthew 6:1-21. In this section, Jesus makes the point that our piety is to be sheltered from the sight of others. The world is to notice our gentle words (5:21-22); that we pursue reconciliation (5:23-26); that our relationships and vows are marked by fidelity (5:27-37); that we are charitable – even toward our enemies (5:38-48). According to Jesus, this is the kind of salt and light the world should taste and see (5:13-16). However, God alone is to taste and see our piety (6:1-21).
To preach this sermon, it could be very easy to slip into preaching what this passage isn’t saying instead of what it is saying. For example, it is not saying don’t pray corporately. It is not saying don’t tithe at church. It is not saying don’t pray with others. The list of what this passage is not saying could go on and on!
While it is important to address questions our congregations are asking when we preach, we must be careful not to lose sight of the main thing. So what do we do? I suggest speaking to the questions we know our listeners are asking. Otherwise, we will lose them as we continue forward while they sit in their questions. However, in our preparation, we must carefully monitor the time we allot to such caveats in our sermons. Otherwise, by the time and emphasis we give, we communicate a thing we do not intend to communicate. In this case, multiple points about what Jesus is not saying. This would be a tragedy.
Jesus is saying so much in this passage (6:1-21)! How are we known by the world? Are we known to go to church, pray at meal-time and tithe but unknown as kind speaking, reconciling acting, fidelity keeping kingdom participants? It is easier to do piety publicly than it is to live out chapter 5. Why… What motivates our hearts to piety? Is it the applause of others? Is it a spiritual checklist? Is it to worship and love our Lord? All of this and more (related to the main idea) is missed when we lose sight of communicating the main thing.
What do they remember?
In my previous post I questioned the emphasis on having people remember the sermon’s outline. It is much more important that lives are transformed in the preaching of the sermon, than that listeners remember content (although sermonic content is critical). If we want them to remember anything, it should be the big idea of the message and its application to their lives.
In reality, what do people remember most easily? What do people come back later and remind us of, sometimes years later? It is not the outline. Usually it is the illustrations we use, the images we portray, the stories we tell. This leads to two simple, but important implications:
1 – Use illustrations. Seems obvious, but to leave a lasting impression in our listeners, we should probably consider using illustrations!
2 – Use illustrations that reinforce the sermon’s idea or purpose. Since a story or example is likely to lodge in the thinking and emotions of our listeners longer than most of what we say, it is critical that we choose those illustrations very carefully. What is the value in people remembering a cute or moving story that had only a tenuous link to the idea itself? This underscores the danger of finding a text and a message to fit an illustration. If the outline is a servant that should usually stay out of sight, then the illustration is a prominent and memorably dressed servant, but still a servant of the text’s idea and purpose.
What do you want them to remember – the outline?
Before preaching, it is important to have the end in sight. Is our goal really to have people remember the details of the sermon? It seems that both preachers and listeners alike assume that the listener is supposed to remember the outline of the message. So preachers lament the lack of note-taking, or actively encourage it, perhaps by giving “fill in the blank” outlines. Another approach is to use powerpoint projection with the outline visually presented to the listener. And, of course, there’s the common approach of preaching with memorable, sometimes alliterated, points that function as “hooks to hang thoughts on.” None of these things are wrong (or right), but they all point toward the goal of having listeners remember the outline of the sermon (or at least have a written record of it for future consultation).
Perhaps it is time to question the value of remembering or recording a sermon’s outline. Of course, the listener can think through the message later using the outline the preacher used (if a paper record of the sermon’s content is necessary, perhaps give out a handout after the service is over?) Would it not be a better goal for people to think through the text later, rather than through the preacher’s outline?
The real goal of preaching is lives transformed by God’s Word. Any transformation should come from the biblical passage’s main idea relevantly applied to the listener’s life. The goal is not memorization, but transformation. Yet if something should be remembered, surely it should be the main idea, clearly derived from the passage and relevantly applied. The outline of a message is there to order thought, to ensure progress and to serve the big idea and its purpose. The outline is not king. It is merely a discreet servant, usually serving behind the scenes.
Biblical Preaching 