Stage 2 – Passage Study

Letter Frame – Preacher’s Treasure 3

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PenInk2So you can take the whole introduction and preach it to show the themes that will follow, as I suggested from 1 Corinthians 1:1-9.  But there are some other possibilities too:

2. Strategic Teaching Point – eg. Galatians 1:3-5

This is not the whole of Paul’s opening, it is just the grace and peace greeting.  But it could be preached as a gateway into Galatians.  If the point he is underlining here is made strongly, it sets up questions over his authority (go back to verse 1, or leave until next time and connect that with the biographical sections that follow at the end of chapter 1 and start of chapter 2), and questions over their move from this gospel (move on into verse 6 and following, or leave that until next time).  Interestingly, with the explosive content that follows, I suspect many readers miss the greeting, but notice what Paul says and doesn’t say:

He builds on the giving grace of the God with a Trinitarian reference to God the Father and Jesus Christ.  But don’t miss that this God is referred to as “our Father.”  Christ is the self-giving solution to our sin problem and Christ delivers, rescues, saves us from an evil world (Paul is not going light on sin!)   This rescue mission of Jesus is the plan and desire of the God who is now our Father, and it is all about Him, He gets the glory as we respond to this truth.

But notice what is missing.  The gospel is surveyed and it is all about God and the work of Christ.  There is no reference to our commitment, our diligence, our law-keeping, our fleshly efforts to be godly, etc.  Yet how easily we will corrupt the glorious grace of the gospel into something about us.  And that is the issue Paul will chase from verse 6 . . .

3. Biographical Instruction

Following the greeting and gratitude, many epistles will include a biographical section setting the scene for the letter.  Again, Paul tends to use this as an instructional opportunity.  As preachers let’s not skim this section either.  These sections allow us to establish epistles in a narrative setting, which has numerous benefits for a series of messages.  Here are a couple of examples:

* Galatians – After the explosive opening, Paul addresses the two critiques against his ministry by using biographical instruction.  First, that he is not a full Apostle (Galatians 1:11-24)  Second, that his is not the full Gospel, he is not preaching the whole truth (2:1-10).

* Philippians – Paul really takes advantage of his situational info to teach some key truths in 1:12-26, which then leads into the main proposition of the epistle for the final verses of chapter 1.

* 1 Thessalonians – Notice that Paul’s biographical section extends to the end of chapter 3!  The main body of the letter doesn’t arrive until the fourth chapter . . .

Letter Frame – Preacher’s Treasure 2

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PenInk2Last time I looked at the “standard” opening of New Testament epistles.  I suggested we should look at what is added to the bare bones and where the bare bones structure is changed.  One other thought is to notice where the opening is entirely missing and ponder why that may be the case.  For instance, Hebrews is minimal when it comes to its letter frame (just an epistolary postscript added at the end) – many scholars would now agree that this is because Hebrews is really a sermon rather than an epistle.

Let’s ponder a couple of possibilities when it comes to preaching an epistle opening:

1. Preaching the Opening as Thematic Overview – eg. 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Paul gives the normal sender, recipients, greetings and gratitude opening.  But what he adds at every point points the reader to themes that will follow in the letter itself.  After gently highlighting his apostolic authority and connection in verse 1, notice the following pointed material:

* Holiness – He identifies an apparently unholy church as sanctified and called to be saints. (v2a)

* Unity – To a church acting in arrogant isolation, he points out the unity of the global church. (v2b)

* Spiritual Gifts – He writes of the grace-gifts of God to them for their enriching when they were misusing spiritual gifts in a way that did not honour Christ. (v3-7a)

* Final State – To a church convinced they were already living in some sort of final state of “spiritual resurrection” and heavenly party, Paul mentions Christ’s future return. (v7b-8)

* Trinitarian Fellowship – He writes to a church that has misunderstood the role of the Spirit to be a marker of their spiritual arrival, rather than the One who is sent by God to bond them in fellowship to Christ the Son.

Preaching this opening with attention to content can offer a great introduction to the letter as a whole, and a sense of cohesion to a letter often treated as disconnected blocks of material.

Next time I’ll offer a couple of other examples of how a letter opening can offer more than a section to skim in order to get into the meat of the letter.

Preaching and the Harvesting of Imperatives – part 2

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CombineHarvester2Last time we looked at the importance of seeing all of a text in its context, rather than plucking out heads of command for instant applicational preaching.  We also highlighted the need for seeing the wider context since instructional sections of books were intended to be heard alongside the doctrinal foundations.  Here are two more points to ponder, especially for those of us who tend toward the harvesting of imperatives for our preaching preparation:

3. Impartial tone sensitivity.  Not every imperative is a command.  As I have mentioned before, a little Greek can be dangerous.  Knowing that a word is technically imperatival in mood does not mean it is automatically a command as we tend to think of them.  It could be a pronouncement, or an request/entreaty, or even a stereotyped greeting!  While it would be nice if we could all know our Greek better, that is not the only key here.  One thing we can all do is to develop a sensitivity to the tone of the text.  Some preachers are able to turn any textual “tool” into a sledgehammer–not because the text is one, but because that is all they can see.  Their personal baggage makes every invitation, every encouragement, every description, every single text into a sledgehammer that needs to be smashed into the consciences of their listeners. Personal baggage is hugely damaging in biblical preaching.

4. What kind of God is this? Here’s a final thought to keep in mind.  As you are reading through the Bible, consider whether the God being described is really a power-hungry law-giver, or whether we might be projecting something onto Him with such emphases.  After all, what if the consistent thread throughout the canon is God’s loving relationality and therefore the imperatives might be reflecting a jilted lover rather than a distant law-giver?  Perhaps it is worth a read through to see if that makes a difference to how we see the imperatives.

These posts are not intended to deny the importance of imperatives.  Thank God that the Bible does not leave us in the dark as to what a person brought into relationship with God will look like in everyday life.  But let’s beware that we don’t make our role as preachers into a pressuring role when our task might be presentation.  How lives are changed is so significant an issue that I’d invite you to take a sabbatical and ponder it at length.

Preaching and the Harvesting of Imperatives

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

CombineHarvester2In our natural desire to make our preaching applicable and relevant, we may be tempted to simply harvest imperatives.  That is, to find the instructions in a passage and make them the preaching points.  That surely avoids all the baggage and allows us to get to the point and preach with potent relevance?  Here are four thoughts to keep in mind if you tend toward this approach:

1. Content, context and coloured fonts.  Some people are huge fans of red-letter Bibles.  These Bibles use different coloured fonts to allow the reader to spot when Jesus is speaking.  Maybe that is helpful.  And maybe, for some, it creates a level of confusion.  After all, surely more than one or two folks have fallen into the trap of thinking something Jesus said is therefore more important than the fully inspired packaging of Matthew or Mark’s gospel writing around the quote?  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful, including the bits around what Jesus said.  Same is true of imperatives.  If we were to get an “orange letter” Bible with all the commands highlighted, we would be in danger of elevating imperatives in an unnatural manner.  In our preaching we can effectively do the same.  We need to be sure to study and present the meaning of the passage as a whole.  All the content matters, all the context is relevant.

2. Wide, wide as the canon.  The context of an imperative is not just the immediate setting of the sentence, paragraph or section.  We need to develop sensitivity to the wider context.  For instance, in the epistles we need to be sure to view the letter as a whole when we are looking at the imperatival sections in detail.  That is to say, Ephesians 4-6 assumes Ephesians 1-3.  It was meant to be heard at once.  If we dive into the latter part of the letter (same with Romans, Colossians, etc.) without the first part, then we can turn description of God’s mercies and calling presented in real life terms into stand alone burdensome commands and duties.  Let’s be sure to read imperatives in the context of the whole book, and with the assumed context of the theology of the writer as informed by earlier Scripture.

I will finish the list on Monday . . .

Three Common Mistakes Preaching Genesis

/ Peter Mead / 9 Comments

OpenScroll1GenGenesis is such a critical book!  I suspect it simply isn’t preached enough.  The rest of the Bible is built on the foundation of Genesis, and so preaching it enough and preaching it well are very important.  Here are three mistakes to avoid, although many more could be added:

1. Atomistic Reading – This is where a text is snipped from the flow of the context and becomes a stand alone.  Typically this leads to a Sunday School type of preaching that treats each narrative as complete in itself, and with its own “moral of the story.”  Cain and Abel has to flow out of Genesis 3, and into the two genealogies of chapters 4 and 5.  Abraham does not offer us a set of stand alone tales, but a sequence of growing faith, obedience and connection with God.  Joseph’s brothers show consistency between snapshots, making them more than 11 faceless foils in the story of Joseph.  Be careful to study and preach each unit in context.

2. Moralistic Reading – This is where a text is snipped from the artery of life that is God’s involvement in specific history, turning the text into a tale with a moral, a lesson for the day, a suggestion on how we can live better.  So we should try to avoid infidelity like Joseph did, or not give away our wives like Abraham/Isaac did, or not get caught up in tempting conversations like Eve did.  But actually the goal is not our independent successful functioning: that was what the serpent was pushing for.  The goal is surely more God-centred than that.  Eve didn’t trust God’s Word and God’s character, but God himself works the resolution to the sin problem and invites us to trust Him and His Word.  Abraham was on a journey of faith as we are.  Joseph lived as if God were with him, even though he had very little indication that he was!

3. Impositional Reading – This is where a text is seen, but not heard.  It is where a text acts as a trigger to recall sermons heard and points previously stated.  The preacher reads the text and looks for a sermon, instead of studying the text and looking for God.  Impositional reading will always lead to superficial preaching.  Probe, question, examine, query, ponder, mine, and wrestle with the text.  Do that with God in conversation and see if the preaching of Genesis suddenly becomes a spring of living water instead of stale old picture book fables.

The Preacher’s Clock: Anticipation

/ Peter Mead / 5 Comments

clock2For the last couple of days I’ve been pondering issues of procrastination and preparation.  But it is also important to consider anticipation.

Anticipating Future Preaching – The whole issue of preparation cycles is important.  Robinson taught us that a five-day cycle was not long enough and he was right.  This is only exacerbated by delays as you can end up with a message on Saturday night that has one night and one breakfast time to be embedded in your life as a preacher.  That is hardly long enough to scratch the surface of personalizing experience of the message or forming any sort of conviction.  You may know the material, but only in the head.  A longer cycle allows for the Bible passage to do some work in you and on you, the preacher.  But it could be argued that even a 10-day cycle is not really long enough if the goal is to let the message become part of your own life and experience.

This is why it is helpful to anticipate preaching for weeks or even months.  Obviously you can’t be preparing months worth of sermons in any detail at all.  However, knowing that a series is coming ahead of time does allow for an initial reading, some initial prayerful pondering, etc.  I am considering preaching through Colossians later in the year.  Awareness of that series, even without any sort of extensive study, can influence my life and thinking now.  By the time the series comes, there should be some deeper rootedness in my heart and life.

Anticipating Future Interruption – Any talk of schedules and delays must also lead us to ponder the possibility of future interruption.  Could there be a pastoral crisis, family illness, broken kitchen appliance, car trouble, unexpected guest or excessive administration between now and the sermon.  I suspect there might be.  That is why we need to build in margin to the schedule, rather than cramming things into every corner and relying on a smooth run through the week.  This isn’t easy for most of us, especially when it means saying no to ministry invitations, but there is no other way to avoid seasons of overwhelming stress than to say no to things before the crisis emerges.

The Preacher’s Clock: Preparation

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

clock2Yesterday I mentioned Robinson’s advice on moving from a five-day to a ten-day cycle simply by shifting the initial exegetical work back to the previous Thursday.  I know that in my own experience most weeks are not consistent and so I have to be flexible on my preparation schedule (even if I have my own ideal).  But I suspect that even many who have a standard weekly schedule still have to flex more than they would like.  So what kinds of time go into a sermon preparation phase?

1. Blocks of concentration – Good sermons don’t get crafted in snatches between emails.  Having significant blocks of concentration time is critical and need to be carved out of normal life.  This can mean taking deliberate steps: turning off the phone, moving away from the computer or turning off the email notification, perhaps leaving the office and finding a “study” zone that allows for concentration.  When we moved I left behind my favourite wooded area where I used to sit in the car and work without phone signal, but gained access to a church building that is quiet at key times.

2. Chunks of process progression – Some things don’t require being “in the zone,” but are needed to move the process forward.  Perhaps researching a specific issue for an illustration, or chasing a quoted passage to gain familiarity.  The key thing here is to know what needs to be done, and to have some days in which to get these chunks of work done.  It doesn’t matter that it is only three times twenty minutes worth of work, if you are already at Saturday afternoon, these will get squeezed out.

3. Brief and extended moments for contemplation – Focused and planned prayer time is important.  Taking prayer time when available also counts.  Praying through a message in the car is better use of time than hearing the same cycle of news and chat on the car radio.  I wouldn’t want to rely on car time for prayer.  That makes it sound unimportant.  But I wouldn’t want to be without those “non-traditional” times either.  These times to think and pray are cumulative and valuable.

4. Focused prayer time – So as well as fitting in prayer and spilling out prayer as you soak in a message and anticipate preaching it, it is also worth scheduling and planning real prayer time.  I like to spend some time praying in the church, focusing in on the people I associate with certain seats.  Some like to pray and walk, others have a prayer closet.  I don’t think God minds where.

5. Pre-delivery time – I value that time the night before and the morning of preaching to be able to run through the message.  This is why I can’t just preach from old notes as if it were fresh.  At this stage the work is done, but it is amazing how much can be improved when hearing the message through your own ears.

All of this time takes, well, it takes time.  Hence starting the process earlier always allows opportunity for both the planned blocks and the smaller pieces in the whole puzzle to come together.

Biblical Girders 4

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

GirderWhere does each girder go?  The Bible has a superstructure that holds it all together.  So the thematic element of the promised seed in Genesis 3:15 will work its way through multiple books and become overt in places like Galatians 3 at the other end of the canon.  But this poses a challenge.  How much should we be preaching Galatians 3 when we are supposed to be preaching Genesis 3?

Many preachers would see no problem with springing from Genesis to Galatians since that is the fulfillment and the clarification of what is first stated in the Garden of Eden.  I am certainly not going to criticize the impulse to preach Christ and it would be strange to leave listeners wondering who that seed might be (unless such suspense were part of a bigger teaching strategy).

On the other hand, I do wonder if we can collapse themes forward too easily and lose some of the strength of the steel at that point in the biblical story?  If the Bible were a building, then Genesis would be the foundation.  Steel starting there does go through the whole structure and holds the whole together.  Themes of creation, of relationship, of fellowship lost, of divine grace and rescue, of divine promise, etc. all work their way from Genesis on through the Bible.  That  steel girder seen in Genesis 3:15 later on turns out to be the spire at the top of the whole structure, the pinnacle of it all.  It makes sense to let folks know the significance of that, but at the same time it makes sense to help people see the importance of the foundation.

That is to say, instead of immediately looking up to the spire that caps off the whole building, when we are preaching in Genesis lets be sure to help people see how the foundation fits together, how the hope offered by God’s grace in the seed of the woman is such a striking promise in the context of a spurned relationship in that first senseless human rebellion.  That passage is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training, etc.  So let’s preach Genesis 3, not just bounce off it to go straight to the spire.  At the same time let’s not get our noses in the foundations and let people miss the grandeur of the whole.

It isn’t either/or, it surely needs to be both/and.  And with that both/and, I think it needs to be honouring to the earlier text in its own right, not just a token glance.

 

Providence and Preaching 3

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Last time we thought about the potential value of unsolicited information.  Perhaps we shouldn’t be so “in the zone” that we become blind to God’s providence at work.  Let’s take another example:

Unknown perspective on the passage may be critical – This probably shouldn’t come through lack of good exegesis and study, although it might.  So let’s think about that first, then come at it from another angle.

Good preparation should involve not only good accurate study, but probing study that comes at the passage from multiple angles.  It is good to think through how people may misinterpret it, or mis-hear you.  It is good to ponder the various theological and philosophical positions in your group of listeners (even if they don’t know what their theological and philosophical presuppositions may be, you should have a fair idea!)  So while it may take only so long to grasp the meaning of a passage, let’s study for so long plus a bit to ponder the potential alternative perspectives, even if the alternative is built on a flawed approach or biblical background.

Another approach is to proactively pursue varied input from others before preaching.  Having grasped the main idea of the passage, offer that to others and see what they do with it.  Hear the perspective of others.  You can do this with commentaries, of course, but why not go for real humans too.  A friend who knows the Word can be a real blessing, but don’t overlook interaction with someone who seems to be less informed.  The interaction with one or with a purposely-formed group can be so significant.  Better to hear that you are off target, or shallow, or misfiring, before you stand and deliver.

So the issue may be one of exegesis, but as we’ve already hinted, it could be with reception too.  You may fully grasp the import of a passage and get the meaning very accurately.  But how will people misunderstand the message?  This is why we cannot prepare a perfect message in the solitude of a study.  We need some interaction in general, and it wouldn’t hurt before this next message.  It isn’t just accurate exegesis that you pursue, but effective communication to others.  Their preconceived notions can be massively significant – if you know them ahead of time.