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A Low Fence
When you have a single text for a sermon, you also need a fence. The fence is there to keep you from wandering too far away from your focus.
Erect a fence for the passage – last night my preaching text was Hebrews 13:20-21, the final benediction. I erected a fence around the book of Hebrews. That fence meant that I kept my study in Hebrews and my presentation in Hebrews.
Study inside the fence – So what did the writer mean by the reference to “Shepherd,” “the will of God,” and “pleasing”? While naturally my mind might jump to Psalm 23, John 10 and other passages all over the canon, I tried to stay within the fence. The best evidence of authorial intent would be found in Hebrews. By staying there I discovered the unity of 13:1-21 as a follow-on to 12:28, which shed light on “pleasing.” By staying there I discovered the unity of the final section with parallels to the end of chapter 10, which shed light on “the will of God.” Staying within the fence kept the focus for study.
Preach inside the fence – It is always tempting to present the sermon in the terms you prefer. I tried to preach in Hebrews terminology. Instead of talking about our “vertical spirituality” as loving God (as I would by default, very Johannine), I instead spoke of worshipping God – very Hebrews. References to a pilgrimage of faith, toward a heavenly city, not shrinking back, shame, the joy set before, Jesus’ being led up from the dead, and so on. All terminology appropriate for a sermon on Hebrews. I also tried to refer to the writer as the preacher to the Hebrews rather than the standard writer to the Hebrews.
You only need a low fence – I am not suggesting that you study or preach a book in complete isolation from the other inspired texts. I am suggesting you honor the author of the book in both your study and presentation. So to understand “Shepherd” I had to be aware of at least Isaiah 63:11 in the LXX, although the addition of “Great” is very much a Hebrews idea. And to see that God is pleased with the two-part sacrifice of vertical and horizontal spirituality naturally sets up a brief comment about the greatest commandment(s), John’s first epistle, etc. The fence does not preclude very helpful study in Old Testament quotes and allusions, nor the opportunity to point out the consistency of idea across New Testament books. The low fence is there to honor the author, thereby helping you study better, and present more faithfully.
The Blessing of New Year
It’s the last Sunday of the year. It’s the season of gym-joining, diet-starting, habit-kicking and so on. As I come to the end of the year I tend to do my personal review in November. I ask myself two questions to kick-start my thinking process. 1 – Am I doing the most strategic ministry open to me? 2 – Am I growing? I find these two questions help me review, evaluate and reconfigure ministry for the next year.
But there is something about the end of a year. It’s good to look back and work through the year. Recall the highlights and lowlights, the challenges, the surprises, the encouragements. As a preacher think back to favorite series or sermons, critical moments in the pulpit and out, evidence of lives being changed that may have been stark or subtle. Give thanks. It is too easy to march on to the drum beat of urgency and not take the time to give thanks to the God who has made every breath possible.
There is also something about the first of the first of a new year. Look ahead to 2008 as you currently see it. Pray for the year, for the ministry, for the people. Be specific wherever you can. This will be a critical year for some people. This could be a vital year for the church. This is a vital year for the church worldwide, just as every second is a vital moment (two people die every second, most go to a lost eternity). Pray for a renewed passion for preaching, for ministry, for global missions. God has put you where you are to make a difference in your corner of the harvest field and to make a difference in the harvest field.
And today, as we preach, we have perhaps a unique opportunity to stir reflection and gratitude for the year now ending, and also infuse passion for the year ahead!
Bible Read Through
It’s that time of year when resolutions are made, and often it is about 3-7 weeks from when they are broken! But reading through the Bible in a year is a very healthy idea for both the preacher and the congregation. Perhaps this Sunday would be the best time to mention it? Here are a handful of resources and ideas:
1. Once Through – Steve Mathewson has done the math and shares helpful ideas in his latest blog entry. Remember that many in your congregation will have tried, but failed to read through the whole Bible. Many more probably have never tried. Any help to make it acheivable can only be a good thing!
2. A Voluntary Once Through – It may be too short notice for tomorrow, but perhaps the idea could be mentioned tomorrow and presented the following Sunday. Since people often quit when trying on their own, add the support of others through a voluntary Bible Read Thru program. If people sign up to the program, they will get an encouragement partner with whom will check in once a week and mutually enourage each other to press on (they can bring their own or be assigned one, and incidentally, if they want to, they could get together and share highlights from their reading too). Perhaps the program leader could send an email or letter to participants once every six weeks to encourage them to press on. Perhaps the whole group could come together once a quarter to share both highlights and struggles of the read through. Then at the end of the year have a celebration meal together – for some it will be a massive achievement! All you need is a program coordinator . . . who knows what it might start in peoples’ lives?! (I’d love to hear of churches that try something like this!)
3. Which Order? – It is popular to mix up the Bible and read a couple of chapters from here and a couple from there. Matthewson helpfully suggests a couple of options. I would also strongly suggest simply going cover to cover (less complicated, more context). Some might like to try the Hebrew order for the Old Testament, an author ordering for the New, or a chronological ordering for the whole.
4. How About More Than Once? – I would be careful about this idea with the whole church since it may intimidate some, but there are some people who need the prod the read through several times in a year. Through in six months (7 chapters per day), every four months (10 chapters), every three months (13 chapters), in two months (20 chapters). Before dismissing these timescales, take a look at this article by Ron Frost.
5. A Bible Marathon Once in a While? – Perhap you could use the turning of the New Year to give a first mention to a Bible Marathon later in the year? A Bible Marathon is a great way to soak in the Bible for a few hours for dedicated volunteers. Perhaps going for Hebrews to Revelation (less than three hours) would be a good way to help people finish the read through next winter, or maybe Judges to 2Kings (roughly ten hours) would be a good push through the historical section in late spring? For guidelines from Garry Friesen, leader of dozens of successful Bible marathons, click here.
So how about it? Suggest reading through the Bible to the church . . . and go for it yourself?
Preaching Outside the Safety Zone?
As we approach the new year and are thinking through the possibilities in 2008, let us think about possibilities for ministry outside the safety zone of our own pulpits. Depending on what country you live in, and your network of contacts, there may be possibilities to serve in other strategic settings as well as your own.
You probably have not been invited to be chaplain to the US Senate recently, but perhaps push some doors in the local government? Then if you are outside the US, what about local schools? In the UK there are many Religious Education teachers more than happy to let others teach class for them! What about prisons, retirement communities, hospitals, etc?
Now we should temper any zeal with wisdom. It may be that you would do more harm than good in some settings – ask those who know you and love you enough to tell you if that might be the case! Some chaplains get specialized training for a reason. However, there are community ministry opportunities that may be begging for the input of a sensitive, yet bold, minister of the Word. Perhaps we should consider pushing some doors and stepping out of the safety zone once or twice in 2008? Your network of contacts includes the ultimate One, the One who can open doors and use us beyond our wildest imaginations! Pray about it, and if you see an opportunity then push the door, our Lord can always close it if He prefers.
Review: Preaching with Power, edited by Michael Duduit
Subtitle: Dynamic Insights from Twenty Top Pastors (2006)
As editor of Preaching Magazine, Michael Duduit is able to take good content from that magazine and publish it in book form. This is exactly what this book is. Twenty interviews with top preachers that have appeared in Preaching Magazine and now appear in this book from Baker.
There are some very helpful interviews here. I would particularly note Haddon Robinson on expository preaching in a narrative world, David Jeremiah on preaching through pain, Andy Stanley on preaching without fear and Bryan Chapell on expository preaching.
Other contributors range from John MacArthur and Jerry Falwell to Dan Kimball and Brian MacLaren. From Erwin Lutzer and Lloyd John Ogilvie to T D Jakes and Adrian Rogers. From Jerry Vines to Rick Warren. The contribution is varied and the subjects span a spectrum of related interests.
I won’t extend this review by sharing specific insights from the interviews, I simply want to explain the nature of the book. If you’ve read the magazine for a decade or two then you will have read it all before. If you haven’t been a subscriber to Preaching, then this book might tempt you. This is a worthwhile book to read, or just to pick at when you have spare ten minute chunks of time.
(This book does not break into the top ten must read’s for preachers.)
When 10 is Only 7
Since every book review posted on this site can be found by clicking on the Review category in the list to the right, there is really no need to have a page of the same reviews sitting on the site too. This profound insight has spurred me to change the Books page to Top Books. It is a list, a countdown, a veritable hit parade of preaching must-reads. To qualify for this list a book has to be reviewed on the site and be considered a must-read for all preachers. So this top 10 list is now ready for viewing and critique. But actually there’s only 7 books on there. The other 9 that have been reviewed all have their merits but don’t qualify for the list. A couple would qualify (Long certainly, Richard maybe), but have a stronger equivalent already there (Arthurs and Sunukjian respectively). So feel free to take a look. Disagree if you like. I’m not sure I agree with the placement of a couple of them! Others will be added in time.
Practicing What I Preach
For many preachers life is lived in reverse. People take Sunday off and come to church. It’s no day-off for us. People finish work and come home in the evening, but sometimes we have to preach, teach or lead then. And the season of relaxed family time easily becomes the busy and draining season for preachers – ie Christmas. So, since I have a whole week until I have to preach, I will be taking a couple of days off from the blog. Let’s be honest, you wouldn’t check it on Christmas Day anyway, would you?
The Wonder of Christmas
One of the great occupational hazards of ministry is that we can so easily lose the wonder of what we are dealing with. With the demands of the schedule, the expectations of people, the burden of creativity in a season that comes every twelfth month (but is only fully reported in two gospels), the ongoing reality of messy lives (people still get in trouble, marriages still fail, loneliness still bites, folks still sin), and so on, we can easily lose the wonder of Christmas.
In this post I don’t want to prescribe how to keep the wonder of it all, I just want to suggest we do. Whatever it takes. Perhaps time with family. Perhaps some extra guarded time alone with God. Perhaps a special treat carol concert. Perhaps a brief journey to a sentimental place. Perhaps read one of those booklets the church is offering to visitors over Christmas. Whatever it takes.
Let us make sure that we don’t go through Christmas feeling the pressure and the burden of it all, without also renewing the wonder in our hearts. Let us be captured by the grace of God that He would step into this world. Let us be gripped by the hope inherent in the Christmas story for a world of sinners – for Christ came into the world to save sinners! Let us be stirred afresh by the history-changing event of the incarnation. Ponder the first Christmas, ponder the reality of the incarnation, ponder the journey from Bethlehem to Calvary, ponder the everlasting nature of the incarnation. Ponder. Ignite the wonder again. Whatever it takes.
Thriving in the People / Passage Tension
Phillip Brooks said something along these lines: He never went to his study and looked in the Bible that he didn’t see his people’s faces running across his study. When he went out to meet his people, his study would beckon and he would see the Bible.
This tension is not a reason for frustration. When studying a passage, pause and consider who would be directly helped by it. Take a moment to pray for them. Then get back to study. When meeting people, perhaps on a Sunday at church, do the reverse. Between conversations consider what passage would help the person you just spoke to, again fire a quick prayer for them. Then press on to the next interaction. In reality every passage holds value for everyone in the church, but allow your mind to make specific connections anyway.
This mental exercise can bear ministerial fruit. With practice you will find yourself more naturally bringing helpful Bible texts into conversations, and more naturally bringing relevance and application into your preaching.
As preachers we live in a tension between people and passages. Embrace the tension and learn to thrive in it.
Biblical Preaching 