Passion

Preaching Easter (Pt3): Harmonization and the Gospels

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Whenever we preach from the gospels we need to be aware that there may be up to four accounts of the story before us. In the past a great deal of emphasis was placed on harmonizing the gospel accounts. That is to say, placing all four side by side and seeking to combine them in order to have the “full” story. There is certainly a place for this practice, but how much of this should we concern ourselves with as preachers?

There are many elements in the Gospels that only appear in one gospel. In this case the issue of harmonization is largely irrelevant. But then there are events found in all of the gospels. The passion narrative, obviously, is found in all four.

Check all four gospels for accuracy in your preaching. If you are preaching from, say, Luke’s account, then it is helpful to check the other three. You wouldn’t want to undermine your preaching by telling the story in such a way that you make errors because you forgot to check the other gospels.

Preach the text rather than the event. Having checked the other gospels to make sure you are not presenting an error in your sermon, be sure to actually preach Luke’s account (or whichever you have as your preaching text). The gospel writers did not simply recount a transcript of a video taken the first Easter. They selectively chose the details to include in order to write an historically accurate theological presentation. Seek to preach the emphasis of the text you are in.

Preaching Easter (Pt1): Back to Basics

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

In some ways Easter is not like Christmas.  The Christmas story tends to remain largely unmentioned for eleven months of the year.  So when the advent season comes round again people expect to hear the basic Christmas story.  But the events of the first Easter get mentioned and preached on throughout the year.  So there is a temptation for us as preachers to try and get clever with our Easter messages – perhaps hyper-creative, or super-subtle, or whatever.

Our regular listeners need to hear the basic Easter story.  Jesus told his followers to share bread and wine, “in remembrance” of Him.  In a sense the Easter story never grows old for Christ’s followers – it means too much to us.  So as a preacher don’t feel pressure from somewhere to say something that is somehow clever or different.  There are plenty of biblical passages that can be used, and people will appreciate a clear preaching of any of them.

Remember that irregular listeners need to hear the basic Easter story.  At Easter time there is a higher likelihood of visitors.  Maybe they feel they should go to church at Christmas and again at Easter.  Maybe they are visiting family who go to your church and politely join their hosts.  These people don’t need some kind of creatively opaque and nuanced message.  They need the message of the text clearly presented and applied.

As a preacher you may be feeling the pressure to do something different this year.  I’m not suggesting we should be boring or predictable.  I’m not saying that creativity is inappropriate.  Let us be as effective as possible in our communication of the biblical message of Easter.  However, let’s remember that sometimes it is very effective to simply preach the basics – the story from the text, the implications for us today.

Preaching Passion – Checking the Foundations

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

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?