Category: Preaching Page 5 of 6

A shameless promotion follows:

For those who are interested, you can now subscribe to the sermons of Covenant Presbyterian Church through an iTunes Podcast.

Click here for more information or to subscribe.

[Parents will be happy to note that iTunes has labeled these sermons as ‘clean’. Safe, it seems, for little ears!]

Several have asked me when the sermons I preach at Covenant Church in Oviedo would be available on-line. With a bit of trepidation, I can say that they are now available for both of you who are interested…

My trepidation is related only to the technical difficulties we’ve had in getting to this stage.

The iTunes podcast is not yet set up. But that will come, on the other side of, you guessed it, technical difficulties.

Study is a critical aspect of the pastor’s call. To maintain it requires vision and it requires some workable form of life management.

David Allen in his extremely helpful book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity has pointed out that we cannot manage time. We are only given a set amount of it and we don’t control it. Rather, he advocates managing our workflow, and in a bigger way, managing our lives within the set parameters time gives us. “GTD” has been very helpful for me. (If you think I’m a mess now, you should have seen me before I read this book.) A helpful introduction can be found here.

Eugene Peterson in a wonderful chapter called “The Unbusy Pastor” (about which I should write more sometime) from his book The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction sings the praises of the appointment calendar. This is the tool with which to gain control of one’s life, says Peterson, especially to wrest control away from dominant and insistent people. He says, “The authority once given to Scripture is now ascribed to the appointment calendar. The dogma of verbal inerrancy has not been discarded, only re-assigned. When I appeal to my appointment calendar, I am beyond criticism….”

And such considerations would not be complete without reference to another helpful resource from another experienced (and scarred) pastor, Gordon MacDonald. In Ordering Your Private World MacDonald gives what he calls ‘MacDonald’s Laws of Unseized Time’. These speak for themselves, and they are all absolutely true.

Law #1: Unseized time flows toward my weaknesses.

Law #2: Unseized time comes under the influence of dominant people in my world.

Law #3: Unseized time surrenders to the demands of all emergencies.

Law #4: Unseized time gets invested in things that gain public acclamation.

Our big point is that preachers/pastors need to be masters at exegeting scripture and exegeting culture. To do either demands time. To do both demands discipline.

One of the enduring memories of my first (of two) trips to Africa was visiting the church of an African pastor. In many respects it revealed that he was effective in his ministry and was providing good care for a needy people. When he showed me his study, I was struck with the size of his library. All six inches of it.

What riches I have by comparison.

As is often the case with the rich, we do not take full advantage of the privileges granted to us.

This post is not about getting good books into needy hands. That is a work worthy of our support. Rather this is about those of us with good books not taking advantage of what we’ve been given.

The pastor is to be a scholar of two worlds – the world of the sacred of the Bible, and the world of those to whom he is called to preach. And to be scholar of both demands disciplined study reaching in both directions.

It is easy to lose sight of the critical importance of moving in both directions. We have spoken already about the importance of knowing the world into which we speak. We must be as diligent in becoming a scholar of the message we preach.

John Stott, with a hand both stern and gentle, challenges pastors at this point. The one thing which keeps a pastor from study, he suggests, is laziness. He says that pastors are prone to laziness “because we have no employer to supervise our work or to reproach us for our neglect of it. Besides, we have neither set tasks to do, nor set times in which to do them. We are our own master and have to organize our own schedule. So it is possible for us to fritter our days away, until our time-wasting lapses degenerated into a life of gross indiscipline.” Ouch.

I would not be as harsh as Stott (on myself, at least!). My impression is that the lack of study arises not as much from laziness or unwillingness, but from a lack of a proper vision of the pastor’s task. I mean, does it really feel like work when I’m sitting in my study reading for several hours straight? Am I persuaded enough that this is part of my job, that I can defend such investment of time? And do those whom I serve understand that this is a vital part of my ministry?

If we were persuaded of the value of study for our public and private ministries, we would gladly labor to allocate and defend the time necessary for it.

* * * * *

Allocating and defending the time is one thing; knowing how to find and make use of that time is another, which is what we’ll address next week. I’ve been greatly helped in this regard by David Allen’s Getting Things Done
. His seminars cost far more than our church, or most, for that matter, can afford. But since he is an alumnus of New College of Florida, I get to hear him speak this afternoon at the college for peanuts. I’m very excited!

I’m sure that Redeemer Church in NYC has its reasons for charging those who want a copy of a sermon by its pastor Tim Keller, but I’ve found the policy a bit disappointing.

Now, they’ve cracked the archives a bit with the release of 150 sermons which are downloadable for free.

I appreciate the desire of Redeemer to not detract from the ministry of the local church by creating a virtual church of those who find it sufficient to listen to sermons.

“Redeemer’s primary method of evangelism has always been through the planting of gospel-centered churches. The Free Sermon Resource is not intended as a “broadcast ministry” which would create “virtual” members listening from home, rather than getting involved in their local congregations. Instead, we hope that this will serve as a “resource” for the broader movement of the gospel in the world: both as an evangelistic tool to share with our inquiring friends, neighbors and co-workers, and as a way of sharing our core principles, or “DNA,” to assist in the planting and nurturing of gospel-centered churches around the world – many of them in places difficult to reach via traditional means.”

Of course, other free sermons are ALWAYS available here….

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks. So, instead of me posting a post on preaching, I’d like Tim Keller to sit in for me.

Thanks, Tim (May I call you that?)

Here is a portion of what he says:

I have often seen many men spend a great amount of time on preparing and preaching lengthy, dense, expository messages, while giving far less time and energy to the learning of leadership and pastoral nurture. It takes lots of experience and effort to help a body of people make a unified decision, or to regularly raise up new lay leaders, or to motivate and engage your people in evangelism, or to think strategically about the stewardship of your people’s spiritual gifts, or even to discern what they are. It takes lots of experience and effort to know how to help a sufferer without being either too passive or too directive, or to know when to confront a doubter and when to just listen patiently. Pastors in many of our Reformed churches do not seem to be as energized to learn to be great leaders and shepherds, but rather have more of an eye to being great teachers and preachers.

As an experienced pastor, I would say that I wish, in looking back, without denigrating one bit the study and preparation for preaching I have done, that I had spent far more time ‘learning of leadership’. As much damage may be done to a body by careless leadership as by weak preaching.

Over the years I’ve been challenged by people to preach on a number of topics. One woman felt that I should address the clear biblical call for couples to not use contraception. A man felt that I should address the oh-so-clear biblical call for women to not work outside the home.

Preachers face an intriguing challenge. If we are going to do the job we must of bringing the message and power of the ancient text into the lives of modern people then we will need to address the issues that are pertinent and pressing to those people. And yet, in doing this we must be faithful to the priorities and emphases of the ancient text. It can be a hard balance to achieve.

The pressure to be relevant can lead some of us to speak things that the Bible does not speak. I have what I think are fairly clear views which are, I think, biblically informed on both contraception and the proper role and responsibilities of women (and men, for that matter). I will address these in their proper context. But the danger we face and must avoid is when addressing controversial issues that we do not say more or less with greater or lesser emphasis than the Bible itself.

This past week, I sat with two others, two whose political views differ from my own, whose religious convictions differ from one another, and whose life experiences, priorities, and perspectives differ from mine and each other. We discussed race, religion, politics, history, and urban planning. I was enriched by this. Having such conversations informs me, gives me insight into how others think, and helps me to sort through in my own mind what may or may not be clear in Scripture.

Such conversations are good, and developing strong convictions is important. But the way these convictions make it into sermons where the preacher presumes to speak with the authority of God is another matter.

Though the preacher ought not be silent on the subjects with which the rest of the world is aflame, we must at the same time treat those subjects with care. We do not want to confuse our opinions with the biblical truth which must inform those opinions.

We must first speak with great clarity the central Christian truths (which, if rightly presented, often cut through both sides of a controversial subject). Secondly, we must speak with great charity on secondary matters, taking great care not to elevate these less than clear secondary matters to primary status.

John Stott’s counsel is wise:

Our task as preachers, then, is neither to avoid all areas of controversy, nor to supply slick answers to complex questions in order to save people the bother of thinking. Either way is to treat them like children who are unable to think for themselves, and to condemn them to perpetual immaturity. Instead, it is our responsibility to teach them with clarity and conviction the plain truths of Scripture, in order to help them develop a Christian mind, and to encourage them to think with it about the great problems of the day, and so to grow into maturity in Christ. (Between Two Worlds, page 173)

This is why preachers should study, read widely, and preach theologically. When we preach, we are not in the business in giving out all the answers. We are seeking to inculcate a Christian way of thinking.

Jonathan Edwards’ preaching has been compared to the work of an artillery man. Edwards, it is said, would use his doctrinal exposition to set up his guns. The rest of his sermon would consist in firing them.

If you have read Edwards’ most famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” you will know this to be true. The version I have is 7,174 words long, of which 2,768 words are devoted to the explication of the doctrine. Over 60% of the sermon is devoted to applying it to his hearers. There is little question that his hearers knew what response he was seeking from them, if this last paragraph is any indication:

“Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: ‘Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed.’”

The analogy suggests that the art of preaching is one of carefully loading and positioning our guns with truth that is suited to the target, and then firing them with intensity and precision.

Some of us load our guns with great doctrine, but never have the time (or will) to fire them. Some of us fire the guns, but do so aimlessly, not hitting any target within reach. And some of us fire marvelously and have a great aim, but we’ve loaded our guns with marshmallows.

I am convicted by this. I am like the young boy who goes hunting, and the game enjoy his hunting trip as much as he does, for they know there is no possible danger of any damage being done! A sermon is not complete if the preacher has not pondered the what and who and how of application.

Why do we preach at all? Is it to entertain? If so, our aim is easily attained, but it is a shallow goal. What is our aim? Is it to educate and inform? To make our listeners more biblically and doctrinally literate? Of course. This is a noble purpose of expounding God’s word. But to what end? If we leave simply smarter, we have really gained little.

What is the purpose of our preaching? One hour of preparation is needed for every 3 to 5 minutes of actual sermon. Toward what end are we investing such time? The aim will be revealed in how the preacher applies his sermon. What we are attempting to accomplish in the preaching will be reflected in what we tell the hearer to DO with the truth just expounded. If we omit pointed application, we are either ONLY interested in inflating our hearer’s knowledge, or we are lazily leaving the task of application to them.

I’ve been guilty of both.

Our sermons must from beginning to end be concerned for the hearts and wills of those to whom we preach. Yes, we are concerned to change their way of thinking. But that in and of itself is not sufficient application, if we do not at the same time help them see how this change of thinking makes them of better usefulness in the kingdom.

Certainly we are concerned to see men and women come to Christ. Charles Simeon said that each sermon should humble the sinner, exalt Christ, and promote holiness. All of this is very general, but better than no aim at all.

When one takes to firing guns, and not just loading them, people can get hurt. I’ve often reflection on how it can be a frustrating thing to preach and find that no one is listening. It is, however, a scary thing to know that they are.