Category Archives: relevance

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Our Listeners Really Haven’t Changed

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You can decide whether this quote is encouraging or discouraging; same with the following post.

Back in March I introduced you to the multi-volume set, Theoretical-Practical Theology, by Petrus Van Mastricht. The title is a strong hint as to why I believe the set holds tremendous promise for preaching.

Van “Mastricht argued that the TPT was to be used in the preparation of preaching” (p. xxxix). That’s what makes this volume a special part of my reading this year.

Preachers and homileticians will also be interested in an early chapter, The Best Method of Preaching. Now, remember that the following quote was written in 1682. Tell me whether this sounds familiar…

“I did not produce those disputations in haughtiness, for I cheerfully and frankly confess that they do not possess anything from their learning and erudition that could comment them to anyone–especially not in this most self-indulgent age…” (emphasis added, Preface, p. 3).

Imagine that: Mastricht described his day as a “most self-indulgent age.”

When I read something like that it gives me courage. At times I find myself thinking that all of our technological advances make it more difficult to minister in this day. Mastricht’s description fits our day. Back then people respected ministers more than they do today, but the age of self-indulgence marches on.

One of our responsibilities as preachers and teachers of God’s Word is to continue to call Christ-followers toward self-denial. That sounds like something Jesus taught, more precisely as a prerequisite for following Him.

I asked earlier whether this post would be encouraging or discouraging. Either way it hits you, it potentially keeps us focused on our task. And as we work at this each weekend our Lord receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

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An Example of the Second Reason We Might Put our Listeners to Sleep (the Beatitudes)

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We Could Be Losing our Listeners with our Well-crafted (yawn) Outlines.

A couple of weeks ago I suggest that we contribute to that glazed look (the Steve Carrel pic) by (1) allowing gaps in the emotional connection between our sermon data and our listener’s response and (2) allowing gaps in the logical connection between our sermon data–even main points–and our listener’s response.

In both cases I am talking about responses in terms of worship responses: what God intends for Scripture to do to the Christian.

An example of the second phenomenon is a sermon on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.

There are nine “Blessed are’s…” in the section (vv. 1-12). I chose to spend two sermons on all nine (I covered the first three and then the final six).

This type of list can easily cause slumber in the seats because of how easy it is to allow gaps in the logical connection between the individual Beatitude and a worship response.

That means we have to work hard at each Beatitude, each main point if you will, to keep the worship response intact.

I did not do a very good job at this because I chose to cover the final six together: how the blessed ones are described.

Then, it was time to play catch up and connect the dots between Beatitude and God’s intention for announcing such blessings: Kingdom-Made Christians…

  • believe the blessing
  • stabilize their hope in this upside down world
  • assess the degree that they mirror these characteristics

I hope you can see that too many minutes between those bullet points and each Beatitude can create the yawns or blank stares.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as work hard to keep strong emotional and logical connections with our listeners who have ears to hear.

Randal

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Revisiting that First Reason We Might Lose our Listeners

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He couldn’t take any more of my fascinating biblical history lesson! Go figure.

In the previous post I talked about how the loss of emotional and logical connections can contribute to listener fallout. This weekend I want to elaborate on the first one.

My main preaching mentor, the late Haddon Robinson, taught us a major difference between preaching and lecturing. My own students each year are reminded of the difference between two stances: historical lecturer vs. theological preacher.

Haddon’s words were: the lecturer talks to people about the Bible, while the preacher talks to people about people from the Bible.

It is difficult to find balance, but ideally we want the sermon to sound like we’re talking to our listeners about them throughout the message. In the sermon, the Lord is addressing them and expecting them to respond to His Word.

That means that even those minutes devoted to explaining historical background, for instance, must quickly be reeled back into the preacher’s stance. The historical data, or exegetical data for that matter serves the purpose of theology–Scripture functioning for the Church.

Too many minutes of the lecturer’s stance–talking to them about the Bible–creates a lull in our emotional connection with our listeners.

If you had the courage to listen to a recent sermon, listen to which stance you’re in most of the time. You might find that you’re conditioned to be a lecturer. And you might try to reframe your delivery so that you talk to your listeners about them from the Bible. It will be more difficult for them to fall asleep on you if you’re talking to them about them and, as always, our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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What Kind Of Meaning Do You Preach?

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The statement means much more than is being said!
Introducing Illocutionary Intent-Informed Meaning (II-M) and Why it Matters

This past Monday I was privileged to present some of my more important Ph.D. dissertation findings to the Alcuin Society of Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary & Graduate School. Many thanks to faculty and guests who were extremely gracious.

Here are a few things that are pertinent to preachers:

  1. Learn to think about application early in the sermon development process. The old school approach was to wait on application because if entertained too early, the process had the potential to skew exegesis.
  2. In order to think about application earlier, the search for application must be a part of the search for exegetical/theological meaning.
  3. In order for that to happen your exegetical method must include the search for what I call, Illocutionary Intent. This involves looking for clues as to what the biblical author wants to do to the readers.

If you like, try to create a meaning summary, II-M, for Luke 15. In other words, your one-sentence meaning summary must include an element of what the author intends to do to the reader. Or, to put it another way, make sure your meaning summary includes the intended application or response of the church to Luke 15.

Try it and see how you do.

Also, if, like me, you’re already looking at a Text for this coming Sunday, see if you can detect the illocutionary intent of the author. This will give you a sneak peak at your primary sermon application and worship response of your congregants.

And may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

P.S. I trust you enjoyed a wonderful Easter celebration!

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Learning to Extend Your Exegesis by Asking “Why?”

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One Key To Explanatory Exegesis

I am calling one key element of deep exegesis, explanatory exegesis. I welcome other possible ways to identify it because I’m still not sure “explanatory exegesis” is the most accurate.

Here’s what I am talking about. This past Sunday I had the privilege of preaching Paul’s extraordinary prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21. The request for spiritual strength for his readers culminates in v. 19 with the ability,

“…to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.”

Standard exegetical practices will certainly uncover the paradox of knowing such a thing that can’t be fully known.

Explanatory exegesis goes a step further than lexical meanings and grammatical/syntactical relationships between the key terms in the clause. It explains why knowing the love of Christ is so important.

Why is that “why?” so important? Because God knows that knowing the unknowable love of Christ is the most important thing for His child to know.

But why?

Because God is the most important Being in the universe. Infinitely more valuable to the human psyche than social validation is being validated by God. Knowing Christ loves us is a most stabilizing reality.

Okay. That was my attempt to answer the question. The point is that it needs to be asked and answered in order for the prayer to have its intended impact. Paul assumes that his readers will recognize the importance of knowing Christ’s love and, therefore, gladly receive spiritual strength from the Lord.

I have found this kind of explanatory exegesis to be most fruitful in showing the relevance of Scripture.

If you haven’t done so yet, identify any place in your preaching/teaching portion for Sunday where the “Why?” question needs to be asked and answered. And as a result of your explanatory exegesis, may the Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Don’t Forget To Explain Why

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“Why?” is often the missing piece in our preaching.

If you’re preaching or teaching context is like mine, then most of your listeners are familiar with Christian or biblical language.

Early last week I heard an excellent preacher tell his listeners that reading their Bible this year would help them be more Christlikeness. I couldn’t agree more, especially since the preacher was careful to emphasize not only reading but appropriating Scripture or applying their lives to the Bible.

As I listened I asked whether the listeners knew why becoming more Christlike was a good thing for them. Congregants who know their Bibles well probably would readily admit that they want to be more Christlike, but would they, or my own parishioners, know why it’s good.

That brief sermon segment I heard on the radio helped me understand my need to explain the “why” of the doctrines I preach and teach.

Give it a try: Becoming more Christlike is an excellent goal for every Christian because __________________.

You could start with something like: “….because it is good for God’s reputation in the church and in the world.”

You could also explain that, “…because it is good for us. Period.”

You could also state that, “…because it is good for our witness in the world.”

I came away thinking that even if my listeners know the concept of being Christlike, they may not be able to articulate why it’s a good goal for them. If listened to my own sermons I might find that, too often, I leave this critical piece of the theological puzzle out.

As you craft your sermon/lesson this week, look for doctrine that your congregants know, but may not know the “why” attached to it. And may our Lord continue to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as a result of your efforts.

Randal

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What I Learned About Preaching from the Beatles

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Through the years I have always been intrigued by critiques and analyses of musical performers. Recently I enjoyed a documentary on the Beatles and once again came away with insights for preaching.

One interviewer/reviewer said of the Beatles:

“They were fresh and they were honest.”

Just those two things, but extremely important for explaining part of why this new singing group took the world by storm.

It got me thinking whether these two elements of being fresh and honest are important for preaching God’s Word in church on Sunday.

First, why is being fresh and honest important for preachers? Our listeners resonate with a sense of freshness that they hear in our preaching. This kind of freshness means that you and God are together in the study before the sermon. Freshness means God’s Spirit is teaching you in the study and in your sermons and lessons you are relaying what He is teaching you. It is very current, very fresh material.

Then there is honesty. This gives our listeners the assurance that you are being real in your own faith-journey. Your preaching and teaching is genuine, not contrived. Our listeners find it easier to listen to us because they feel we’re real, not fake.

Second, how do preachers accomplish being fresh and honest? This kind of freshness sounds different, but not in the sense of always coming up with things they’ve never heard before. It might be the way your use words and phrases. It may be your particular style, but it is unmistakably you.

And being honest? It includes an honesty about your own wrestling with the text. It includes honestly preaching the text no matter how it might sound to the listeners. It also includes the sense that you believe what you’re saying and that it’s a matter of life and death.

Anyway, I hope this creates some thinking on effectively communicating God’s Word. You probably have things come to mind immediately that could add to either being fresh or honest or both.

May any sense of Spirit-created freshness and honesty result in our Lord receiving glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

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Me and God in the Study (part 2)

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If you’re hungry, go to moonpie.com!

This morning I had the privilege of reading 1 Thessalonians 5:14 with our faith-family. It is an excellent test case to continue our discussion in the previous post about how much original material we put into our sermons.

The reason is because it is a short verse that needs a heavy dose of explaining:

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

This means that much of the sermon contains the most precise, effective definitions we can get our hands on from Greek lexicons. Nothing original there.

So, what exactly do I bring to the equation with a text like this?

  1. I selected the text because of our current mini-series on our faith-family’s core values.
  2. That means I bring congregational purpose to this sermon, a purpose that, I hope, matches God’s purpose for this verse.
  3. Part of my job is to convince our listeners that this is critical (“…we urge you…”) and that they all have this responsibility (“…brothers…”), not just the leadership. These are implications of the explanations of meaning. Definitions alone won’t go there, but we need to.
  4. Then, I needed to help everyone see how important it is for us to care for each other like this. God decided to give us these four instructions at the end of the little letter. They must help a faith-family flourish spiritually. I helped them see the importance of these instructions by asking them what a local church would look like that didn’t treat each other like this.
  5. I wanted to make sure everyone realized that there are times when they might find themselves in one of the categories and in need of someone else’s assistance. Otherwise, we need to be ready to add real ministry to our small talk because it’s possible that whoever we’re fellowshipping with is in one of the categories and needs the appropriate response.
  6. Finally, I wanted to connect v. 14 with the the early part of the letter where the gospel and its transforming power is mentioned. This helps us see that God’s salvation in Christ creates the desire and capacity for us to respond well to each other. That way applying these instructions is a matter of genuine faith-at-work in a faith-family.

There may have been more, but this is a good amount of material that is more or less my doings. Before this coming Sunday, consider what kinds of things you contribute to your sermon and may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) through your efforts.

Randal

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What Sermons Can And Should Not Do

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We Have An Uphill Battle With Young People Ages 13-25!
Photo by Pier Monzon on Unsplash

“For Young People, A Church Disconnect” by Clare Ansberry appeared in the Personal Journal section of the Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, October 26, 2021. She reminded me of the uphill battle we preachers have these days.

Here are my takeaways from the brief article:

  1. Many congregations are feeling the pressure, exacerbated by COVID, of needing more “believers to sustain their congregations.” Ansberry proposed only that young people between the ages of 13-25 feel a disconnect with the churches that need them. I was reminded that the Church is God’s and He promised to build it. The current day and mindset is no match for Him.
  2. This age group cares deeply about racial justice, gender equity, immigration rights, income inequality, and gun control. And they don’t think we “care as much as they do about [these] issues that matter deeply to them…” (“The biggest disconnect involves LGBT rights.”) Concerning the statement in parentheses, we have our work cut out for us differentiating between rights of a citizen versus how a faith-family conducts itself according to God’s will. The same goes for gender equity and Paul’s reference to creation order to explain gender specific instructions for the church.
  3. Finally, Ansberry wrote, “I hear loud and clear that young people long for their churches to engage who they are, and embrace the full identity of young people.” This includes embracing their views of LGBT rights and all things inclusive.

If you and I preach and teach Scripture, our listeners will hear about a God who is very concerned with a certain kind of justice, but is also crystal clear about certain “differences” He will not accept (a part of His justice).

I am bracing myself for the uphill battle of reading Scripture in such a way that our young people will learn that God intends to transform them into a brand new identity. Then, little by little they will see that God critiques the spirit of the age, not the other way around.

Sermons can do that. Sermons should not feed the instincts of our young people with respect to their negative feelings toward a God who “discriminates.”

May we boldly and graciously preach His Word so He continues to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

P.S. Some of you may have noticed my inactivity over the past few weeks. I was swamped with the task of completing and defending my Ph.D. dissertation.

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Thinking of Application in Terms of Intentionality

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The Text Signals It’s Intention By It’s Shape

Even if you were not familiar with the three tools shown above, you could probably figure out what they were intended to do. Just look at their shape. Also, think about what would happen if you tried to make their functionality interchangeable. Imagine using the saw in the middle for a hammer!

Biblical texts–our preaching portions–signal their intention by their shape. Theology is conveyed through literary structure, things like grammar and syntax, and the type of literature. That’s why I live and die by this method:

After I pray Aquinas’s famous prayer, “Grant to me keenness of mind…”, my first study minutes are devoted to tracing the argument of the passage.

Pauline epistles convey their theology through logical argumentation. Old and New Testament narratives communicate through their storyline. Old Testament poetry preaches through parallelism.

That’s all simplistic, I know, but true enough to make the point.

Our search for applications begins with a search for intentionality. Here’s the key question:

What does God intend to do to His readers in this preaching portion?

Answer that and you’ve got the foundation for any form of application from that pericope.

In order to answer that question, you have to know what to look for. The epistles or other didactic genres (types of literature) are easiest, I think. Follow the imperatives and the logical flow. Doctrinal sections intend for readers to affirm them as real, real enough to elicit praise and corresponding lifestyle.

Narratives are the worst. We can talk about that next time, Lord willing.

For now, as you head into another work week, be thinking in your first hours of study what God intends to do to His readers, your congregants so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal