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Randal Pelton, Ph.D., D.Min., Th.M.

Senior Pastor, Professor

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Two Ways to Cultivate Good Soil with Each Sermon

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Luke 8:4-15 contains Jesus’ parable of the four soils. It explains what happens every Sunday during the teaching time. Every congregant, including us pastors, are represented by one of the parable’s four scenarios. You know that the parable is designed to move us all in the direction of being the good soil. Here are two ways to do that.

First, attack the second and third scenarios head-on. In the second scenario in v. 13, “they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.” Each Sunday we’re preaching to parishioners experiencing trying times. We serve them well by urging them to continue to believe. In the third scenario, “as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature” (v. 14). We serve them well by urging them away from these dreadful distractions. In each case we’re attempting to preserve faith which, in turn, buys time for fruit to emerge and grow.

Second, each sermon is an opportunity to encourage everyone to find themselves in the good soil depicted in v. 15, “those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” Notice, again, the time element involved. Over time, due to ongoing faith and obedience, fruit appears. You may have realized that there is never a time in this life when any listener ever escapes the temptations of the second and third scenario. That means no listeners, ourselves included, can ever say, “I’ve moved into the category of the good soil for good.” No, that will depend on how we hear and respond to God’s Word each Sunday. 

Since preaching this parable last month, I have been more aware of it being played out each Sunday. This, in turn, guides me in the study and during the sermon.

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Preaching “Go and do likewise” Sermons

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Both Old and New Testament narratives provide numerous opportunities to preach exemplar sermons. As you know, exemplar sermons are those that urge us all to either “go and do likewise” (follow a character’s good example) or “go and do otherwise” (not follow a character’s bad example). Not everyone agrees on whether this kind of interpretation and application is valid. Sydney Greidanus, for instance, votes, “No!”

Luke 8:1-3 is one of those narratives that is designed to function as an exemplar. In this case, the women who were following Jesus along with the Twelve are examples for us to follow. Luke tells us that many women, including the three listed, “provided for them out of their means” (v. 3). These women used their own resources to keep Jesus and the Twelve operating. Most of you will not struggle with applying this list to your congregations. You will be able to say, “Take your place in Jesus’ entourage.” As we do, we are following the lead of these faithful women.

If you’re wondering how to keep the sermon from only being a moralism, one answer lies in reminding everyone that some of these women “had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities…” (v. 2). These women are not “good” women who just decided to “go and do good.” These women have been changed by the Gospel (v. 1). They now give back to God what they have received from God. Their encounter with Jesus changed them. They now follow Him as an act of worship. Whenever we’re preaching sermons that urge us all to use our spiritual gifts, it’s important to remember that Christ gave His body to create the Body of Christ. That created Body is loaded with gifts. I love the way 1 Peter 4:10-11 divide the gifts into two broad categories: speaking and serving. For those that struggle with locating their spiritual gift, I offer the encouraging thought that they have a 50-50 change of getting it right according to Peter’s two-fold division.

Anyway, I’m sure you can think of other ways to preach exemplar sermons. I’m only attempting to say that some preaching portions must be preached that way or else we run the risk of not saying what Luke is saying to the Church.

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Add Theological Thinking To Your Exposition

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I’m in the final stages of editing my manuscript, Preaching With Greater Accuracy, and will soon send it off to Kregel Publishing. I have come to appreciate the fact that exposition of Scripture often involves answering questions that are implied in a preaching portion. Implied, but not spelled out. If the preaching portion doesn’t have an answer, that means the rest of Scripture must provide an answer. That process is what I refer to as theological thinking. An example is Psalm 139:23-24

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

One implied question in v. 24 is, if perchance God finds some grievous way in me, what does He do about it? How does God lead me in the way everlasting after searching deep within my sinfulness and seeing what’s there? The Psalmist doesn’t answer that. I believe, as expositors, we need to answer that. An important segment of the sermon involves showing how Scripture provides an answer. I want to allow the theology of the rest of Scripture to inform my understanding of the Psalm.

How would you complete this sentence: “After searching my heart and finding some grievous way in me, God can lead me in the way everlasting because…”?

Lord willing, in future posts I’ll show other examples of this from Luke’s gospel.

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Reasons why I don’t summarize my sermon in the conclusion

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One of my favorite definitions (or maybe description) of a sermon conclusion is by the late E. K. Bailey, long-time pastor of what is now called Concord Church in Dallas, TX. Bailey once said that “a great conclusion, like fine gravy, is made up of the same essence as the meat.” The description moves us away from the urge to insert new information in the conclusion. It does assume, however, that a conclusion involves a summarization. I agree that it’s not best to use the closing minutes of the sermon for new theology. I disagree with the thought of needing to summarize much of what has been said. Maybe you want to summarize or restate your main idea. But that’s all. Here’s my reasoning:

  • If they didn’t understand your main points in the message, they probably won’t gain a better understanding because you summarized them (and they may be too fatigued to be able to take in more explanation).
  • You’ve already given them enough to respond as an act of worship.
  • Sermon time is too precious to summarize at the end.
  • Land the sermon as another call to worship (meaning show them how their relationship with Christ causes them to be and/or do what the preaching portion says they should be and/or do).

Rather than spending precious minutes in reviewing the sermon details, help your congregants see how they can respond to the revelation of God through faith in Christ and the power of the Spirit. Some homileticians point out that the conclusion is a neglected part of sermon preparation. However, if the conclusion is one of the key times to apply our lives to the Bible, then I need to spend some time planning those meaning-full minutes.

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Preaching Two Kinds of Faith

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Recently, I was preaching on Psalm 112 and emphasizing the aspect of fearlessness in verses 7-8, “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid.” In my search for images for that Sunday’s slides, I came across this saying:

 

“Let you faith be bigger than your fear.”

 

After thinking about this for a moment or two, I realized that this kind of thinking betrays a lack of understanding of biblical faith. What struck me harder was the fact that the saying seemed to preach so well. I could hear myself saying something like this in an attempt to apply our lives to this Psalm.

At the risk of nit-picking, let me suggest that genuine faith in Christ is, by nature, stronger than fear. To tell someone to let their faith be bigger than their fear is actually telling them to exchange less-than-saving/sanctifying faith for genuine faith. So, it’s actually not about letting faith be bigger; it’s about explaining how faith in Christ conquers fear. That exercise in theological exegesis will help our congregants be the kind of person described in Psalm 112, which is what the Psalm is intended to do.

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Preaching the Synonyms of Faith (part 2)

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Preaching through the Gospel of Luke provides an excellent opportunity for us to repeatedly teach the nature of saving faith. You may have realized that many professing Christians are unclear about what faith is and how it works. In Luke 7:40-50 Jesus’ visit with a religious leader, Simon, is interrupted by a visit from “a woman of the city.” In v. 47 Jesus says, “…her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she loved much.” But, then Jesus says to the woman in v. 50, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Jesus teaches us that her faith saved her, but also that had there been no love, there would’ve been no forgiveness. Functioning as theologians for our faith-families means explaining the relationship between loving Jesus and believing Him. It was Jonathan Edwards who said that love was the main thing in saving faith. As I said in a previous post, look for opportunities to teach the synonyms and antonyms of faith. This will broaden the theological understanding of our congregants and also create a solid foundation for working out their own salvation.

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Preaching the Synonyms and Antonyms for Faith

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In Luke 7:18-35 Jesus responds to a question posed by John the Baptizer. In Jesus’ answer, He says in v. 23, “…blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” This is an example of using antonyms to define saving and sanctifying faith. Usually, we’ll spend a moment in the sermon explaining this statement. Our explanations will, no doubt, include synonyms such as being turned off by Him. However, this is a great opportunity to explain what faith is. The opposite of being offended by Jesus is embracing Him and His teachings. In this context, those who were not offended by Jesus were responding well to John and his baptism. They acknowledge their need to be cleansed from their sin. Another example of this is in verse 30: “but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves.” Here’s another opportunity to explain faith. Synonyms will explain their unbelief; antonyms will explain the proper response intended for Believers who hear this narrative. See if your preaching portion for Sunday contains any synonyms or antonyms for faith.

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Preaching the Miracles of Jesus to Christians

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One of the more difficult preaching portions in the Gospels involve the miracles of Jesus. The tendency is to aim at conversions by saying that the miracles are intended to create faith (or at least, help create faith). However, remember that the miracle narratives are found within a context of Jesus’ teachings. This means we should interpret the miracles in light of Jesus’ teaching to His disciples. So, take the two miracles in Luke 7:1-17 where Jesus heals the centurion’s servant and a widow’s son. All these miracles are displays of the presence of the kingdom of God. Miracle by miracle Jesus brings a wholeness back to creation that was disrupted by the rebellion. But, what do they say to the Saints? They tell us why we should believe Jesus’ teachings and do them. Both the chapters before (cf. 6:46-49) and after (cf. 8:4-18) stress the importance of hearing, believing, and doing. Miracles display the power of Christ with the intention of urging Believers to believe His Word. The miracles are for us.

Have you discovered other ways to apply miracle stories?

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Application As Implementation

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I have been playing the cello since March, 2013. My problem is not understanding what my teacher is telling me; my problem is implementing or executing properly. God and my family know I’m trying. My teacher isn’t satisfied with my understanding what to do; my teacher wants to know if I can play the piece, if I can execute properly. Our Teacher feels the same way. In Luke 6:46 Jesus says to His disciples, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Jesus’ sermon on the level place ends with a strong call to hearing His words and doing them (cf. Luke 6:46-49). That reminds me that sermons must urge people to implement God’s Word. In David Wenham’s chapter, Preaching the Sermon on the Mount, he writes, “we must not preach generalizations but need to preach practically” (p. 84 in Preaching the New Testament). Years ago, my dear preaching professor at DTS, John Reed, taught us to apply the Bible at three levels: What do I want them to know (the one expositors are usually best at)? What do I want them to feel (the one I’m worst at!)? What do I want them to do? (the one I want to get better at). Many of our Sunday preaching portions afford an opportunity for us to graciously urge parishioners to do the things Jesus says to do.

P.S. This blog was intended to go out back in July, but got lost in the draft folder. I’m still learning how to execute WordPress!