Category Archives: meaning

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Preach the Plot (part 3 of preaching through books of the Bible)

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If you ever try preaching through a long, Old Testament book of the Bible, I hope this series of posts will help. So far we’ve discussed

(1) selecting a theme to carry continuity throughout the sermon series;

(2) being prepared to go easy on the details so you can cover large portions of material.

In this post I want to remind you of how important the storyline is in a book like Judges (my current series). If you decide to preach through an  OT book that’s mostly narrative, it’s important to identify how the plot develops early on in the book. Because of the way stories work, the plot development most likely begins early in the book and is completed near the end of the book. All preaching portions in the middle somehow connect to this storyline.

For instance, the book of Judges opens with a command to go to war. Theological interpretation–how Judges functions for the Church–hinges on understanding our current battle to prevent the “Canaanization” of the Church (we could say, the Americanization of the Church: Christians adopting the thinking and practices of our culture).

God’s people have the stubborn tendency to worship idols. Someone has said that our hearts are an idol factory. I tend to think of our hearts as a worship factory–we will worship something.

However, seven times in chapter 1 we read, “…did not drive out…” Even though we learn that Israel “grew strong…” Davis described them as “a people clearly successful though certainly disobedient. Pragmatic success and spiritual failure.”

The sermon series will relate to this action of God’s people making sure they remain separate from the world (in a true, biblical sense of separation). Story after story show God’s people failing and God graciously intervening to keep them from becoming destroyed. He remains faithful to His covenant for the sake of His reputation.

So, be prepared to communicate the theology that runs through the storyline of your narrative for God’s glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. Before Sunday, if you are planning on preaching a narrative text, check to be sure you have traced the storyline.

P.P.S. The image above is a slide that shows how the big idea is found in narratives. If you want more detail on finding the big ideas in narratives and other genres, check out my book, Preaching With Accuracy.

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Preaching Through Daniel (part 5): Let the Rising Action Carry the Story that Carries the Theology

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Earlier I pointed out that in narratives, such as the opening chapters of Daniel, the story carries the theology. Let’s add to that: the plot or rising action carries the story that carries the theology. Here’s an example from Daniel chapter 2.

The theology is carried by a king’s dilemma: he doesn’t understand his dreams. He has limited wisdom and so do his so-called wise men (2:14, 18). Daniel, however, is confident that he is able to interpret the king’s dream because Daniel’s God possesses wisdom (v. 20), He also “gives wisdom to the wise” (v. 21), including Daniel (v. 23).

That’s all historical data provided in the narrative. But a sermon is created when we understand that Daniel represents all God’s people. Through faith in Christ–more on that in another post–all God’s people obtain wisdom. Daniel closes with: “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above…” These wise men and women will be the ones who inhabit God’s “kingdom that shall never be destroyed” (v. 44).

This explains how the plot fits in with Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream (vv. 31-45). Without this move, the content of the king’s dream is disconnected from the plot. Throughout history God gives kingdoms to rulers, but one day, He will give His eternal kingdom to all the wise. Before then, however, the wise in the book of Daniel are the ones God uses to represent Him in a kingdom ruled by the ungodly. That’s us in our world.

But all of this starts by allowing the rising action of the plot to carry the story that carries the theology. Lots of sermons are created apart from the storyline. That happens when major points and/or principles are disconnected from the plot. In other words, preachers are tempted to focus on isolated data within the story rather than the story itself.

Before Sunday, if you’re preaching a narrative Text, see if the subject of your sermon matches the subject of the rising action within the plot.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Preaching Through Daniel (Part 2): Story First, Then Visions

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If you have read Daniel recently, you may recall that the book begins as a narrative or story. In my previous post I pointed out that Daniel gives us its purpose at the beginning and end of the book (the description of Daniel and his friends and also the description of all God’s people as they enter eternity).

In Daniel, the story comes first and then the visions follow. That means that the story forms the foundation for the meaning of the visions. Or, you could say it this way: the visions mean something in relationship to the story. The two sections are connected. And while the visions may be difficult to understand concerning their details, they function by urging God’s people to remain godly in an ungodly world.

There is no need to shy away from preaching the visionary chapters (7-12). And yet, as you can imagine, preachers are far more prone to preach chapters 1-6 (story) than to preach through the last six chapters (visions). That may be because we tend to separate the two sections.

Lord willing, in weeks to come I will move through the book of Daniel and show how these first two characteristics work:

1. The beginning and ending contain Daniel’s purpose (the same with Revelation)

2. The genre (type of literature) at the beginning of Daniel (narrative) provides the foundation for meaning for the visions. (In Revelation, the opening chapters containing the letters to the seven churches provide the foundation for meaning for the visions that follow.)

I hope this helps you if you are ever thinking about preaching through some of the apocalyptic books in the Bible.

Preach a good sermon, will ya?! And let’s do so so God receives glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Preaching Through The Book of Daniel (What Was I Thinking?!)

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I began preaching through the book of Daniel on the first Sunday in June, 2015. I was hoping Jesus would return before then, but He didn’t.

For the next several posts, I will be sharing some of the things I learned from preaching through a largely apocalyptic book. The posts may help if you’re planning to teach or preach through Daniel some day. They will also help if your teaching and preaching plan includes preaching any apocalyptic material. Apocalyptic books seem to share characteristics, like this first one:

Pay attention to the way Daniel begins and ends.

The focus and purpose of Daniel is found at the beginning and end of the book. This is important because all of the incredibly difficult-to-understand visions in the final six chapters find their meaning in connection with the focus/purpose found at the edges.

So, in Daniel 1:4 the “youths” are described as “skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning…” Then, in Daniel 12:3 God’s people who will be delivered in the end are described as “those who are wise…”

Daniel is structured to signal all professing Christians to make sure that this description fits them. Those that remain godly in an ungodly world are the wise. These are genuine Believers. They understand what God is doing in the world and what He expects of them. These are the ones that know how to navigate a world where the ungodly are in power (more on that in another post). These are the ones that know what to do with information about the coming age of final salvation and final judgment.

Usually, I would end with a, “Before Sunday…,” assignment, but that will be a little more difficult with these posts. Unless, of course you’re teaching/preaching apocalyptic material. If so, check to see where your theme and purpose for the book comes from. Often the beginning and end will supply this critical information for biblical preaching so that God receives glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Preach a good sermon, will ya?!

Randal

P.S. A Christ-centered interpretation will show how Christ is “made unto us wisdom…”

 

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How Much Speculation Is In Your Exposition?

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Shortly after graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary, I preached a sermon in chapel at Appalachian Bible College. I was working at the time for, what used to be called, Washington Bible College/Capital Bible Seminary. I don’t remember the sermon, but vividly remember the late, beloved preaching professor of ABC, Dr. Paul Reiter, giving feedback.

He kindly urged me to get rid of phrases like, “I think…” or “I believe…” His reasoning was that these phrases took away from the authority of Scripture and from my responsibility as a preacher. I took his critique to heart.

Through over 20 years of preaching each Sunday, teaching preaching students, and listening to hundreds of sermons, I’ve come realize we preachers have a strong tendency to pepper our exposition with speculation. Instead of breaking news, we announce breaking speculation.
The fact that it happens frequently says something about the Bible and something about our understanding of preaching.
First, the habit highlights the need to carefully understand the doctrine known as the perspicuity (clarity) of Scripture. I believe in that doctrine, but also believe it downplays the difficulty of Scripture. It is the difficulty of Scripture that causes us to frequently announce breaking speculations in the form of, “Well, I think Paul is saying this…” or “Scholars believe that Paul is…”
In his commentary on 2 Corinthians, Harris writes, “Although Paul has not identified the ‘thorn,’ commentators have not been slow to attempt the impossible.”
And I am far too guilty of wasting valuable sermon time announcing breaking speculation. Never have I been so aware of this as while recently preaching through the book of Daniel. Imagine what our exposition of Daniel would sound like if we stuck with exposition sans speculation!
This habit also says a lot about our understanding of preaching. God didn’t authorize me to announce speculation, but His revelation. Dr. Reiter was right when he told me to preach, “This is what the Lord says, not what you think.”
Before Sunday, look over your exposition and see how much speculation is in it. Ask God to help you balance good scholarship with faithful preaching so He receives glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).
In emails or Facebook posts to my preacher friends, I’ll often end my note with the playful challenge, “Preach a good sermon, will ya?!” I consider you one of them, so…
Preach a good sermon, will ya?!
Randal
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“I do not think it means what you think it means”: Carefully Defining Your Definitions

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First, I hope you’ve seen the Princess Bride. But, that’s not important right now.

If you’re an expositor, you spend a lot of sermon time defining key terms in your preaching portion. For instance, how many times over the years have you explained that grace is God’s unmerited favor? That is a good starter-definition, but it needs some fleshing out.

For instance, what is the “favor” part? We probably do a better job explaining the “unmerited” part. But the “favor” part is very important. Especially since the word, “grace,” to most of our listeners doesn’t do anything to them. Grace does something for them (even though they might not know exactly what that is).

So, I try to be careful to define my definitions as much as possible/needed. In the case of grace, for instance, I want to make sure everyone in the house knows that the unmerited “favor includes things like God’s forgiveness and cleansing and supernatural assistance to live for Him. Stuff like that.

Carefully defining our definitions is especially helpful with very familiar Christian terms like grace, mercy,  and salvation.

Before Sunday, see if your sermon contains key terms that needed extra special attention. Look for those terms that you keep using in the sermon and make sure your definitions are defined. This will add another layer of theological depth and clarity to your preaching. Plus, you may find there are some well-known definitions that could use a makeover.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

 

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When God Repeats Himself: Discovering the Meaning of Luke’s Record of Post-Resurrection Appearances of Jesus

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Often, repetition is a key to the meaning of Gospel narratives. Meaning the main idea of my sermon needs to match the meaning conveyed through repetition. That’s important to remember in long narratives like Luke 24 where Jesus approaches two men who were walking toward Emmaus.

Among so many promising ideas, is the repeated idea of recognizing or not recognizing Jesus.

V. 16 “But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”

V. 31 “And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.”

V. 35 “…and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

So, the sermon centers on this idea of being able to see Jesus. There was a reason why they couldn’t see Him. They didn’t believe in His resurrection from the dead. More importantly for us is why we can’t see Him at times. We live in a time when we follow Jesus without seeing Him. That means we have to believe in Him as recorded in Scripture. We know we’re on track because Jesus “interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (v. 27).

Read to see Jesus; read to believe in Jesus.

Also important for us is noting that they finally did see Jesus during a Communion service. God opened their eyes while they were eating with Him. Every Sunday, the Word and the Lord’s Table (if you’re fortunate enough to celebrate it each Sunday) provide opportunities to see Jesus.

Whatever else you feel you need to say about these scenes, the repetition guides our exposition.

Before Sunday, see if there are repeated concepts in your preaching portion that are significant enough to yield dominant meaning. In the case of narratives, significant repetition is repetition that is connected to the storyline.

Preach well for the sake of His reputation in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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How Evangelistic Encounters in the Gospels Speak to Christians

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It is important to remember that the evangelistic encounters we preachers encounter in the Gospels are designed to speak to Christians, not non-Christians (at least not primarily to non-Christians).

So, for instance, in Luke 19:1-10 Jesus meets Zacchaeus. In this narrative Zacchaeus becomes a Christian. Jesus announces in verse 9, “Today salvation has come to this house…”

It would be very easy to preach this narrative as an evangelistic sermon. You might reason that since it shows Zack getting saved, it should function well as a sermon geared toward seeing non-Christian listeners come to faith too.

I suggest two alternatives:

(1) Stick with the overall purpose of the Gospel and focus on the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 19:1-10 does tell us about who Jesus is and what He came to do: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (v. 10). These narratives are a time to remind Christians what Jesus has done for them. In the process of doing so, any non-Christians overhearing worship have an opportunity to hear the Gospel and respond with saving faith.

(2) Focus attention on what the narrative says about what saving faith is. Zack’s reaction to Jesus helps us see that saving faith includes repentance. In a day when easy-believism continues to show itself in our congregations, we do our Lord and His people a great service by fleshing out what it means to believe. In verse 8 Zack says, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Was that necessary? Could Zack have been saved without this radical change? Now, we all have an opportunity to assess whether our faith is working like Zack’s.

Before Sunday, see if your preaching portion contains any information about becoming a Christian. Then, look for similar ways to show how that information speaks to Christians about their Savior and their relationship to Him.

Preach well for His glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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When Our Theology Gets in the Way of Meaning

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If I’m not careful, there are times when my semi-sound theology gets in the way of discovering the meaning of a preaching portion. For instance, in Luke 18:18 “a ruler” asks Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

In my earlier years I would have followed many preachers I had heard and said something like, “Obviously, the ruler didn’t understand the Gospel because he asks, ‘what must I do…’ You don’t do anything. You can’t do anything!” However, jumping to that conclusion sends you away from Jesus’ teaching. Actually, Jesus doesn’t quarrel with this ruler’s wording at all.

In v. 22 Jesus proceeds to give the ruler one more thing to do, something he refused to do: “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor…and come, follow me.”

So, if, because of your theology, you jump to the conclusion that the ruler asked Jesus the wrong question, you will have a difficult time with Luke 18:18-27. If you are going to jump to a conclusion, try this one: What Jesus told the ruler to do could not earn eternal life, but was a vital part of inheriting it. Like all good works, they are proof of genuine saving faith. Had the ruler said “yes” to Jesus’ instructions, he would have displayed evidence of being saved by grace and placing His faith in Jesus.

Before Sunday, see if your theology might be causing you to jump to conclusions that might be hurting your chances of discovering the meaning of your preaching portion. Is there any place where you might say, “God can’t be saying that because I know that (fill in the blank with the particular theology that seemingly cancels out the slice of meaning in question)”? It is risky because there may be times when I have to adjust my theology to the Bible. Imagine that!

Preach well for God’s glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Eph. 3:21).

Randal

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When Our Theology Waters Down Christ’s Warnings

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If we’re not careful, our theology may cause us to water down Christ’s warnings in the Gospels. Let me give you two examples. I believe genuine Believers are eternally secure. But that belief can cause me to water down Jesus’ warnings. I believe in dispensationalism with a small “d.” But that belief can also cause me to water down Jesus’ warnings.

In Luke 17:20-37 Jesus answers a question about when “the kingdom of God would come” (v. 20). A strong warning is found in v. 32 “Remember Lot’s wife.” Like all of Luke’s Gospel (cf. 1:4 “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”), Luke records this discussion about the arrival of the Kingdom of God so we would be sure we will enter it when it comes.

However, it’s possible that our theology might cause us to say to our congregants: “That’s a warning that need not be heeded.”

Over the years, I’ve tried not to allow my belief in eternal security or my brand of dispensationalism to water down Jesus’ warnings. Rather than allow my theology to cancel out the warnings, I’ve worked hard to give the warnings full force while maintaining my theology.

That means the question for me is no longer, “Are we eternally secure?”, but, rather, “How are we eternally secure?” Part of being eternally secure means heeding Jesus’ warnings and not being like Lot’s wife. In order to be ready for the arrival of the Kingdom of God, I must not allow anything in this fallen world to capture my affections.

And, as far as dispensationalism goes, the mindset and faith Jesus describes as necessary for salvation at His Second Coming is the same mindset and faith needed to be ready for salvation-by-Rapture. V. 33 makes this clear: “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.”

Before Sunday, see if your preaching portion contains any warnings and ask yourself if you are giving them full force.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation.

Randal