Category Archives: theological exegesis

Posted on

Don’t Forget To Explain Why

by

“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

Posted on

Me and God in the Study (part 2)

by

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

Posted on

For 30+ Years I’ve Been Telling Preaching Students…

by

I remember thinking: “Everybody I’m reading quotes from C. S. Lewis and Jonathan Edwards!” What’s up with that?!?!

God has been gracious to me again this past year and given me yet another opportunity to teach preaching to students pursuing their Master’s degree as part of their training. Once again this year I said something like:

“Read and think hard to become a pastor-theologian for your faith-family.”

Each year part of my privilege involves listening to my new friends preach sermons as their final project/assignment for the semester in Advanced Homiletics. Each year I think to myself something like:

“Keep encouraging them to read and think hard to become a pastor-theologian for their faith-families.”

The sermons often contain the results of good exegesis, but many are a bit on the lighter side when it comes to theological thinking. I hear solid definition of key terms–word studies; I hear less solid thinking with respect to the why’s and how’s of our relationship to these well-defined concepts.

So, if you were interested in continuing to grow as a theologian, one easy and effective way to proceed is to consider reading Crossway’s series of leading theologians on the Christian Life. I am just completing Lewis on the Christian Life and it has been one of my top five reads in my lifetime. Really. Though not a theologian, Lewis’s thinking is unparalleled (which is not the same as saying he was a good exegete). Joe Rigney’s book, however, is excellent. And the other books I’ve read in the series are also extremely good.

It seems like modern pastor-theologians that are worth studying always quote the likes of Lewis and also Jonathan Edwards. I encourage you to join that club so our Lord continues to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

P.S. Rigney’s analysis of Lewis’s thoughts on the corruption of human love and how temptation works on men and women is an example of how such thinking adds theological depth to sermons.

Posted on

Defining Sermon Application

by

Think of Application in Terms of Being a Subject in God’s Kingdom.

As you develop your sermon or lesson this week, here are a couple of ways to think about application.

N. T. Wright provides a very broad understanding of biblical application. He believes that we are inviting our listeners into a different world.

That’s a good start. Our preaching and teaching invites them to move from their world to God’s world.

I like to be a bit more specific with respect to the nature of sermon application. I define application as:

“The process by which expository preachers and teachers urge their listeners to inhabit an area of the Kingdom of God.”

One way to assess the meaning of your preaching portion for this Sunday is to ask what particular area of the Kingdom of God is being highlighted.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you put your exegetical skills to good use with the goal of inviting your listeners to inhabit God’s Kingdom.

Randal

Posted on

Sometimes You Need Less Exegesis and More Biblical and Systematic Theology

by

Psalm 58 requires less exegesis, which equals more communication.

I just completed my extensive review for tomorrow morning’s sermon on Psalm 58 and encountered something rare.

Because of the nature of what are called Imprecatory Psalms, the Psalms where songs are worded as curses on the wicked.

If you preach through the Psalms you and your congregants will already be aware of conception sin or birth sin (v. 3). Earlier Psalms are filled with descriptions of the wicked.

But as soon as you get to v. 6 your listeners may have a problem asking,

“O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!”

Normal exegetical practices won’t do either. What’s needed in rare cases like this is a way to argue from Scripture that prayers like this are still pray-able for Christians today.

Check out a book by Kit Barker, Imprecations As Divine Discourse (2016). You can skip to chapter 5, if I remember correctly, and read the way he presents a theology of imprecation to say, “Yes, they should be prayed.” You’ll resonate with reasons such as Jesus, Paul, and Revelation announcing the same kinds of curses on God’s enemies.

Finally–you’ve probably thought about this–asking God to judge the wicked is not incompatible with you and I loving our enemies and praying for them.

Anyway, the “fierceness” of men who care about justice demands this kind of prayer to God. If He doesn’t hear our prayer, there is no hope for the righteous. But we know from Psalm 58 that He does and there is hope!

Preach judgment texts like Psalm 58 and our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. If you’re interested in a Christ-centered reading of Psalm 58 just remember that Christ didn’t pray this kind of prayer as He suffered and died for our sins and because He didn’t we can pray this prayer and experience the celebration of vv. 10-11.

Posted on

Looking Out For #2: Preaching Through Numbers

by

We Really Are In This Faith-Race Together
So We Can’t Only Look Out For #1!

Back to preaching through Numbers this week.

When you arrive at Numbers 32 you’ll encounter a tricky narrative (at least I found it especially challenging).

Best to allow the storyline to carry the theology along. [I hope you are seeing through this series that you can trust the storyline.]

In this case God teaches us through a combination of storyline and the concepts of inheritance and unity. The storyline is the starting point for theological interpretation of narrative. The concepts of inheritance begins with reference to “the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead…” (v. 1) and is specified in vv. 18-19, “our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan…”

I divided the narrative like this:

  1. an example of self-interest for good reason (vv. 1-5)
  2. which created unintended spiritual dangers (vv. 6-15)
  3. but led to cooperation in the fight for faith (vv. 16-42)

Long before the Book of Acts God provides the church with a look at how the Body of Christ operates.

Our congregants need to be reminded what’s at stake if our harmony is destroyed. Verse 15 summarizes what happened to the earlier generation: “For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.” Pretty severe.

Ancient interpreters censure the actions of the two tribes, but as you can see in vv. 16ff. they adjust to Moses’s plea, stick to their idea of settling this side of the Jordan, but, most importantly, agreeing to “take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place” (v. 17).

Everything is aimed at every one of God’s people enjoying their inheritance. The chapter ends with resounding victory.

Great story of how God’s people are in the fight for faith together. That’s why we talk about “faith-family.”

And, if you were wondering how a Christ-centered reading might sound in this narrative, I selected moving from the humility of the two tribes to Paul’s description of our Savior in Philippians 2:1-8. Anyone who receives Christ’s sacrifice shares His mindset and lives with others in view.

I hope you can see how God can receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) through a journey through the Book of Numbers.

Randal

Posted on

Preaching the Bazillion Offerings in Numbers: Preaching Through Numbers

by

What’s a preacher to do with all those offerings in Numbers 28:1–29:40?!?

If there is a section in Numbers that might discourage you from preaching/teaching through the entire book, it’s 28:1–29:40 with its bazillion offerings.

My attempt to interpret it so it functions for the church was:

Title: “He will bring us into this land”: And We Will Gladly Give Him Our Entire Life

First, the narrative is a “go and do likewise” narrative. In some way, shape, or form, we are to follow through with what the Lord commands His people to do.

Second, how might you go about identifying theology in this exhaustive and exhausting list of offerings? I decided to present what God is saying to us in these two chapters. Each quote hopefully faithfully represents the accompanying verses:

  1. “It belongs to Me!” (says the Lord, in the repetition of “my” in v. 2)
  2. “I like it very much!” (28:2, 6, 8, 13, 24, 27; 29:2, 6, 8, 13, 36 and all the references to “pleasing aroma”)
  3. “But it has to be just right!” (28:2b, 3, 9, 11, 19, 31; 29:2, 8, 13, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33 covering all the regulations of when, what kind, and how much)
  4. “And don’t forget to stop working!” (28:18, 25, 26; 29:1, 7, 12, 35 all dealing with the Sabbath rest: “You shall not do any ordinary work”)

I am a huge fan of grouping ideas for pedagogical reasons, in contrast to moving verse by verse, especially in a section like this.

Throughout this sermon we’re not talking about OT offerings, but what the Lord requires of us and how that fits into our relationship with Him.

Some will want to sprinkle in allusions to NT offerings such as the sacrifice of praise, or giving thanks, or offering our whole selves.

And some will want to make sure that all this talk about sacrifices to God takes place in the context of His ultimate Sacrifice of His Son. Everything we offer Him is in response to His best Gift.

I hope you will make an attempt to preach or teach this some day, if you haven’t already. And I know our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

Posted on

Adding an Angle on Application

by

If your spouse said this to you, what would they “mean”?

I am in the privileged position to be about 100 pages into my Ph.D. dissertation, writing on a topic that I am extremely interested in:

exploring whether or not an aspect of speech act theory, illocutionary action, provides a welcomed link between meaning and application.

If you’ve been preaching or teaching Scripture for any length of time, you are probably aware of how difficult it is at times–apart from the practical sections of most NT epistles–to move from meaning to application. We were taught detailed methods for doing exegesis; we were not given much help, if any, for doing theological exegesis that highlights Scripture’s function for the church.

Enter pragmatics, speech act theory, and, especially, this thing called illocution.

Using the image above, illocution, analyzes what the person means when they say to someone else, “The dog needs to go out.”

If Michele said that to me and I responded with, “That’s a nice fact, Dear,” she would quickly say, “What I meant was, please take the dog out.”

This morning I had the privilege of preaching Matthew 5:1-12, commonly known as the Beatitudes.

There are two prominent illocutionary acts in these verses. The easiest one to locate is in v. 12. The verse contains the command: “Rejoice and be glad…” The command itself equals the illocutionary intent of Matthew.

The tougher illocutionary act/intent is not so easy, but you will encounter it over and over again in both Testaments. All of vv. 3-11 begin with, “Blessed are…”

Jesus teaches His listeners a statement of reality: these kinds of people are blessed. In order for anyone to put v. 12 into practice, they must first believe that Jesus’s stated reality is true of their situation. The stated reality is intended to elicit an act of faith.

Watch for various statements of reality in either Testament God will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you encourage your listeners to respond in the way God intended.

Randal

Posted on

What We Preach No Matter the Preaching Portion/Pericope

by

Abe’s new book is very helpful, especially in the discussion about theology and application.

I decided to select Abe’s new book, A Manual for Preaching: The Journey from Text to Sermon, as one of the required textbooks for my upcoming sections of PAS 513 Advanced Homiletics (Lancaster and D.C. locations of Lancaster Bible College|Capital Seminary & Graduate School).

Abe does an excellent job summarizing the preaching task with respect to what happens each Sunday in church. Think about your preaching portion from this morning or the one you will be preaching on this coming Sunday. Can you see your preaching fitting into the following description?

“So each pericope [the section you’ve selected to preach on] is God’s gracious invitation to humankind to live in his ideal world by abiding by the thrust/force of that pericope–that is, the requirement of God’s ideal world as called for in that pericopal world segment (e.g., listening to/obeying only God’s voice, from 1 Sam. 15 [where King Saul failed miserably!]. And as humankind accepts that divine invitation and applies the thrust/force of the pericope, week by week and pericope by pericope God’s people are progressively and increasingly inhabiting this ideal world and adopting its values” (p. 29).

If we’ve selected them properly, our preaching portions contain “God’s gracious invitation” to our listeners to inhabit “his ideal world.”

That happens when we urge them to be or do what the pericope is requiring (what Abe calls its “thrust/force”).

Sunday after Sunday the cumulative affect is growing more and more into the likeness of Christ (“inhabiting this ideal world and adopting its values”).

Can you see why it’s impossible for congregations composed of some with “ears to hear” not to grow into a mature Body?

I can’t think of anything more fulfilling than being the mouthpiece for God’s invitation to live in his ideal world. And as we do that each weekend, may He receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

Posted on

Edward’s Understanding Of Sin’s Power: What I’m learning from reading Jonathan Edwards’s earliest sermons

by

Photo by Kiwihug on Unsplash
What Sin Does To God’s Creation!

In the third sermon of Edwards recorded by Kimnach (volume 10 in The Works of Jonathan Edwards: Sermons and Discourses 1720-1723), Wicked Men’s Slavery to Sin, Edwards excels in his analysis of the devastating affects of sin. One of the things that keeps me reading Edwards is his theological depth which never drifts away from his listener’s plight.

Edwards wrote: “Query II. In what respects is a wicked man servant to sin? First Ans. The wicked man serves sin with his soul” (p. 343).

I would have said, “with his body” and possibly, “with his mind.” Edwards eventually gets to the body in his second answer, but not until creating a solid foundation.

Edwards knew, just as you do, that the effects of sin go much deeper than your physical body. He stated that,

“sin enslaves the very soul, so that he believes, wills, loves, nor thinks nothing but what sin allows of and commands.” (p. 344).

Sin is in control of it all, even though a non-Christian listener might feel in control.

Sin controls what they believe.

Sin controls what they want to do.

Sin controls what they love.

Sin controls what they think.

Edwards laments: “The eye of his reason must be open only to those things that sin allows him to see; he must keep his eyes fast shut, only when sin gives him leave to open them.” (p. 343)

And imagine, Edwards says, that all this starts from the moment we are able to use our reasoning powers (“as soon as we can speak or go” p. 345). So different from the air that we breathe that believes the human being to be inherently good.

Edwards is now in a great position to say to his listeners:

“Come, be bold and courageous, and don’t be afraid to disobey sin; if you so do, you will not be hurt for it the devil can’t hurt you for rebelling against sin.” (p. 346)

It’s possible that this week your preaching portion or sermon will contain the concept of sin. If so, may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you follow Edwards’s example of clearly stating sin’s effects.

Randal