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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!

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“You hypocrite”: When Sermons Include Name-Calling

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Jesus’ sermon on the level place in Luke’s Gospel includes one of the most misunderstood and, therefore, misapplied command. Luke 6:37 reads, “Judge not, and you will not be judged.” How many times have you heard this verse misused? Notice, what begins looking like sin going unaddressed (v. 37) ends up with sins corrected (v. 42 logs and specks removed). However, Jesus hits us hard by calling some of us, hypocrites. Jesus knew who taught His disciples before He arrived. He knows the default setting of our hearts. I’m a hypocrite whenever I fail to be transformed by God and, yet, try hard to clean up others. Our ability to make disciples hinges on our not being hypocrites. Rather than be offended by Jesus’ name-calling, we need to be upended. Our faith-families must contain a core of people who allow the Holy Spirit to conquer their sins so they, in turn, can help others conquer their sins. The worse thing I can do is attempt to soften Jesus’ approach (especially in this politically correct environment). Better, probably, to allow the sting to hurt enough so we take off our self-righteous masks.

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Purpose: the Forgotten Aspect of Exposition

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In order for exposition to occur, it’s not enough to have purpose. I must make sure the purpose of my sermon matches the purpose of the preaching portion. In an earlier post I mentioned reading, Saving Eutychus, while on vacation. One excellent part of the book is the discussion of what it takes to preach to the heart. The author’s answer: “Where God is explaining something, we need to help people understand. Where God is warning us, we need to help people feel the urgency and weight of that. Where God is wooing us, we need to help people feel the pull of his love. Where God is correcting us, we need to show people that they are going the wrong way and to help them get back on track. Where God is comforting his people, we want people to feel the security and warmth of his comfort. And that, in a nutshell, is expository preaching.” (pp. 30-31).

Normally, when we think about expository preaching we often focus on the content of the sermon. Let’s also be sure the purpose of our sermon matches the purpose of the Scripture. This means asking and answering: How does your upcoming, Sunday preaching portion function for the Church?

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Doing Our Part To Keep Worshipers Awake

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During our family’s recent vacation I was able to read a little paperback, Saving Eutychus: How to preach God’s Word and keep people awake. Millar and Campbell struck a balance between being biblical and interesting. I highly recommend the book. In the introduction Campbell flat out says: “It’s our job to keep people awake, and we’ll take the blame if they fall out the window” (p. 14). Well, yes and no. It would be interesting to list the sleep-inducers that are not in our control. However, one thing I noticed after listening to about 30 sermons over the past two months is this: biblical preachers often struggle maintaining adequate pace. If this might describe you–it does me–you will profit from the section, Agile Delivery (pp. 107ff.). The authors will force you to think about where to place emphasis in the sermon. They’ll help you think about not letting the sermon bog down. They’ll help you save your sleepy saint on Sunday morning.

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If you don’t manuscript your sermons, at least consider…

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I just read Stephen King’s, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I read the book because I have some major-for-me writing projects on the go. As I began to read King, I immediately noticed how much he said applied to preparing sermons. On page 131 he writes, “Writing is refined thinking.” Typing out sermons gives us the opportunity to continually refine our thinking until we lay the manuscript aside and preach. After spending time last month with three classes of preaching students of all stages of ministry, I was struck again by how many do not type out (or write out) their sermons. Because “writing is refined thinking,” I recommend that you select a couple of key places in your sermon and commit them to the screen/page. As you write those sections out, see if the process doesn’t help you refine your thinking and preaching.

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Preaching Jesus’ Sermon on the Level Place

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We have the audacity to preach Jesus’ sermon! What are we thinking! Actually, we have no choice, right, because Luke records Jesus’ sermon on the level place (cf. Luke 6:17). The four “blessed” and four “woe to you” in verses 20-26 are followed up with 8 radical instructions, 1 familiar instruction (Golden Rule), and the reasons why we obey these instructions (verses 32-36). Jesus assumes that some of His listeners have been radically changed into people who have the desire and capacity to love even our enemies. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount or Luke’s Sermon on the Level Place are difficult because they sound like pure moralistic teaching. The bar is raised impossibly high: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Well that’s doable. That’s why some theological camps struggle with how to apply them to the Church age. One key is highlighting that saving faith creates a person who lives distinctly from sinners. Three times Jesus says, “even sinners…” He is reminding us we’re different because we’re “sons of the Most High” (v. 35) and because God is our “Father” (v. 36). As I said in an earlier post, throughout the sermon, Jesus is dividing His hearers into two categories. On Sunday we challenge all our listeners to obey Jesus’ teaching, knowing full well that some can’t (depending on your theology, of course).

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Dividing Your Listeners Into Two Camps

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Luke 6:20-26 presents Luke’s balanced version of Jesus’ Beatitudes. There are four “blessed” and four “woes.” Jesus is speaking to His disciples in both cases: “Blessed are you….woe to you…” (cf. Luke 6:20 “And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said…”). Throughout Jesus’ sermon on the level place, He forces His listeners to examine themselves. So, in the balanced beatitudes, we ask ourselves and our listeners which four-fold condition best describes their current condition. Are we blessed or cursed? The one that really struck home to me as a preacher was v. 26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you…” As much as I want to be liked, I do not want to find myself in the “Woe to you” camp. That means preaching and teaching theology that may not be popular among our parishioners (not to mention among the outsiders). Part of our privilege is to help them make the right choice each Sunday. In order to do that, we must present the options clearly. You might be interested in considering the Gospel in the Beatitudes. Jesus experienced the “woe” in death even though His condition in life matched the “blessed.” Jesus’ followers are blessed because He wasn’t (until after the cross, that is!).