Some things just don’t look right in the Bible. Period. And when we come across those things, we do our listeners a favor–especially our relatively un-churched attendees–by pointing it out.
One of my friends at church, Craig, gave me a great example of this a few weeks ago. He was talking about how weird it is for Jesus to be called the good Shepherd, but then for Him to send His sheep out among wolves. What kind of good Shepherd would do that!?!
That’s the kind of stuff that doesn’t look right when you think about it.
Over the years I’ve benefited from James Emery White’s blog, Church & Culture. In Volume 12, No. 53 he imagined what the unchurched would tell us if we listened to them. Number 7 was, “Can we agree that there’s a lot of weird stuff attached to Christianity and the Bible? Okay, it may be true, or real, or whatever, but can we just agree that some of it is a bit…bizarre? For some strange reason, it would make me feel better to hear you acknowledge how it all looks and sounds to someone from the outside.”
Well, one reason it would make them feel better to hear us acknowledge some weirdness in holy Writ is because it’s TRUE. God has recorded some strange stuff in His Word. Another good example is the Judges’ narrative I’ll write about in weeks to come, often labeled, Jephthah’s Tragic Vow. Jephthah promises that if God gives him a strategic victory in battle, he would dedicate the first thing that comes out of his house to greet him. That first thing was only daughter! And what’s totally bizarre is that God allowed Jephthah to carry through with his promise (according to my un-inspired reading of the narrative).
There are a whole lot of well-churched folks who appreciate any time we point out such weirdness. Before Sunday, see if your preaching portion has some bizarre aspects to it. If you bring it out, your listeners will appreciate the honesty and, depending on how you proceed, the mystery that is our God. That assumes you will fight the temptation to explain everything in God’s Word, especially the things that are impossible to explain.
Preach well so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).
Randal
P.S. I usually don’t ask for feedback because I know pastors are busy. However, I am curious to hear your thoughts on why the generation of preachers before us were very hesitant to bring out the bizarre aspects of God’s revelation. Are there any dangers to this approach to interpretation and preaching? Thanks for chiming in.
This post was originally published on August 17, 2016.
Last week I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon conducting a preaching workshop at Lancaster Bible College. I am also currently teaching some keen students at LBC/Capital Seminary and Graduate School in Lancaster, PA and Greenbelt, MD. My interaction confirmed that one Bible study exercise is critical: tracing the argument or flow of thought of the author.
I explained that this is how I spend my first hour of study every Monday morning. Before I try to figure out what a preaching portion means, I want to know how it means what it means. In other words, I spend the first hour show how the author makes meaning through the argument or flow of thought. I begin by asking the Lord, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law,” (Psalms 119:18) and then I dive into the text’s structure. I consider this to be the foundation for exposition.
This involves dividing the preaching portion into its smaller thought blocks, summarizing the meaning of the blocks, and writing out the logical transitions that the author uses to move from one block to the next.
(By the way, if you try this with Luke 15, you will discover that it would be impossible to end the sermon focusing on the younger brother and those prodigals which are usually encouraged to “come home.”)
It is impossible for me to overstate the importance of this first hour for understanding how meaning is made.
Below I’ve included an example of my mornings first hour.
Calvary Bible Church
May 8, 2016 AM
Judges 10:1-16
This is God’s Word.
1.
10 After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir. Post-Abimelech judge #1 is Tola. In matter of fact fashion God records, “…there arose to save Israel…” It is a subtle reminder of our plight as Christians in this world.
3 After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. 4 And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon. PA judge #2 is Jair. We learn some nice facts about him (“…30…30…30…”).
6 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. In v. 6 we learn how many false gods there are to worship! Each region had their own deity. Each deity had the ability to lure God’s people away from God. As a whole God’s people took their affections away from God and they stopped serving Him.
7 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, 8 and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed. In vv. 7-9 we read of the repeated experience of God’s people. Throughout the book of Judges we’ve seen this happen: God’s people commit idolatry, in anger God sells them into the hands of fierce enemies who oppress them, and “Israel was severely distressed.” It teaches us the devastating effect of worshiping false gods.
10 And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” 11 And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? 12 The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” We’ve also seen God’s people yell out to their real God to save them again and again. Like before, they make a clean confession: “We have sinned against you…” Let’s make sure we understand this confession. Why do they say they have sinned against the Lord? Where does this understanding come from? Look back at the OT…
But this time our God seems to have lost His patience! Look at vv. 11-14. He sounds very irritated with them! “Did I not save you from….I saved you….I will save you no more. God and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” Wow! We have sayings like: “You made your bed, now go lie in it.” If God sticks to His guns, then His people are doomed. The false gods have enslaved them; they cannot save them.
Has the Lord’s patience run out?!
15 And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel. In v. 15 God’s people repeat their confession: “We have sinned…” Then they add, “do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” God’s people would rather face the judgment of God than face more oppression from their enemies.
Then, in v. 16 there is an act of genuine repentance: “So they put away the foreign gods…and served the Lord…” Repentance is a critical part of the Christian life…
Then, we learn that the Lord “became impatient over the misery of Israel.” A moment ago I mentioned that it seemed the Lord was becoming impatient with His people. Now we learn that the Lord has had enough of His people suffering at the hand of their enemies. This impatience, however, strikes the Lord after genuine repentance has taken place. If the Lord acts on His impatience over Israel’s misery, that can mean only good things for Israel!
Gospel:
Response:
This helps me see how the author presents theology for the Church. Since theology is conveyed through this narrative, I do not want to break the narrative flow in creating this sermon. Consider making this action in the first hour of study your foundation for Sunday’s exposition.
Preach well.
Randal
This post was originally published on May 2, 2016.
Christian Happiness, a sermon based on Isaiah 3:10, may be Edwards’s earliest sermon on record. The verse reads,
“Say unto the righteous, it shall be well with them: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.” (emphasis added)
The sermon begins with,
“Reasonable beings, while they act as such, naturally choose those things which they are convinced are best for them, and will certainly do those things which they know they had better do than leave undone.” (p. 296, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 10)
In typical Edwards fashion, he methodically unloads his logic on his listeners (two propositions of “doctrine,” five inferences of “use,” and two exhortations). Surely, every listeners is convinced that it’s in their best interest to be righteous!
But what caught my attention was the fourth inference:
“Hence learn the great goodness of God in joining so great happiness to our duty.” (p. 303)
How did Edwards think of this? What got him to this inference? And is it important for you and me that we figure this out?
Edwards thinks that there can be no happiness in this life if that happiness does not include doing the things righteous people do.
He states as Gospel fact:
“…the thing required of us shall not only be easy but a pleasure and delight, even in the very doing of it. How much the goodness of God shines forth even in his commands!” (p. 304)
Imagine a God–Edwards refers to Him as “a master of extraordinary goodness”–who only desires our happiness and out of His goodness commands “us to do those things that will make us so” (p. 304)!
Well, not only do we imagine our God like that, we praise Him because He is like that. And we evaluate whether our attitude towards doing the will of God–“a pleasure and delight”–reflects that reality.
May that kind of deep thinking be a part of our weekly preparation and result in God receiving glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).
You’re looking at a custom made stone containing the first two actions of God that begin the famous Aaronic Blessing of Numbers 6:22-27. The Blessing is extremely popular and has spawned tons of merchandise.
As you make your way through the book of Numbers you arrive at the end of chapter 6. This famous Blessing is sandwiched between laws of the Nazirite and the twelve days of sacrificing that dedicated the altar in the Tabernacle.
One of the keys of preaching the theology of Numbers is noting the placement of strategic teaching like this one: God’s blessing is experienced within the context of holiness and the forgiveness of our sins.
When you preach the Blessing, remember that there is a big difference between the ESV’s pronouncement: “The Lord bless you and keep you…” and the NLT’s prayer/wish: “May the Lord bless you and keep you…” Within the context I described in the above paragraph, yes, it can be a pronouncement. But the Hebrew form of the blessing and it’s meaning in this context reflects Aaron, the priests, and the Lord’s desire or wish for His people.
You might lead your listeners through the Blessing by noting…
the source of God’s blessing. It’s easy for American Christians with all our individualism to miss the fact that Aaron and his sons pronounce this Blessing on God’s people. This will provide an easy link to our Savior in the third section of the sermon.
the content of the Blessing. I can’t think of anything that should put a smile on our faces and thanksgiving on our lips than what the Lord wants to do to everyone one of His own! The poetry is beautiful and builds with each line.
our reception of the blessing. Here’s where you can urge congregants to consider how they know they can experience this blessing that God wants to give them. It’s a good time to be Christ-focused, but also a good time to remind them of their need to respond in faith and obedience.
[Note: I assign this text as an assignment in my Advance Homiletics classes and v. 27 often gets neglected. The act of pronouncing the blessing is equal to putting God’s name on His people. Explaining this are sermon minutes well spent!]
Surely, our Lord receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (cf. Ephesians 3:21) as we preach this great passage in Numbers!
Randal
P.S. If you are interested in the intersection of hermeneutics and homiletics you might take a moment to consider why this Aaronic Blessing is much easier to preach then some other sections in Numbers.
One of the reasons why I’m enjoying/profiting from Carrell’s book, Preaching That Matters, is because of the massive amount of research and case studies she used as the basis for her book.
For instance, believe it or not, the top concern of preaching pastors relates to their content; delivery was second. She writes,
“In The Great American Sermon Survey when clergy were asked to describe their greatest preaching challenge, the most frequently identified struggles were content related…” (p. 106).
Two areas surfaced: (1) “the need for ‘fresh ideas for familiar content,'” and (2) “‘relevancy, when it is not apparent in the text'” (p. 106).
My experience preaching through several books of the Old Testament has helped me in both those areas.
First, preaching through OT books like Numbers–my current series–virtually guarantees that you will have fresh ideas for familiar content. The OT writers have a way of presenting well-known theology in ways that are often unfamiliar, or not-as-familiar-as-the-NT. I especially appreciate the way in which theology is conveyed through OT narratives.
Second, preaching through OT books forces you to become more skillful at the science and art of applying life to the Bible. My ability to interpret–including apply–Scripture has increased due to being forced week after week to deal with difficult Texts.
I realize you may not agree with this, but in my experience preaching through Numbers or First and Second Chronicles is far more difficult than preaching through Romans. Each series had its challenges, but the OT series win the prize.
So, the only way I know how to overcome the struggle of identifying not-easily-identified relevancy is to practice it every week in the crucible of the Monday to Saturday world of the pastorate.
I’ve found that the OT contains many “fresh ideas” and that careful study reveals its profound relevancy…
Which ends up with God receiving glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),
I thought you might like to read about how Jonathan Edwards selected sermons to preach. In part 2 of his General Introduction to Edwards’s preaching is a chapter called, The Making of Sermons. I am enjoying Kimnach’s careful analysis as much as Edwards’s actual sermons.
I am a huge Edwards fan even though he did not preach through books of the Bible. There. I said it.
So, how did he plan sermons to preach?
First, he selected Scripture texts that stood out to him as needing to be preaching due to their subject matter.
Second, he at times matched the text to a time of year or holiday such as Thanksgiving.
Third, he listed potential Scriptures or subjects that would be appropriate for children, young people, or old men. You can see that he’s thinking about preaching to specific categories within his congregation.
Fourth, Edwards also took notes on certain subject matters such as:
“These things persons ought to seek after: That they may live to the glory of God. Their own comfort. That they may be blessings to others.” (p. 58)
One of the most insightful entries in one of Edwards’s sermon notebooks is: “I choose this time to treat on this subject [of people contending with their minister] because now there is no contention between me and my people.” (p. 64, an entry made in March or April of 1749).
That’s good practice when it comes to preaching on money: preach on it when you don’t need to ask for it.
Anyway, you can see that Edwards is constantly planning out sermons to preach, taking notes, even developing initial drafts of key statements and broad outline points.
I am better at planning which books to preach through. However, usually in between book studies I will preach mini-series. In addition to my own growing list of potential sermon series, I benefit from perusing the series of effective pastors such as James Emery White (Church&Culture blog).
Do you have a method for long-term sermon development?
May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you continue to plan future preaching/teaching series.
One huge benefit of preaching through Numbers is the emphasis on the holiness of God and His people. My current ministry setting is a very conservative faith-family that is used to such concepts and, yet, they still tell me how much being reminded of holiness is helping them. I have a colleague who preaches in a very different setting and he tells me how challenging it is to preach certain doctrines.
Well, frankly, you can’t preach through Numbers without spending time on the holiness of God. So much of the theology of Numbers 5:1–6:21 hinges on God’s own holiness. It’s the only way to explain the bizarre instructions on dealing with lepers, etc. (5:3 “…putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp”), and with those who are “breaking faith with the Lord” (5:6, plus the strange way to handle jealousy in a marriage in vv. 12-31; watch for puzzled looks if you read that section aloud in church!), and the Nazirite vow (6:2ff.).
It all begins with the holiness of God. Then we can move to being a holy people.
Finally, the instructions–though often strange-to-us–provide direction for our desire to remain a holy people. So, there is actual removal (5:3, similar to the discipline prescribed in 1 Corinthians 5), confession and restitution/repentance (5:7-10).
What a great section of Scripture! What’s more important than the holiness of God and being holy because He is holy?!?
The difficulty, as you know, however, is trying to navigate through all the OT specifics that we do not directly apply to our situation. In a 45 minute sermon, for instance, you really have to stay focused providing only the details that are absolutely necessary to convey the theology about God’s holiness and ours.
If you do that, our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21). You’ll be challenged, but, like every other through-the-Book series, it’s entirely worth it.
Randal
P.S. You may recall that the main title of this series is taken from 14:8 “he will bring us into this land.” Each Sunday titles look like this:
“he will bring us into this land”: (subtitle)
This one was:
“he will bring us into this land”: But We Must Separate Ourselves To God
I am enjoying Kimnach’s analysis of Jonathan Edwards’s sermon making as much as Edwards’s sermons (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 10, Sermons and Discourses 1720-1723).
One of the reasons why Edwards was so effective in his day is because he read more than the average person in his day. We would find that most pastor/theologians we respect and admire are also voracious readers. Think Tim Keller, for instance.
Kimnach writes,
“Much of Edwards’ routine is summed up in this one entry. First is the reference to “books to read,” hinting at the almost feverish search for new books…” (p. 53).
I continue to find that masters and doctoral level students in ministry are not reading well. Due to extremely busy schedules–Edwards wrote often about the challenge of time management!–they are not able to read as much as they know they should. And by and large they are not reading well in the sense of the right material.
If it’s true that one of the top concerns of U.S. pastors is getting more people in the door to pay the bills, you can imagine how that affects what they read and study: church growth.
Edwards’s reading program comprised of three things:
Reading as many books as he could find on theology and his world.
Read the Scriptures a lot! [To this day I would still say the best reading practice is reading through the Scriptures every year in Canonical order.]
Read and rewriting his own writings.
This third one helped Edwards develop as a writer, but also as a preacher. First, as someone said, writing makes you exact. Yet, many preachers do not write out their sermons. Second, the habit of writing forces you to think hard about your topic. That includes more research.
You don’t have to be wired as a scholar like Edwards; you just need to practice writing stuff down, anything that pertains to your pastoral ministry.
And our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you read and write!
I love this picture of Flathead Lake in Montana. It’s deceptively deep because it’s so clear. I want my sermons to be like that.
I’m not happy with this after-sermon comment: “Wow, Pastor! That sermon was deep!” There’s so many things potentially wrong with that as I’m sure you know.
What I treasure is the kind of comment I received recently from someone who visited our church when I was preaching a series of sermons through Romans 1-11. That morning I was preaching the middle of Romans 9 and that “easy” section on God’s prerogative to harden the heart of whomever He wants. A few weeks later he told me:
“I couldn’t believe you would preach that text. It was so clear. Thank you.”
“It was so clear.” Thank you, Lord!
Carrell (Preaching That Matters) has a chapter, Going Deeper, Not Wider. In the chapter she confirms our aversion to “deep” sermons, but urges: “when you are aiming for spiritual transformation and you have a choice between breadth and depth, go for depth” (p. 103).
Our allergic reaction to “deep” stems from confusing deep with confusing. I’m arguing for both deep and clear.
I guess we don’t have to worry about being too deep. Carrell writes,
“Not once in the comments from the more than thirty thousand listeners who have responded to sermons over these past several years has anyone ever said something that even begins to suggest: ‘That sermon content was just too deep for me'” (p. 104). [Of course, that could be a reflection of what a steady dose of topical preaching is doing to us!]
Depth will require that we be the best theologians we can be. Clarity will require us to be the best communicators we can be.
Flathead Lake reaches a depth of around 370 feet. It is also clear as crystal. Lord willing, in a couple of days we’ll be able to preach Flathead sermons.
Before Sunday check your manuscript for depth and clarity so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).
I was pretty sure Numbers wasn’t represented on the list of top Bible verse about God’s holiness, but it certainly could be. One of the great things about preaching through the book of Numbers is that it provides opportunities to teach faith-families about God’s potentially fatal holiness.
Take, for instance, Numbers 3:1–4:49. God certainly will bring us into this land (from 14:8), but it involves navigating His fatal holiness. Before God’s people begin their trek, they must learn how important it is to have God in the center of their camp and how to keep from getting killed by holiness-at-close-range.
So, you can teach the seriousness of God’s presence (in vv. 3:7-10, 38; 4:15, 17-20). The Levites are assigned the task of guarding Aaron and the whole congregation. Priests and people must approach God on His terms. The threat of death is sprinkled throughout the section (cf. 4:15, 19-20). The “holy things” cannot be mishandled “lest [those who do] die” (4:15).
I probably don’t have to say that we don’t know much about the holiness of God to this degree!
You can also teach about the price to enter God’s presence (vv. 3:11-13, 40-51). In this section the Lord declares to Moses that He has taken the Levites “instead of the firstborn…among the people of Israel….for all the firstborn are mine….They shall be mine: I am the Lord” (3:12-13).
[Anyone interested in showing how the Christ-event makes Numbers function for the Church will want to show God providing His own Son to pay the steep price.]
Finally, you’ll want to consider some segment that provides an opportunity for congregants to respond to being able to enter God’s presence.
I practice faith-first application so before I get to the “be holy, for I am holy,” part, I will talk about Christ as outlined in brackets above. Then, once I’ve established that Christ makes His holiness available to all who believe, it’s time to make sure everyone in the house consecrates themselves by faith, in the power of Christ’s Spirit (cf. Lev. 11:44-45). God’s holiness demands and creates our holiness in those who believe.
I am finding that, in a day and age when many professing Christians profess faith, some haven’t connected their faith with actual holiness. The book of Numbers provides excellent theology to combat this spiritual disease.
I hope you’ll have an opportunity to preach Numbers so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).
