Tag Archives: Christ-centered interpretation

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An Example of Christ-Centered Preaching from Jonathan Edwards’s Letter to Lady Mary Pepperell, 1751

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Jonathan Edwards Practiced Cross-Eyed Preaching

In Marsden’s, An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the 21st Century, he records a lengthy paragraph Edwards wrote to Lady Mary Pepperell in 1751. The excerpt provides an example of how Edwards preached Christ. Marsden writes that Pepperell had recently lost her only son and Edwards wrote to console her:

“[Christ suffered, that we might be delivered. His soul was exceedingly sorrowful even unto death, to take away the sting of sorrow and that we might have everlasting consolation. He was oppressed and afflicted, that we might be supported. He was overwhelmed in the darkness of death and hell, that we might have the light of life. He was cast into the furnace of God’s wrath, that we might swim in the rivers of pleasure. His heart was overwhelmed in a flood of sorrow and anguish, that our hearts might be filled and overwhelmed with a flood of eternal joy.” (p. 55)

This pattern, “He was…that we might…,” might help you form your own Christ-centered seconds near the end of your sermons as you move from the wording of the Text to the cross, urge faith, and then urge love and obedience from the Text.

If you’ve read some of my earlier posts on Christ-centered preaching, you can see how easy it is to move from statements like Edwards’s above to asking our listeners…

“Do you believe this good news about the Lord Jesus Christ?”

My goal on Sunday is to move from the biblical text/preaching portion to the Gospel from the specific wording of the preaching portion. [Edwards’s excerpt is missing any biblical text.] Then, the announcement of the Gospel leads to a faith-first application. I want to give everyone an opportunity to affirm their faith in the Gospel. Then, after urging faith–at this point non-Christians in attendance overhearing worship could believe–I can move to the primary application in the preaching portion.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we continue to preach Christ each Sunday.

Randal

P.S. Blessed Christmas and New Year!

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Preaching Christ While Preaching Through an Old Testament Book of the Bible

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I am a huge fan of consistently preaching Christ from the Old Testament. If you are planning to preach through an OT book of the Bible this year, you might be interested in what my former professor, Pete Enns, says about the task:

“…pastors have the privilege and challenge, in a variety of creative and engaging ways, to teach their people what the OT is about. It may take time to earn the further privilege of bringing these Christians to appreciate more fully how Israel’s story is transformed in Christ. And this is not a quick fix, but a process of reunderstanding God’s Word, modeled after the NT writers, that may well take considerable time to implement.” (p. 216 in, Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, edited by Berding and Lunde; emphasis added; I found Enn’s and Bock’s views very helpful)
Let me add to that italicized phrase: bringing these Christians to also appreciate more fully how Israel’s story is transformed in Christ to become our story. That last part is critical for a truly Christ-centered hermeneutic/homiletic.
If you do devote that kind of time, your parishioners will rise up and call you blessed. You, of course, will have to navigate the OT carefully, avoiding the minefields of endless historical data–even minutia–that doesn’t preach well (I’m convinced God never intended it to preach). This keeps the sermon running on theological tracks (how it’s functioning for the Church, what you probably think of best as principlizing). Most importantly, you will have to employ the skill of moving from the OT to Christ-crucified, preferably from the vocabulary and images of your preaching portion.
If you want some help and enjoy listening to sermons, listen to as many Tim Keller sermons on the Old Testament. If you like reading, you will profit from a book I just completed last week, Heralds of the King.

The variety of preachers who contributed sermons in the book resulted in a variety of ways to move from the Scriptures to the Savior.
Preach Christ well from the OT for God’s glory in the church… (Ephesians 3:21).
Randal
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The Difficulties of Disciple-Making: Preaching Through Chronicles

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If you’ve preached through a set of books like Chronicles, you already know it’s not easy. But this angle has to do with what the Chronicler teaches us about disciple-making: doing right in God’s eyes is not easy.

In the lengthy section from 2 Chronicles 27:1–31:21 I identified five ways to describe our disciple-making goal (27:2a; 29:2; 30:6a, 8b-9a, 19a). The five are:

  • “did what was right”
  • “return”
  • “yield”
  • “serve”
  • “sets his heart…” (very important in this series!)

This is the time to ask everyone to what extent these five actions describe our lives. These are the makings of every genuine Christian experience.

It’s in the second part of the sermon that we learn how difficult this life is (27:2b; 28:22; 30:7-8a, 19b). These verses provide four examples of spiritual corruption, increased disloyalty to God, and pig-headedness that refuses to obey.

Finally, you can end the sermon by explaining what we can expect from our God (30:6b, 9b, 18-19). For instance, 30:9 reads, “For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

And if you’re interested in how Chronicles functions for the Church, simply explain how the cross of Christ is the definitive extension of God’s grace and compassion. Christ’s sacrifice makes it possible for faith and repentance to result in redemption. That faith sets in motion the desire and capacity to put those five aspects of disciple-making into practice.

I hope you’ll attempt to preach through Chronicles so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

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Preaching Through the Gospel According to Ruth

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After preaching through Judges, more than one parishioner asked if I would consider preaching through Ruth. Judges was so depressing, despite my best efforts to practice a form of Christ-centered interpretation each weekend. They needed a narrative that focused more on good news.

Even if you choose not to preach Judges/Ruth back-to-back, preaching through the gospel according to Ruth is an excellent short series. It does present its challenges.

First, select a theme for the series. Select a theme:

  • from the wording of Ruth.
  • that captures the good news of Ruth.

I’m extremely picky when it comes to selecting a theme and image that will be my first slide every Sunday. I’m usually not satisfied with my commentator friends’ choice of theme/title for the book. I greatly appreciate their work and benefit from it each week. But the choice of theme/title is very personal, pastoral.

I found my theme, of all places, on the lips of the townswomen who said to Naomi about Ruth’s son: “He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age…”

You could just as easily word something from their statement in the previous verse 14, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer…”

I love the way the book ends as a contrast to how it began: loss of food and even more tragic loss of life. Upon returning to Bethlehem Ruth said, “I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty…” (cf. 1:21). So, the Lord really did restore her life through the birth of a special son. Cross-eyed readers will quickly see parallels to the Son born way down Ruth and Boaz’s line.

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

Randal

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Preaching Both a Bad Example and Christ from the Wicked City of Gibeah in Judges 19

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In these posts I am working my way through the book of Judges to provide a strategy for preaching difficult narratives.

Whenever you preach through the book of Judges–a very brave thing to do, by the way–you will discover that there are no judges. But there are lots of people doing what was right in their own eyes. The theological reason is provided in 19:1 “In those days, when there was no king in Israel…” What could a king do?

Well, a certain kind of king could teach and enforce the ways of God among the people of God. That would put a stop to the terrible wickedness that we read about in the city of Gibeah. And, of all things, Gibeah was home of God’s people, not a “city of foreigners” (cf. 19:12). They were “Benjaminites” (v. 16). None of us readers are prepared for how wicked God’s people have become.

The story revolves around a Levite and his concubine. Davis says that “he was heading for Sodom-in-the-land-of-Israel.” The parallels between Judges 19:22-28 and Genesis 19’s famous story are numerous. What starts off with no hospitality (Judges 19:15) ends up in what might be the worst scene in all the Bible (spoiler alert: except for the Cross, of course!).

The Levite gives his concubine to “the men of the city, worthless fellows” and she is raped and killed (v. 22, 25). His insensitivity is unbelievable (v. 28). And then, the Levite follows that up with the unthinkable: “he took a knife…divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel” (v. 29).

The chapter closes with the people’s reaction: “consider it, take counsel, and speak” (v. 30).

If you ever preached this chapter, one challenge is to help a church realize that it could get this bad. This is how bad things can get when God is not worshiped, when American individualism fills the hearts of people in the pews. Bad example? Yes.

A bigger challenge is to see the grace of God-in Christ in this narrative. That happens when we point out that the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ was a worst crime than anything Sodom or Gibeah experienced. And, of course, it is Christ’s broken body that makes it possible for Believers to experience the kingship of God in the power of His Spirit. Preach Christ? Yes.

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

Randal

P.S. I read the post and wanted to draw attention to the preaching strategy, how the narrative conveys theology for the Church.

First, the theological statement that drives the entire book is found in v. 1 (“no king”).

Second, the whole story revolves around God’s people, not pagans.

Third, the varied sins of God’s people are on display, including the most heinous ones.

Fourth, there is a clear reference to redemption in v. 30 (“the people of Israel that came up out of the land of Egypt”).

Finally, if you are inclined as I am to show how such a ghastly narrative points to Christ, look to the parallel between the concubine and the Cross.

Hope that helps.

 

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Preaching the Unique Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Samson

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about the preaching the unique circumstances of Samson’s birth. This week I’m focusing on the end of his life. The Samson narrative in Judges is very important to the theology of the book. When I preached through the book of Judges I chose to devote two messages to his life.

If you read the first Samson narrative post, you saw the parallels between Samson’s birth and Jesus’ birth (both involving prenatal instructions about the unique children). When you come to the end of Samson’s life, more parallels exist and this is a critical observation for the Christ-centered expositor.

For instance, Webb writes,

“rejected by his own people, arrested and handed over to their enemies, tortured and made a spectacle…until at last his calling is consummated in his death. But in dying he destroys Dagon, the god of Israel’s enemies.”

Amazing isn’t it.

What I like about that quote is not just the listing of all the parallels, but the fact that everything focuses on the plot of Judges: how God rescues His people from their enemies.

Several weeks ago while teaching for a day in Lancaster Bible College/Capital Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program, I selected a narrative from Judges (the infamous, Jephthah’s Tragic Vow). I asked the class to identify the subject of the narrative. Then, I pointed out the tendency to overlook the primary action of the book and individual judge narratives.

What do we learn about our salvation from the death of Samson? That’s the focus of theological interpretation. And the answer? Our salvation was secured through the death of our Judge Jesus. Judges 13:7 states, “for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.” And it was Samson’s and Jesus’ death that won the victory for the people of God.

Next time, I’ll list some of the ways Samson shows us our spiritual struggles. He does function as an exemplar at times, but most importantly, Samson shows us a picture of our Savior’s victory-through-death.

Preach that message so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Preaching the Highly-Offensive Jephthah Narrative

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Our God revealed in Scripture could very easily be credited with this quote. If you’ve read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, then you know there is plenty of God’s Word that is offensive to our modern and post-modern sensibilities. That is especially true in the Judges 10 and 11 narrative often referred to as, Jephthah’s Tragic Vow.

You probably know the gist of the story: Jephthah vows that if the Lord gives him a military victory over the Ammonites, then he would give as a burnt offering whatever (whomever?) comes out of his front door to greet him upon his return from battle (cf. 11:30-31).

Horror of horrors, we discover in v. 34 that Jephthah’s only daughter is the one that comes out to greet him!

In the middle of expressing to her the great trouble that is happening he says, “…and I cannot take back my vow” (v. 35).

I remember screaming at Jeph’: “What do you mean you can’t take back your vow?!?! Of course you can and you should!!!!” And because he didn’t take back his vow, we receive one of the most offensive looks at the extreme cost of our salvation.

And that angle is very important if you are going to preach this narrative beyond the moralizing that goes something like: “Christians are careful about making rash vows to the Lord unless they cause tremendous heartache…”

Along with being careful whenever we make deals with God, this narrative is an opportunity for us all to express our gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice of God’s only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The parallels in the story are telling: Jephthah is a picture of…

  • our despised and rejected Savior (vv. 10:17–11:11)
  • our Savior who wins the victory for us (vv. 11:12-29)
  • the extreme cost of that victory (vv. 11:30-40 and the sacrifice of Jephthah’s only child).

It doesn’t solve all the problems of the offensive narrative, but maybe this angle will help you help your listeners give thanks for God’s costly free gift.

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

Randal

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How To Stop Preaching Moralistic Sermons: Unintended (?) Advice from N. T. Wright

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Chapter 7 of Wright’s book, Simply Christian, begins: “Christianity is about something that happened. Something that happened to Jesus of Nazareth. Something that happened through Jesus of Nazareth. In other words, Christianity is not about a new moral teaching….This is not to deny that Jesus, and some of his first followers, gave some wonderfully bracing and intelligent moral teaching. it is merely to insist that we find teaching like that within a larger framework: the story of things that happened through which the world was changed” (p. 91).

However, as I listen to sermons, it appears that we’re teaching congregants that Christianity is primarily a new moral teaching. That is largely due to the fact that we consistently separate the instruction from the Story. I recently heard a sermon on anger that made no connection to what happened to Jesus. That’s why there was also no connection to what happened to Believers through Jesus. You’ve heard them; you’ve probably preached them–the five ways to manage anger-type sermons. According to Wright, such a sermon cuts out the crux of Christianity. I stop preaching moralistic sermons when I place the teaching of my preaching portion in history.  So, back to the sermon I heard: Because something happened to Jesus and through Jesus, Believers can be angry and not sin.

Then, would you give five ways to manage anger? Just wondering…

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A Fresh Angle On Sermon Application

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My friend, Dr. Abraham Kuruvilla, has written an excellent book, Privilege the Text! A Theological Hermeneutic For Preaching (Moody). In his attempt to interact with the subject of Christ-centered preaching, Abe presents a fresh angle on application. He advocates what he calls, Christiconic interpretation, utilizing the Greek word, eikon, in Romans 8:29. “God’s goal for his children is, ultimately, to conform them into the image…of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who perfectly exemplified ‘faith-full’ obedience. He alone fulfilled divine demand. Thus every pericope [every portion of Scripture you select to preach] points to a facet of the image of Christ; to that facet God’s people are to conform, in the power of the Holy Spirit” (p. 269).

I found the discussion helpful because it gives me a way to tie sermon application to the larger picture of God’s goal for every Christian. It also helps me realize that the divine demand in every preaching portion is calling me to one slice of the life of Christ. Without this angle, it’s possible that we will only talk in terms of morality. Abe’s angle on application helps keep application distinctly Christian.

For instance, the wisdom and humility of Christ is displayed in Luke 9:49-50 “John answered, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.'” When I encouraged us to adopt the humility that does not attack other Christians and other ministries, I was urging us to take on part of the image of Christ. He was secure in His relationship with God and wise enough to have such perspective and balance. God wants the same for His children.

What part of the image of Christ did your preaching portion call you and your people to yesterday?