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A Sermon on Sermons

A Sermon on Sermons

August 20, 2006

Text: 1 Corinthians 9:16b, 19-27

16 Woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!...  

19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.  

24 Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

NRSV 

      A pastor in a country church was retiring after 25 years in the parish. As he came to clear out his bedroom he found a small bowl containing 5 eggs and an envelope with $1,000 inside.

      Baffled he called his wife and said: “Darling, what is this little basket under the bed with five eggs and $1,000 it?”

      "Oh," she said "I must confess that every time you preach a bad sermon I put an egg in the basket"

      Secretly the preacher was pleased: "Not bad! Five bad sermons in 25 years" he thought.

      "And what about the $1,000?"

      "Well, every time I get a dozen eggs, I sell them!"

      I thought it might be of interest to you today to talk a little about this thing called “preaching.” I’ll give you a “behind the scenes” look at what goes into making the sermons you hear. We’re going to use the reflections of one of the greatest preachers of all time, the apostle Paul, to get into this.

      I hope what you’ll hear isn’t just interesting. I hope you’ll discover that preaching, and what goes into it, isn’t limited to just people who stand up here on Sundays, wearing a robe and a mic.

      But before we do this, I have to confess one thing:

      Preaching is an amazingly humbling activity—just ask that country preacher holding the bowl of eggs.

      You never know what’s going to happen when you open your mouth on a Sunday morning. Sermons I feel good about may fall flat on their face. Sermons I think are mediocre at best may speak to people.

      Truly, preaching is something that has to rely 110% on the power of the Holy Spirit.

      That’s why I begin each sermon with, “Let us pray…” 

      The apostle Paul said that he was EXCITED about preaching. 

“Woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!”

      There was a compulsion for Paul to proclaim, period. He couldn’t help himself. He drove himself relentlessly in order to stand up and speak about the transforming power of God. He went all over the ancient world. 

      He walked. He rode. He took ships. He was shipwrecked. He was beaten. He was jailed. He was ultimately killed.

      Yet, to the very end, his motto was,

      “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!”

      Why do you think he was so obsessed?

      I’ve come up with one possible answer.

      For me, I enjoy preaching because it makes me pick up this book…

      It’s my beat-up, duck-taped, study Bible I’ve had since seminary.

      Did you know that this is a special, powerful, not-your-ordinary Bible?

      This one is mysterious. You might remember a few years ago I was looking for a passage to preach on for Mother’s Day. I looked up a passage in Isaiah—a passage I’d never seen before—and there, marking the spot, was my Mother’s obituary. Some times you get very clear signs as to what to preach on!

      Not only is this Bible mysterious. It’s also intriguing. It’s astounding how you can open it up and read a familiar passage—like the Parable of Prodigal Son—only to discover it speaking differently to you through the years.

      The Holy Spirit breathes through the pages of this book—you NEVER know what’s going to happen when you open it up. You NEVER know what you’re going to discover!

      Woe to me if I don’t preach the Gospel.

      AND…

      Woe to you, too!

      Your Bible is just as mysterious and intriguing as mine.

      I dare you to open it up, and read it as if you have to preach next Sunday. Read a passage and ask yourself, “What jumps out at me in these verses? What’s God saying? Why is this important? What’s the truth here? How is my life going to be different? How will the lives of others be different? “

      Approach the Bible that way—as if you have to come up with a sermon. You’ll discover mystery and intrigue embracing you. You might even grow EXCITED about opening the Scriptures, and seeing what’s going to happen—how your life, and the lives of those around you, may be changed by the Spirit breathing in these pages.

      So—First point in this sermon on sermons [and of course we all know sermons have 3 points and a poem or something]: 

      PREACHING IS EXCITING BECAUSE OF THE BIBLE. 

      Paul also said that if you’re going to preach, you’d better be prepared to put in the time.

      Preaching should take discipline, study, hard work.

      He said that being a preacher was a lot like being a professional athlete. You have to push yourself, pushing forward even when—especially when—you don’t feel like it.

      He said, “Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things.”

      You can have as much fun as you want up here, but if you don’t put in the work, what you say starts wearing a bit thin.

      When I first started out, I preached all my sermons in one year. There were a couple sermons on love, a couple on faith, a few on other topics, and that’s it. Everything covered. Nothing else to say.

      Those sermons were so general that they never penetrated the depth of life.

      I have a huge fear of looking back over those old sermons. I won’t do it. I’ll cringe. Because whatever I said last year, or the year before—or even last week—isn’t good enough. It’s not deep enough.

      I have to keep “deepening” my soul, in order to proclaim sermons that hopefully have some depth to them. Any depth you have in your sermons is directly proportional to the time you’ve spent wrestling with the pages of the Bible and the Spirit behind them.

      That’s why I have study time until 10 a.m. each work morning. Our Office Manager holds calls until then, unless it’s an emergency. Often I’ll study at home, because once I get here, I’m tempted to check e-mails first, and who knows where that’ll take you.

      While in study time, I’ll run across an illustration or story, or an idea will strike me. I record these things in a “sermon database.” It looks like this:

      It takes time to do this. As of right now, I’ve accumulated 1177 illustrations and 437 sermon ideas.

      But this is the price you pay in order to stand up here and have something to say—something you hope and feel the Holy Spirit has compelled you to say.

      IF YOU’RE GOING TO SAY SOMETHING IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, YOU’VE GOT TO FIRST TAKE TIME TO LISTEN TO THE LORD! BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH ON SUNDAY MORNING, YOU HAVE TO HAVE SPENT SIX DAYS USING YOUR EARS.

      So…where are you in using your ears, in growing your soul?

      Do you regularly study—not just read occasionally—but regularly study the Bible? Do you have materials to help you understand what you’re reading? Have you joined a small group that you can explore the Bible with?

      What’s your prayer time like? Is it regular? Is it longer than 30 seconds? Is it more than a grocery list?

      Have you ever kept a journal of what you’ve discovered in prayer and reflection? Have you ever written down what you’ve discovered about yourself, or others, or about the world, or God?

      What do you do to grow your soul?

      I have to admit—I have an advantage. I HAVE to work at my inner life because I have to preach regularly.

      Blessed are you if you work just as hard at deepening your spirit—not because your job requires it, but because your heart demands it.

      The second point in this sermon on sermons: 

      PREACHING TAKES HARD “SOUL WORK.” 

      Paul was painfully aware of his audience, his listeners. He preached one way to wise, sophisticated Greek scholars in Athens. He preached another way to illiterate farmers in Turkey. He paid attention to their unique backgrounds, their own peculiar challenges and needs. He adapted his sermons according to his audience. He didn’t change what he said—he just changed how he said it:

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law…so that I might win those under the law… To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak…I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 

      I believe what God would have me say is vitally important.

      But it doesn’t do you any good if you’re bored silly.

      It doesn’t do you any good if I’m not aware of how hard the pew, even with cushions, can feel after 15-20 minutes.

      That’s why you have to be a little sensitive to the needs of the people you’re speaking to, and adapt what you’re saying so they can hear it.

      That’s why we have sermon notes. Some of you can listen better by writing things down.

      That’s why I move around up here. I used to preach totally behind the pulpit, remember? It’s a lot easier this way. Nothing to memorize, follow an outline. And after a few minutes I’d sense a great “glaze” covering some faces. But if I move, the glaze drops. And if I come up close to you, I guarantee you that you’ll pay special attention, right?

      Keeping your attention is why you’ll hear stories in sermons. You remember stories and images much more than “this is my first point…this is my second point…” I still remember one sermon that Debbie Irving, our Director of Christian Education, preached. She told of her earliest memory of church—she’d stand in her black patent leather shoes on the red pew cushions as she sang hymns with the congregation. You remember stories and images like that. 

      So…preachers, how do you get your message across to your listeners?

      Who ARE your listeners? Members of your family? Co-workers? Strangers? Friends?

      What are their needs? Hopes? Dreams? Fears? Joys? What’s their culture? What’s their language?

      How can you reach out to them? How can you be with them where they are, not expecting them to come to you? How can you adapt what you say and do in order for the Holy Spirit to encounter them? How can you cultivate new talents in order to reach them?

      This is not really easy to do. You have to put your ego, your vanity, aside. Preaching is not about you, about how good you look or how pretty your words sound. Preaching is about losing yourself for the sake of the listener. It’s about becoming a “Jew” to the Jew, a Gentile to the Gentile; becoming “all things to all people.” Why? So the Gospel can be heard by them, so that souls are saved, and souls are strengthened.

      Third point in this sermon on sermons: 

      THE PREACHER MUST HUMBLY ADAPT TO THE NEEDS OF THE LISTENERS. 

      Every so often we’ll ask our children what they want to be when they grow up.

      I asked this of our 10 year old, Cameron. He said he’d like to be “A preacher, or…a video game tester.” I reminded him that if he were a preacher, he’d have to stand up and speak just about every week, Sunday after Sunday. He thought about that, then replied, “I think I’ll be a video game tester!”

      Being a preacher is hard work.

      But if you’re a Christian, you’re a preacher—whether or not you stand up here on Sundays. And let’s face it: the sermons you preach in your pulpits are much tougher to deliver than the ones proclaimed here.

      So…preach well!