I’ve been preaching, thinking about preaching, helping with preaching and trying to improve my preaching for around 20 years. I was working on a sermon series a few months ago and formed a personal metaphor for preaching. I think a comment from Dr. John Tucker (Carey Baptist) may have been rattling around in my head. I’m finally getting around to blogging in here in case it’s useful to anyone.
A sermon is like a car.
the interior
The interior of a car may be luxury leather, have modern gadgets, or much more simple but tidy and clean.
But regardless of the level of luxury, the interior of a car is about hospitality to those we might be lending a ride to. We know, as a passenger, when “this car is nice to be in'”
Good preaching should – at this level – be “nice to listen to”. Here, we’re talking about tone, pace, pulpit manner, smoothness, passion, natural story-telling, energy, unction, urgency.
I personally think that my own preaching has always been most challenged at this level. And I’m not talking about me trying to sound like any famous speaker or preacher; etc. Marin Luther King Jr.. I just think I could tidy up my interior to make my sermons nicer to listen to. Tim Keller was an absolutely amazing preacher, but he wasn’t flashy, pacing around stages with lots of hand gestures. He had impeccable clarity, sincerity, humility, humour, and gentle urgency. It was magic. Calm and measured, but magic.
the exterior
The exterior of a car is also important. It could have an impressive modern shape, or a classic form, or perhaps it’s an ordinary mass-produced Toyota, but it’s clean and rust free and in good order. Regardless of how fancy the car looks, we notice the exterior. Particularly when we are selling or renting a car, we think, “Yeah, I’d be happy to be seen in this car’
A sermon should also ‘look’ presentable. It’s structure, language, illustrations, stories, visual aids, and use of acronyms and alliteration (or avoidance of them!) should help clarify the message, rather than obscure it.
My own practice here is, I think, a mix – good but room to work on. I work hard to craft sermons so that what I’m trying to communicate is obvious and clear. I get lazy with illustrations, sometimes using the first one that comes to mind, rather than searching and waiting (and praying) for one that captures the imagination – as good preaching should. Good preaching doesn’t need to draw attention to how good it looks. The point should be the truth communicated, not the amazing illustration used
the unseen
A good car, ultimately, is a car that will pass inspection; it must have a strong chassis, fit and fully-treaded tyres (yes my USA friends, that’s how we spell it down under!), the engine must be in good order, the brakes should work. You get the idea. A good car is one where you can be assured, “This is a safe car to travel in’
So with preaching. A good sermon is biblically based, the text is not conveniently ‘used’ to make whatever point I was determined to make, but is faithfully unpacked in a way that respects the context and makes appropriate connections, through the lens of Christ, to contemporary life. A good sermon is theologically sound. A good sermon is prophetic in that it brings a word that ‘comforts the disturbed, and disturbs the comfortable.’
I claim no perfection here in my own preaching, but it’s something I take very seriously. I care far less about having no stutters or having one alliteration too many, than I do about saying something that is not true to the Gospel of Jesus. That means that while I try to keep it simple, I avoid being simplistic. Equally I avoid unnecessary complexity. I try to ensure that the message is practically and politically relevant, without reducing it too legalistic to-do lists or scoring points for an issue currently in the news. The Gospel is big enough to almost always contain some blessing and challenge for everyone. But the filter is always the Gospel.
That’s the metaphor.
Now there are a couple other thoughts…
One for preachers, and one for those who plan who preaches (or doesn’t).
Preachers, let’s keep growing. Odd’s are, if you preach with any kind of regularity, you have some competency at 1 or 2 of these levels. But never stop growing and checking yourself. If you are a natural speaker and story teller, with captivating delivery, make sure what you’re saying actually respects the original context and meaning of the passage. If your sermons are impeccably biblical and sound, maybe you could work on doing the loving labour of looking a bit harder for illustrations that make your sermons have encounter moments not just sound truths. We don’t get better from compliments. Get a group of other preachers who want to grow, and take turns giving and receiving feedback on your sermons. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever participated in.
Churches, don’t fail to recognise the value of the unseen. Don’t fill your year with good looking, well-known people who are the ‘big names’ on the preaching circuit. Don’t overlook the less showy, less smooth-talking, less regarded preachers – either in your congregation or from other churches. The preaching style of the Apostle Paul did not impress some of his Corinthian critics. In 2 Corinthians 10:10 Paul lets them know that he’s heard that they are saying: “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” Don’t be the kind of church who wouldn’t invite Paul to come and take his turn teaching. Value the important less visible dimension.
Recovering the Kingdom 