The Odd Couple of Sermon Preparation

Before I entered pastoral ministry, a seminary professor’s life convinced me that a fondness for deeper study and a passion for ministry don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

I’m not sure I can pronounce the name of the theologian of whom this professor wrote his doctoral dissertation. But I can pronounce most of the names of the unwed mothers to whom he and his wife have opened their home. His family has also ministered to terminally ill patients and drug addicts. Their home has become a sort of halfway house.

As I watched him, I realized his theology fed his pastoral practice. Decisions about life support systems for comatose patients, for example, emerged from his theological study of the image of God.

I cringe when I hear voices suggesting the need for relevance cancels out the scholarly side of ministry. My friend showed me sermons can be both relevant and rich in substance.

OVERCOMING THE OBSTACLES

Preachers legitimately doubt the effectiveness of preparing sermons by studying lexicons, grammars, and Bible dictionaries. I’ve isolated at least three reasons why communicators of God’s Word can shy away from such pursuits.

* Irrelevance. The common line of thinking is this: pastors who try to be scholars fall out of touch with reality. They can’t be practical. They can’t speak to the issues faced by Joe and Jane Christian. Their penchant for knowledge breeds irrelevance.

How can I relate to people if my reading consists of theological tomes while they read “Newsweek” and John Grisham novels?

Irrelevancy, though, creeps into my preaching and teaching because I fail to study my culture–not because I overdose on theology and Hebrew verbs.

Recently, I did a Mother’s Day sermon on the Book of Ruth. I preached the entire book as a dramatic monologue from the viewpoint of one of the elders of Bethlehem. I buttressed the sermon with exegesis, studying the characters’ names, the customs of levirate marriage and the kinsman redeemer, the plot structure, and the literary devices employed by the writer.

But I also devoted an entire afternoon to thinking about the kind of language that would connect with my congregation. In the sermon, I talked about Boaz commending Ruth for not chasing after the young guys running around in Dockers. I talked about Ruth and Naomi returning from Moab to Israel without any social security checks. (I even pictured Ruth taking a swig out of the Coleman water cooler with the other workers.)

In retrospect, my in-depth study turned out to be a great partner for my imagination. The careful exegesis moved my imagination the same direction as the text.

* Low-level skills. The Greek and Hebrew skills of many pastors wind up on the disabled list. Others might feel as inept in a deep theological conversation as they would going one-on-one with Shaquille O’Neal.

Still, like playing basketball, studying the Bible can take place at many levels. I can’t dunk a basketball, and I rarely hit a three-point shot. Yet I still play the sport with a small measure of success.

The same is true with my reading and study skills: I can find my level and work at it!

Along the way, I’ve discovered that resources can offset our limitations. Pastors whose Hebrew or Greek is rusty can use parsing guides, analytical lexicons, and commentaries. I regularly consult theological or historical dictionaries for concise articles on terms, personalities, or movements. Pastors digging into theological tomes can use dictionaries of Latin or German phrases. Language helps are even appearing on computer software.

* The crunch of time. “I don’t have time for in-depth study,” remarked one pastor. “That’s what I went to seminary for.”

Time is a pressure we all face in ministry. But if I find time to change the oil in my car to keep it in good running order, I can also keep my study tools in good working condition.

Like most pastors, my weeks are flooded with hospital calls, meetings, counseling sessions, and interruptions. I am also trying to stay current by reading in areas of immediate concern. As I sit at my word processor, a book on sexual abuse, a book on baby boomers, and a master-planning document for the county in which I live all stare me in the face.

The real issue, I’ve found, is priorities, not time. I make time for what I think is important. So I’ve decided not to pit the “practical” books against the “scholarly” books. I commit myself to reading both.

As in most disciplines, getting started is roughest. Here are some ways I’ve been able to pursue deeper study.

DEVELOP SEVERAL INTERESTS

Trying to decide which areas of interest to pursue can be intimidating. Your journey will be unique. But I’ll share mine in hopes of triggering some ideas.

The biblical languages grabbed my attention on the day I first cracked a Hebrew grammar. Because I’m interested in them, I go with them.

But I’ve also learned that certain interests may blossom unexpectedly where I have not had much interest before. For some reason, I never got into church history. In seminary, whenever I emerged from my books, I seemed to have Greek and Hebrew all over my hands! Church history received the short end of my efforts.

But last year, I kept bumping into Jonathan Edwards. A helpful book on preaching used Jonathan Edwards as a model. A sermon I listened to on revival mentioned Edwards as the catalyst behind the First Great Awakening. A pastor friend kept raving about Edwards.

Last Christmas, I asked for and received a biography on Jonathan Edwards. I’m hooked! I’ve purchased a two-volume set of Edwards’ entire works, and I plan to read and study him over the course of a lifetime. I’m sensible enough to know I won’t finish him in a couple of years. Maybe I’ll never read through his entire works! But I’ve made it a life-long pursuit.

Already, reading “The Religious Affections” has helped me think through how I will respond to new professing Christians whose lives contain little fruit. To my surprise, Edwards preaching has challenged me to use more vivid pictures or images. God has also used him to convict me to plead with my congregation to respond to God.

FIND A KINDRED SPIRIT

My pursuit of scholarship has been fueled by a kindred spirit. I first met Dave Hansen, a pastor in my area, in a surgical waiting room of our local hospital. I had been at my present pastorate only three months when a young lady in our congregation was accidentally shot. I waited with her husband and their little boy. Dave waited with the young lady’s parents, members of his congregation. We both shared in the funeral. Serving together in that tragedy gave birth to a friendship.

Dave and I meet weekly over lunch for an hour or so. We alternate between discussing theology or hermeneutics books and studying the Bible in the original languages.

If it sounds intimidating, it’s not. Recently, we worked our way through Proverbs 8 in Hebrew, tackling three verses a week. Our hike through the Hebrew text slowed us down enough to see the strong emphasis on wisdom being for everyone, not just the elite. Studying together has created accountability, a larger pool of insights and ideas, and a mutual friendship.

VARY YOUR CONFERENCE DIET

My annual trek to pastors’ conferences has taken me to some aimed at renewing the weary pastor. Others focused on a particular ministry skill such as counseling, training lay leaders for ministry, or honing communication skills. Still others centered upon church-growth themes. All have helped to meet my personal and ministry needs.

But one spring, I traveled to Portland, Oregon, to attend a weekend regional meeting of a society of Bible scholars and theologians. Some pastors might consider that as unlikely as attending the Harley-Davidson rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. Their aversion to biblical scholarship matches a vegetarian’s disdain for red meat. I too wondered how “practical” such a gathering would be.

To my surprise, the seminars proved useful. Some of the technical data shot right over my head. But without exception, the papers and discussions, though on a scholarly level, dealt with practical issues. A New Testament professor presented a paper clarifying the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality. One session grappled with the use of the Old Testament law in the life of a New Testament believer. Another probed the nature of saving faith.

At the time I attended this conference, I was trying to help our people become more active in sharing their faith. Several struggled with sharing the gospel to grade-school children. They wanted to know how to present the gospel simply yet without diluting the message. What I learned about the nature of saving faith helped me formulate a workable answer.

Taking a one- or two-week concentrated class on the parables of Jesus or on the Book of Amos also has contributed to more relevancy in my sermons on those texts. Because I’ve already done the bulk of the exegetical work, I can devote more of my preparation to developing images, finding illustrations, and nailing down specific applications.

MAKE RESEARCH A KEY ROLE

When I settle into my office at 8:30 A.M. each morning, my theology books and Greek lexicons don’t scream, “Pick me up and read me!” The notes on my desk holler at me to call a parishioner who is working through a sticky marital problem and to finish a report for tomorrow night’s board meeting.

I’ve found two ways to carve out time for serious study. First, I follow the advice given by Stephen Covey in “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and identify the key roles in my life.

This reflects the difference between time-management and self-management. The first is impossible, the second is quite attainable. What Covey helped me realize is that a person’s vocation usually consists of more than one role. For example, instead of listing ‘”pastor” as one of my roles, I break it down into pastoral preaching/teaching, pastoral care, and pastoral leadership. This makes my ministry of communicating the Word of God a key role.

Covey then suggests writing down a couple of weekly goals for each role. This, in turn, puts some large blocks of study time into my weekly schedule for my preaching/teaching role.

The other way I carve out time for serious study is by working ahead. I do any serious study that ties in directly to my sermons one week in advance, and early in the week. That way, I don’t feel pressured to jump to outlines, illustrations, and images since the material I’m working through relates to next week’s sermon.

Another advantage of working a week in advance is that it percolates during the week I set it aside. When I return a week later to work on the communication side of the sermon, I am usually surprised at the creative and practical ideas that have been brewing.

Being a student of my culture helps me speak to my congregation in a way that will interest them and make sense to them. Being a careful student of the historical” theological” and exegetical disciplines ensures my sermons are worth sharing.