So Pastor, What is Your Point?

Preaching and the Simplicity of Focusing On Christ

Howdy!

Back to preaching about preaching here on our Thursday morning confessional walk through the original Westminster Directory for Public Worship. It’s important that we spend time thinking about what we do on Sunday morning and evening. I’ve noted before that our time in worship is training for the marathon that is life, but even more than that it is a preparation for our heavenly blessing in the age to come. To use a phrase, it is a foretaste of glory divine as we sing to our God, are reminded of His grace and love, and live in the merciful presence of fellow believers in Jesus Christ.

We short sell what happens on Sunday sometimes. It is actually kind of a big deal, or at least it should be. As we enter into the next portion of the section of the DPW on the proclamation of the word from the pulpit our friends who wrote the document give some very practical advice both for the listener and the man delivering the sermon. Let’s see what they have to say:

In analyzing and dividing his text, he is to regard more the order of matter than of words; and neither to burden the memory of the hearers in the beginning with too many numbers of division, nor to trouble their minds with obscure terms of art.

In raising doctrines from the text, his care ought to be, First, That the matter be the truth of God. Secondly, That it be a truth contained in or grounded on that text, that the hearers may discern how God teaches it from thence. Thirdly, that he chiefly insist upon those doctrines which are principally intended; and make most for the edification of the hearers.

The doctrine is to be expressed in plain terms; or, if anything in it need explication, it is to be opened, and the consequence also from the text cleared. The parallel places of scripture, confirming the doctrine, are rather to be plain and pertinent, than many, and (it need be) somewhat insisted upon, and applied to the purpose in hand.

The arguments or reasons are to be solid, and, as much as may be, convincing. The illustrations, of what kind soever, ought to be full of light, and such as may convey the truth into the hearer’s heart with spiritual delight.

That’s a lot of words to basically say that when a man starts to deliver his message, he better do it in a way that makes sense and gets the point across. Like a lot of things in the Christian life it only becomes hard when we make it about the man rather than the message. I love the phrase “obscure works of art”. Derek Thomas once said in a lecture I heard at RPTS about preaching that no one goes to a high-end restaurant and wants the chef to cook on the table. We all trust that he has the right tools to do the job, and we aren’t awed when he shows off. Diners are for eating, and preaching is for feeding. A common lament of seasoned pastors is hearing young students for the ministry explaining Greek and Hebrew in their sermon. You start doing that and you lose the audience. To quote Shania Twain, that don’t impress me much. I hope you know the language, prove it by being faithful to the text, not wowing me with esoteric minutiae. Preach Jesus.

Similar to the need to be plain and clear in sermonizing the Divines seem interested that we not teach doctrine for doctrine sake. In other words, if we are going to talk about predestination and election in our morning or evening preaching then it better be to witness to the glory of God. To be correct on a biblical issue is good, and obviously ministers should take care to hew close to what the revealed will of God says, however, our purpose in that is not merely to be right, but to help Christ’s sheep better serve and adore the Lord. The doctrine serves worship, not the other way around. It is interesting to me that for a document written in the middle of the Seventeenth Century there is a warmth present in the encouragement that is made towards both hearers and preachers to maintain the example we have of the Apostles in the Scriptures. Whenever Paul or Barnabas or Peter or whoever is found preaching what we read is straight Jesus, not the pompous sounding oratory either of the men of Athens or the legalistic rule box-checking of the Pharisees.

Reformed preaching and Presbyterianism in general often gets knocked for being more concerned with form than function, and for good reason. I don’t know about you, but a lot of my experience over the last twenty years is that there seems to be a rote pattern that many men follow. They ape the order of a well-known internet fellow or even mimic his mannerisms. Part of the concern of the DPW here is that preaching be more about the message than the messenger. I said the other Sunday that part of my job is to get out of the way and let Jesus speak to His people. It is hard to do that when so much of a preacher’s preparation is on structure rather than heart work. This sounds silly, but it’s true. A minister needs to want people to know the gospel, not just know about the gospel.

In closing, another phrase worth noting in the above is the reminder that anything and everything in a sermon be applied to the purpose in hand. We preachers don’t have forever and need to be cognizant of the time and place. In the last paragraph I quoted from the DPW this is especially noted for illustrations. Stories, tales, quips, etc... should be there to support the main point. If all you remember from a preaching event is the illustration, then there is a problem. From beginning to end the point of the thirty-to-thirty-five minutes that I usually take on a Sunday morning should be centered on teaching what the text has to say, applying it to real world issues, and most of all helping all who hear it to leave the sanctuary at rest in the person and work of Christ, the savior of sinners.

Last word:

https://headhearthand.org/blog/2011/03/14/so-pastor-whats-your-point/

Blessings in Christ,

Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Pastor, Bethany ARP Church