Joe McKeever

Sermon Expectations

I'm not going to identify the preacher to spare him possible embarrassment, but knowing him, he'd probably enjoy the notoriety. He shared this with a group of us one day ago and I've smiled about it ever since.

A few of us preachers were confessing mistakes we'd made in the pulpit. During a pause, he said, "Well, I once told the congregation to turn to some scripture, something like Luke chapter 5, verse 31. And when I got there, I saw it was not the text I had in mind. But for the life of me, I couldn't find my note with the correct text. So, I just read that verse to them and then preached it!"

The other pastors howled. I suppose we all could just see ourselves doing that. Or maybe we took pleasure in knowing that with all the dumb things we've done, we never did that!

The preacher said, "When it was over, the people said it was one of my most spirit-filled messages ever."

That, I suggest, is not a very good testimonial for sermon preparation.

I thought of something Bill Nimmons said. At the time he was the associate pastor of Starkville, Mississippi's First Baptist Church, serving under Pastor D. C. Applegate, a lovely man of God with multiple health problems. Bill had unfortunately learned to expect those last-minute phone calls informing he that he would need to fill in for the pastor. That's what happened this particular Sunday.

The call had come during breakfast that Sunday morning, leaving Bill almost no time to prepare. However, God took over, everyone agreed, and the sermon was excellent, the service a blessing, and a number of people responded to the invitation. Just before the benediction, the chairman of deacons announced, "This afternoon, Bill will have time to prepare tonight's sermon. So, this morning, we saw what God can do. Come back tonight, and we'll see what Bill can do!!"

It helps to have a sense of humor about church work.

I'm still stuck on the first story, the one where my friend and colleague preached Luke 5:31 "accidentally on purpose". If that was indeed the text -- he wasn't sure -- then he happened onto a good one.

"Jesus said to (his critics), ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.'"

Any veteran preacher could spend the day on that one verse. The problem, however, is that my friend who told this story was young in the ministry and did not have years of experience and learning to draw from. I shudder to think what he did with that text given no preparation at all and with 30 minutes to fill.

I wonder -- that's all I'm doing now, just wondering, not passing judgement -- whether the fact that his congregation enjoyed that sermon more than usual might be a reflection on two things: the quality of fare the pastor normally sets before the diners, and the expectations and appreciation of sermons by the folks in the pews.

One of the best things a preacher can do for his people is to raise their expectations about sermons. He will do a better job from the pulpit if when he walks up to it, the congregation is fully expecting to hear from the Lord.

The only way he can do that -- that is, lift their expectations -- is to consistently and regularly feed them well. And to accomplish this, there is no substitute for time well spent alone with the Lord.

"If (the preachers) had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they would have turned from their evil way." (Jeremiah 23:22)

There is no substitute for a pastor locking himself into the study with an open Bible and a notebook and spending time with the Lord.

And yet, let's face it, brothers -- we regularly offer Him substitutes. I can think of a few; you'll think of others.

--a clever idea we read or thought of or heard that we can build a quick sermon around.

--a great sermon from another minister that really clicked with us, and we decide to preach to our people.

--an event on the calendar we need to push, and decide to make the focal point of a sermon.

In the above passage, Jeremiah 23, such surrogates are called chaff. That, you will know if you are a farm kid but might need reminding of if you aren't, is the leftover husk after the kernel of grain is taken. Chaff is dead, lightweight, tasteless, and useless---a perfect description of some of our thoughtless sermons, I venture.

Bible students will recall from Psalm 1 that God calls the unrighteous person chaff, "which the wind driveth away." In contrast, He says, a righteous person is like "a tree planted by the rivers of water."

Back to sermon preparation. Entire books -- even entire libraries, probably -- have been written on that subject, so I'll not cover it in this brief word. But the single most important part of preparing for a sermon is to spend a good portion of time during each week in reading and studying the Word.

That requires two kinds of Bible reading: the first we call devotional, which means we are reading for our own spiritual nourishment; and the second, is sermonic, meaning we're studying for a particular message or teaching session.

Young pastors need to be warned against skipping on the first and spending all their Word-time on the second. Sermon-building gets old quick (not to say, harder and less productive) when the minister is not feeding his own soul by feasting on the Lord's Word without looking for sermons to preach.

I have four suggestions to ministers to make their general, devotional Bible reading more beneficial.

One: read it orally. Often in my study early in the morning, after I've covered a few chapters in whatever book I'm "crossing" at the time, I'll skip over to one of the gospels and pick out a chapter -- any chapter -- and read it out loud. Not real loud, just verbal, oral, spoken.

In reading Scripture aloud, I suggest you read it very slowly. Do not rush through it. This is not a slurpee meant to be wolfed downed and forgotten. This is the Word of God. Take each word carefully, thoughtfully, deliberately. Pay attention to what's happening.

Two: read it patiently. Think of the Scripture in the same way as your morning exercise or daily vitamins -- the object is not to see an immediate effect. The idea is to be strong and whole and energetic so you can face whatever the day holds. In the same way, the Scripture you read this morning may seem to have no connection to anything in your life. But you never know. So, read it, listen to the Lord, think about it, then get on with your day.

Three: read it thankfully. Give thanks to the Lord for such a Word and the privilege of owning it. Early on, the Israelites seemed to realize how blessed they were in having such a treasure. "What great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?" (Deut. 4:8)

I suggest you breathe a prayer as you begin reading a passage, thanking the Father for such a gift and asking Him to speak to you today.

Four: read it daily. Get a Bible just for this purpose and leave it in that spot. Each morning when you begin your day, go there first thing and open it. Have a fine point pen handy and a notebook and a highlighter. Get into the habit.

Do this and I'll make you three promises, pastor. Before long, people will see the difference in your preaching. That will happen a few days after your spouse starts noticing the difference in your person.

The other promise is that you will begin noticing a change in yourself. I cannot tell you when in the order it will come, whether before your wife and the congregation notice the difference or later, but it really doesn't matter.

Because, actually, none of these are the point. We don't read the Bible for the congregation, our wives, or even ourselves. We read it for our Lord. That's how He has chosen to communicate with us, through the Holy Spirit.

Jeremiah called it "standing in the counsel of the Lord."

Stand there long and often enough and you'll soon see your standing in the Lord's work has improved considerably.