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2007-11-20 issue:

We can preach differently

Five qualities of good sermons

by Palmer Becker

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Preaching has received more than its share of criticism. Some say, “Sermons are boring and irrelevant to everyday life.” Others complain that sermons are too long, moralistic or predictable. But we can preach differently.

Part of good preaching lies in good training, such as is being offered by our seminaries and pastoral training programs. Another part lies in a deeper understanding and application of who we are as Mennonites.

Below are five distinct qualities that rise out of our understandings of the gospel and the church. They can and should enable us to prepare and preach sermons that are effective and relevant to everyday life.

1. Our theology enables us to preach mission-oriented sermons.
Preachers of the Reformed tradition tend to begin with the holy, demanding side of God. This leads them to preach many doctrinal messages on justification by faith and how we can be saved from the wrath of this holy, demanding God. Mennonites tend to begin with the servant-nurturing side of God that we see in Jesus Christ. This understanding challenges us to preach messages that encourage us to be servant-like in the footsteps of Jesus.

While both the demanding and nurturing sides of God need to be preached, we need to recognize that we are strongly influenced in our preaching by how we perceive God. In The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer says, “There is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God.”

Why do we preach many mission, relief, reconciliation and discipleship sermons in Mennonite churches? They emerge from our understanding of God. We understand that he is like Jesus Christ. That understanding can and does make a profound difference in how we preach.

2. Our hermeneutics empowers us to preach sermons that are Christ-centered.
Many preachers do most of their preaching from a so-called “flat Bible.” They assume the words of Moses in the Old Testament are equal in importance to the words of Jesus in the New. Furthermore, they tend to go to the New Testament for their personal ethics and to the Old for their social ethics on issues such as war, capital punishment and justice.

Still other preachers—often those on the Religious Right—interpret the Scriptures from a dispensational point of view. They assume that to know God’s will we need to know for which dispensation or period of history it was revealed. Unfortunately this approach generally postpones the teachings of Jesus to a future age. As a result, these preachers neglect Jesus and do most of their preaching from either the Old Testament or the Epistles of Paul.

In contrast to these two approaches, Mennonites have traditionally interpreted the Scriptures from a Christocentric point of view, which sees Jesus as the fullest revelation of God and as the norm for both personal and social ethics. In Anabaptists in Outline, Walter Klaassen says, “All Anabaptists are united in emphasizing that the confession of Jesus as Lord must be combined with obedience to his words. If obedience is not there, the faith is, by definition, counterfeit.”

Flat Bible and dispensational interpretations of Scripture often lead to justifying war, consumerism and the establishment of a political Israel. An ethical, Christ-centered interpretation of Scripture empowers us to preach sermons that emphasize following Christ in all dimensions of life. A Christ-centered hermeneutic can and does make a difference in how we preach.

3. Our emphasis on community enables us to preach to felt needs.
Pastors of mainline churches tend to use the Common Lectionary as a guide to the selection of texts and topics. While there is a place for the use of a lectionary, especially during the seasons of Advent and Lent, a strict following of a lectionary is probably incompatible with Mennonite preaching. It does not allow sufficient freedom to address such important themes as discipleship, peace and reconciliation and does not adequately allow for the immediate felt needs of the listeners to determine the choice of text and topic. As a result, the sermons often scratch where it does not itch.

Mennonite preaching was traditionally done by lay or bivocational ministers who were often of the same vocation as the people in the congregation. As they talked and worked with each other in the church and community, pastors were guided to texts and topics that spoke to the needs of their people.

In today’s world, effective preachers walk among their people, offer personal pastoral care, visit parishioners at their places of work and join them in their mission ventures. Preachers who are in touch with the everyday physical and emotional needs of their people can and will preach differently from those who rely too heavily on a lectionary.

4. Our objectives challenge us to preach application-oriented messages.
Much Protestant preaching has been preoccupied with interpretation. If a passage of Scripture has been properly understood and creatively interpreted, the sermon has fulfilled its purpose.

While it is important to come to a careful and creative interpretation of the text, this is not the ultimate purpose of preaching. The purpose of preaching is to see lives changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. D.L. Moody had a helpful perspective when he said: “The Scriptures were not given merely for our information. They were given for our transformation.”

Being a believer who knows the Scriptures is not adequate. Our preaching needs to result in equipping followers to be disciplined and obedient to Jesus Christ. Hans Denck said it simply and profoundly when he said, “No one can truly know Christ unless he follows him in life.”

In one way or another every sermon needs to help listeners make some kind of practical change in their thinking, attitudes or actions so that the reign of God may come more fully on earth as it is in heaven. It has been suggested that up to half of a sermon should be given to illustrations, reflections and exercises that help listeners apply the message to their daily lives.
Our concern for practical Christian living enables us to go beyond creative interpretation to practical, application-oriented messages.

5. The Holy Spirit enables us to preach with passion.
Preaching three times a month is often a requirement written into a pastor’s job description. Unfortunately, this often leads to sermons preached out of duty or obligation and thus lack enthusiasm, passion or conviction.

People were amazed at the preaching of Jesus because he preached “as one having authority.” People were also amazed at the early Mennonites who spoke with passion and conviction right to the moment of their martyrdom. Why was this true? They believed in what they were preaching and had a profound reliance on the Holy Spirit.

When preachers are insecure in themselves, in their relationships with the congregation or in what they are saying, their sermons lack authority, humor, fervor and hope. As a result, listeners go away insecure, discouraged or uninspired.

When a pastor has spent time with God, developed a well-prepared sermon and is filled with God’s Spirit, he or she is more prone to be given an anointing or sense of confidence and joy in the preaching. The Holy Spirit empowers us to preach with warm emotion, enthusiasm and passion.

We Mennonites have a theology and heritage that can and should make a difference in the way we preach. Our understandings of God, Scripture, human need, discipleship and the Spirit of Christ have a profound effect upon our preaching. If our preaching has been boring or irrelevant to everyday life, we can be encouraged to know that God has given us a unique set of gifts and resources. We can preach differently.

Palmer Becker is the former teacher of preaching at Hesston (Kan.) College. He currently lives in Kitchener, Ont.

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