What is a Sermon?
July 11th, 2005
Preparing my sermon each week is one my favorite parts about my job. In a way, the process of studying and writing releases my creative energies. But sometimes I think we take the weekly message for granted. Just what is a sermon really?
First of all, a good sermon is an exercise in being vulnerable. It is not a lecture or a speech. A sermon is an intimate conversation in which I am opening up, both to the congregation and to God, and sharing the word through myself. As such, the sermon is not something I can distance myself from as if it stands somehow outside of my own thoughts and personality. Instead, each sermon reveals a central piece of who I am.
In any intimate conversation like this, when one person speaks, the other party responds by listening. Sermon-listening is hard work. It is an acquired skill for any congregation; it takes time and practice to tune out the many distractions that are clamoring for attention inside our heads to focus on the message at hand. Just as I must be willing to open myself to bring the message that God has for me to deliver, so too must the congregation be willing to receive it. And that means being willing to give up control over preconceived notions about a given text or our particular mood of the day. Sermons require both preacher and “preachee” to expect something to happen, to be engaged and responsible for paying attention, and to open up to the presence of God through his word.
To me, a good sermon should always appeal to three things: the heart, the mind, and the hands. Obviously, the heart is what brings us to church in the first place. So, some part of the sermon should appeal to our feelings and move us to a deeper place of love, joy, and contentment. But the sermon is not just about “feeling good.” An appeal to the mind, as you’ve recognized from my sermons, is important as well. It is vital for Christians not just to feel good, but also to “think good.” In other words, a well-prepared sermon should cause us to reconsider our assumptions and to make us ask questions as we grow in our knowledge of Christ. A super-sweet disciple who confuses Judas with Jesus doesn’t help anyone, including themselves, get closer to God. Finally, a good sermon should move us to take action, to respond in some way to the words from the text. This is what I mean by the hands-- that we carry the message out into the world and try to live into it and make it real in our lives. While I am sure it is an immensely pleasurable experience, coming to church just to hear me talk once a week is worth nothing if it doesn’t involve some change on our parts from what we’ve learned and felt.
Most importantly, let us remember that the sermon does not exist for our entertainment, but as an offering to God. In that spirit, come ready to enter into the conversation of the sermon this Sunday.