Preaching From Longer Passages

THE textual sermon may involve a sentence or two, a paragraph, or a longer passage such as a chapter or a whole book of the Bible. A sermon involving a longer passage has traditionally been called an expository sermon. I have not used that terminology because whether long or short, the sermon must be an exposition of the text, the text must be analyzed with respect to its unity, organization, and progress. . .

THE textual sermon may involve a sentence or two, a paragraph, or a longer passage such as a chapter or a whole book of the Bible. A sermon involving a longer passage has traditionally been called an expository sermon. I have not used that terminology because whether long or short, the sermon must be an exposition of the text, the text must be analyzed with respect to its unity, organization, and progress ---there must be the theme and amplification of the theme. Yet there should be more preaching that develops longer passages. This kind of exposition allows the Bible to speak more for itself, it leads the hearers into a deeper understanding of the Word of God, and it presents the message of the Bible in its wider scope the "forest" is exposed as well as the "trees."

Let us consider, for example, a passage from Paul's letter to the Colossians. Beginning with verse 6 of chapter 2 we will work through thirty-five verses to verse 17 of chapter 3 (Col. 2:6-3:17). As I understand these verses, the theme of the passage is in chapter 2 verses 6 and 7 (R.S.V.):

"As therefore you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."

The following verses are an amplification of this theme. Verses 8-15 have to do with the philosophy and theology of the Christian. Verses 16-23 deal with the ceremonial practices of the Christian. Chapter 3, verses 1-14 have to do with the ethical life of the Christian. And verses 15-17 constitute the conclusion with an emphasis on joy, rejoicing, and thanksgiving.

An outline for this sermon might look like this:

Theme: "How to Live in Christ With Thanksgiving"

Introduction:

A. As you received Christ so continue in Him (Col. 2:6).

B. Be rooted and built up in Christ (v. 7).

C. Be thankful (v. 7).

I. The philosophy and theology of the Christian centers in Christ (vs. 8-15).

A. Do not be deceived by false philosophy that is based on human tradition (v. 8).

B. True philosophy centers in Christ (vs. 9-15).

1. The fullness of God dwells in Christ.

2. In Him we come to fullness of life.

3. In Him we are circumcised spiritually.

4. In Him we are baptized.

5. In Him we are raised from the dead.

6. He freed us from the bond of sin and triumphed over all.

II. All ceremonial observances of the Christian must center in Christ (vs. 16-23).

A. All observances with respect to food and drink and festivals or a Sabbath must center in Christ, because He is the substance of which they are the shadow (vs. 16, 17).

B. All claims with respect to supernatural revelations and practices that pertain thereto must hold fast to the Head from whom the whole body is nourished (vs. 18, 19).

C. All observances of rules that are based upon human precepts are useless (vs. 20-23).

III. The life of the Christian is lived in keeping with its focus the mind is set on things above (chap. 3:1-14).

A. What is to be put off (vs. 5-11).

1. Immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, anger, wrath, et cetera (vs. 5-10).

2. Discrimination of persons (v. 11).

B. What is to be put on (vs. 12-14).

1. Compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, patience, et cetera (vs. 12, 13).

2. Above all put on love (v. 14).

Conclusion:

A. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts (v. 15).

B. Be thankful (v. 15).

C. Let the Word of God dwell in you fully as you teach and rejoice (v. 16).

D. Whatever you do, do in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks (v. 17).

Sermons such as this are to be found all through the Bible. True, some portions of the Bible are more fruitful than others in yielding a sermon like this, but there are great passages in both the Old and the New Testaments that are waiting to be preached. Your ability for sermon construction under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is what is needed for them to be "delivered."

There is another kind of textual sermon that must not be left unmentioned. It is called the homily. In the homily, the sermon develops as a line-by-line, sentence-by-sentence, verse-by-verse commentary. In this way the text is left just as it is. It is not structured or analyzed in order to produce a coherent out line. Many great sermons have been preached in this way because the passage had a coherence and structure that became obvious as the sermon was preached. An argument in favor of this kind of textual sermon is that it is the most faithful to the text, and it is simple you just deal with the text as it is.

But herein lies a danger. Its "apparent" simplicity is deceiving. Moreover, if what we are after is some kind of "purity" as far as the treatment of the text is concerned, why not just read the text and sit down, or better yet have the people read it and save the time that it would take to read it in public? How often have you heard a "homily" that was nothing more than a translation of the text into the vernacular? Even this need not be done today, with the new "living" versions of the Bible so readily available! A comment by W. E. Sangster in his book, The Craft of Sermon Construction (Baker Book House, 1972), is worth noting at this point.

"A generation ago it was not unusual for minor comedians to lampoon this kind of preaching. Avoiding, with proper reverence, any reference to the Bible, they would take their "passage" from history, or folklore, or a nursery rhyme, but imitate with no little skill the unctuous manner and sententious verbosity of the unprepared preacher.

"I remember hearing one of them 'expound' old Mother Hubbard. Bits of his droll mimicry float to me down the years:

" 'Mother Hubbard, you see, was old; there being no mention of others, we may presume she was alone; a widow a friendless, old, solitary widow. Yet, did she despair? Did she sit down and weep, or read a novel, or wring her hands? No! She went to the cupboard. And here observe that she went to the cupboard. She did not hop, or skip, or run, or jump, or use any other peripatetic artifice; she solely and merely went to the cupboard. . . .

" 'And why did she go to the cupboard? Was it to bring forth golden goblets, or glittering precious stones, or costly apparel, or feasts, or any other at tributes of wealth? It was to get her poor dog a bone! Not only was the widow poor, but her dog, the sole prop of her age, was poor too.'

"There is enough truth in this foolery to make any serious craftsman solemnly resolve that when, in preaching, he sets out to expound a passage, he will do it with such complete preparation that not even the echo of these caricatures will sound in his people's ears." (Used by permission.)

Without adequate preparation, a homily can sound very much like an "exposition" of "Mother Hubbard." Unfortunately, we hear too much of this kind of "textual" or "Biblical" preaching. It takes a great deal of preparation and study to preach a sermon that is simply a sentence-by-sentence commentary upon the text. It may fall flat because it has no structure or it may be confusing rather than illuminating because it is not "coherent."


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June 1974

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