It was my first year in the ministry, and I was privileged to be working as an assistant to Pastor A. O. Sage. He had just finished preaching and I was standing in the foyer greeting and befriending people as they left. A member of the congregation stepped up and asked if I would answer a theological question.
I was more than willing, especially when his question turned out to be a rather simple one. I knew the answer and waxed quite eloquent in sharing it with him. As I talked, he nodded thought fully. I was sure I was putting all his concerns to rest. When I finished, he kept right on nodding, "Yes, I see. That's most interesting. You know, I really would like to ask Pastor Sage that question some day."
I still think I answered the question about as well as my more seasoned supervisor could have. The point is that it made no difference. Since my listener didn't see me as a person of authority, he couldn't accept my answer as authoritative.
Why should you quote?
Quote to add authority. W. E. Sangster advised, "It is when a preacher is offering an opinion upon a subject that is likely to create a controversy in the minds of his hearers that a pertinent quotation in his own support is most useful. Even then it needs to be quoted under a great name." Young preachers probably need to quote more often than do older ones. Less authority, more quotation. *
Quote to say it better. If someone has coined a phrase that says precisely and memorably what you want to say, quote it.
How should you quote?
Quote understandably. Don't quote too many statistics. Used sparingly, they can be dramatic. Used voluminously, they may be boring and hard to understand.
Poetry can add an artistic touch to your sermon, but you must be sure you're using it because it's meaningful to your listeners and not just because you enjoy it. Most poetry was written to be read rather than spoken. It may be so deep that it needs to be studied and meditated on to be completely understood. You can do that as you read in your study; your listeners cannot while they listen in the pew.
Quote honestly. You can be honest while borrowing a few ideas here and there without giving credit, but you can not if you borrow a significant number of words or the argument and organization of a chapter without crediting the author.
Honesty and accuracy necessitate careful note-taking as you study. Writing down a complete bibliographical reference is a nuisance, but if you're ever called to question or if you want to restudy the subject later, you'll be glad that you have all the information including the library you got the book from.
Quote briefly. When you take a book other than the Bible into the pulpit, listeners tend to wonder if it's because you didn't take time to prepare. A book is an almost certain sign you intend to use some long quotations, and listeners turn off to lengthy quotes.
Brevity concentrates. Sit in the sun, and its gentle warmth may lull you to sleep. But take a magnifying glass and concentrate that same light on one specific spot on your arm, and it'll get your attention in a hurry. Read a long quotation from the pulpit, and you're sure to lull your people to sleep. But concentrate on just one part of that same quotation, and you'll get their attention.
Don't read the whole paragraph if you're really after just one sentence. Don't read the whole sentence if a single phrase carries your thought. Certainly you must avoid using quotations out of context. But the point is that if you are talking about idea A, quote only what deals with A even if it means you use only a portion of a sentence. Don't allow your quotations to encourage your listeners to wander off onto B, C, or D. Brevity concentrates.
Quote motivational! A sermon is not a research paper. Preachers are not primarily in the proving business. Yes, there's a time to prove Christ and Christianity.
But most of those who listen to your sermons already believe that they ought to follow Christ. What they need most is motivation to help them want to. Preachers ought to be provers, but they ought primarily to be motivators.
Quote from sources your listeners respect and admire rather than from ones significant chiefly to you. Then your quotations will not only prove they will motivate.
* In a study I did of 50 typical contemporary
sermons, I found that they averaged six biblical
quotations each. Seventy-five percent of these
biblical quotations were from the New Testament and
25 percent were from the Old. There were
relatively few quotations from sources other than the
Bible. Only one sermon in four quoted poetry, and
one in two from other sources.