Excitement about expository preaching

Eleven reasons for expository preaching

Grant Swank, Jr., is pastor of the New Hope Church of the Nazarene in Windham, Maine.

I am increasingly excited about preaching expository messages. This has not always been so. For a quarter of a century, I have preached mainly topical sermons. Nevertheless, I am now discovering the adventure of regular expository preaching.

There is nothing more monotonous than a boring sermon. Scores of lay persons deserve credit for tolerating boring messages year after year. Yet there is no excuse for that kind of thing in the pulpit.

Expository preaching is one answer to the dryness that is currently afflicting much of Protestant preaching. How can a biblical, careful exposition bring new life to the pulpit?

(1) Exposition focuses on a new passage with each new sermon. The divine insights within those passages yield their own variety. For example, while preaching from 2 Corinthians, I marveled at the different dimensions of truth and insight which Paul covered from chapter to chapter. Many of the truths which the apostle accented had never really been dealt with properly in any of my sermons over the years. Expository preaching took care of that weakness.

(2) Exposition delves deeply. A superficial reading of a biblical chapter may appear at first to have little worth in the way of sermonic development. However, when lingering with that chapter for fifteen to twenty minutes, I found that each verse contained so much material worth sharing that it took a sensitive winnowing of the detail to keep in balance the overall accent desired. In other words, it ended up that there was plenty of data to work with, much of it enticing me to further in-depth exploration.

(3) Exposition suggests a more powerful delivery when preaching. Because there is so much attention given to the actual Word rather than detours into personal-opinion or "cute" stories, the preacher senses within his own soul the power of the divine communication. That is, he or she is dealing with eternal material which begs to be exposed.

Consequently, when actually delivering the message, the preacher can feel the drive within the self to proclaim. There is an urgency to get out the truth.

When the minister saturates himself with biblical truth in sermon preparation, that dynamo will in turn grip the congregation because of the pastor's in creased, palpable conviction. The result will be one message after another that is the bold proclamation of the gospel.

(4) Exposition yields a biblically literate laity. When I preached topical sermons, the congregation usually dosed their Bibles after the Scripture lesson was read aloud from the pulpit. However, now that I am preaching mainly expository sermons, the people keep their Bibles open throughout the entire mes sage. I even provide them with a brief outline of the sermon, printed in the Church bulletin. Before I begin preaching, I invite the hearers to keep their Bibles open with the outline alongside the passage so they can follow verse-by-verse with me throughout the sermon.

Over time, a certain percentage of the congregation has begun to keep the printed outlines as personal study guides. As the expositions increase, it is hoped that their knowledge of specific passages will deepen.

(5) Exposition brings out color in a sermon. Over the years I found myself using familiar phrases and concepts which were becoming all too frequent and trite. However, when I moved into expository preaching, I was forced to create other communication patterns to make a point of truth. Along with that, I was compelled to become more imaginative as I tried to illustrate material to amplify the passage on which I was preaching. Because new meanings and accents were being uncovered in the variety of biblical sections I dealt with, new ways of carving out those accents became delightfully necessary.

(6) Exposition keeps the adventure of sermon preparation growing. As years pass, it is not uncommon for the preacher to become weary regarding the next week's sermon. What is there that is new? How can he or she tell the old, old story in new language? Consequently, many preachers, often without realizing it, be gin to drag and the sermon's momentum slows down. Thus, a kind of verbal doodling takes place in the pulpit from week to week.

Preparing for an expository sermon, however, keeps the study hours alive. Each new biblical section contains its own life force. Therefore, when re searching that section afresh, one comes upon brand new treasures that had never been dug up before. In the discovery there is vibrancy, the desire to get back into that pulpit to speak once again concerning the wonder of God.

(7) Exposition actually cuts out wasted time; it makes for more efficient use of sermon research. Instead of procrastinating as one moves toward the next week's sermon, expository preaching has a way of enticing the preacher to begin earlier in the week. The reason? Because he or she knows that the Bible is full of material waiting to be molded into a sermon. The preacher is not left quite so alone with the task of trying to scout around in his tired brain for some new brainstorm.

Every minister knows about the panic. It is the tremor which takes hold when nearing the day of delivery... and there is still no message burning on the stove. Usually this occurs because the pastor has run out of sermon themes, when there is nothing baiting his imagination.

However, when the pastor comes faithfully to the Bible with the purpose of coming upon new material from a selected passage, he will see that in reasonable order he can uncover plenty of alluring content for still another sermon.

(8) Exposition lifts the Word to a place of central priority. Over time, a congregation will come to know whether or not the pastor enjoys his preaching. If he does not, the message will probably get the intentional shuffle. That is, it will be wedged in a little here and there, eventually being treated by the people as a necessary evil of some kind.

Yet does an earnest pastor actually want this to happen? Does he really want a shallow people, basically ignorant about the faith? Of course not. The genuine minister of the gospel desires a zealous people who are totally commit ted to the Scriptures.

Expository preaching will keep the listeners close to the Word because the Bible will have been elevated to its lofty place within the worship itself. The Book will have received the honor due it, particularly under the wise leadership of the person behind the pulpit.

(9) Expository preaching keeps the preacher under the integrity of God's Word. It cuts through criticism from those who would complain that the preacher is doing nothing more than peddling his own pet peeves or personal tirades. Whatever is preached during the sermon is straight out of the Book.

When the pastor is immersed in Scripture, he or she becomes a new per son in Christ fresh for each week's duties. The people then pick up on that and the sincere ones grow into that same aliveness. They make connection with the divine integrity.

In the end, humanity thirsts for the living water from God's well, and that supply flows from His Word.

(10) Exposition makes for continuity with both pastor and laity. I have discovered that preaching from one of Paul's letters or straight through one of the Gospels brings a healthy cohesiveness to the congregation. It keeps a congregation together. There is not the lost-in-thoughtness that frequently comes to a listening body over the months when they are segmented by each brand new sermonic theme.

(11) Exposition grows its own fruit of spiritual growth within the preacher. "Lay hold on the Bible until the Bible lays hold of you," wrote Will H. Houghton. Over time, the preacher will thrill at the "laying hold." he will naturally realize the deepening in his own soul because of spending more time in the Bible, not only in his daily quiet renewing but also in those sermon preparation hours.

The Word simply works its own harvest when given the chance. Too many times, however, we preachers are caught up in other things: community meetings, driving about, errands, talking on the phone, arranging the weekly newsletter and bulletin. Consequently, we experience that awful lack in our souls. How can we beat it?

One way is to commit oneself to disciplined expository preaching.

Grant Swank, Jr., is pastor of the New Hope Church of the Nazarene in Windham, Maine.

May 2000

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