What will it take to do expository preaching effectively in the 21st century? For starters, it takes an intimate relationship with Jesus. I have to begin here because God’s Spirit keeps challenging me on this! Two weeks ago, I had breakfast with a friend whose recent moral failure led to his removal from pastoral ministry. He made a profound observation which still makes me shudder: He said, “I let my ministry become a substitute for my relationship with Christ.” Ooh. How many times do I begin sliding down that path? It happens so subtly.
A day later, I attended a ‘Scripture in Ministry’ lecture at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) delivered by Stephen Seamands. Seamands authored Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service. He argued that Christ-followers, like their master himself, must serve out of a love relationship with the Father through Christ. Semands reminded us that “Satan’s strategy may be getting us over-involved in our ministry.” Then he asked: “How intentional are you at maintaining that love relationship?”
A few days later, I began studying John 15:1-17, the sermon text for this Sunday’s sermon. Clay Edens, a young man in our church who is about to graduate from TEDS, will actually preach the sermon. But when I started reading, I thought, “Here we go again!” Jesus says: “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
I made the mistake (smile) of sharing all of this with a ‘band of brothers’ with whom I meet weekly! Now they are insisting that I follow through with my plans to devote one day a month to a spiritual retreat. I try to maintain a daily rhythm of walking with Jesus through Scripture, prayer, and obedience. But I need a more extended time alone with my Lord. So this Friday, February 23, I will hole up in the library at the University of St. Mary by the Lake. The library resembles an Italian palace! My plan is to read a sermon by Jonathan Edwards titled “The Excellency of Christ.” My friend, Steve Farish, recommended it. Thanks, Steve.
If I had any doubts as to whether God’s Spirit would keep confronting me on my intimacy with Christ, they disappeared when I looked at the comments to my first blog post. Rich Tatum wrote: “A principle duty [of a preacher] is first to be exposed to the Word and transformed so that, in turn, the true Word of God may be made manifest to all who watch, listen, and learn.” Convicting, isn’t it?! Then, my friend, Dave Wyrtzen, talked about people whose lives were transformed by the “exposure to the truth of God’s Word in the context of an intimate relationship with Jesus.” This intimate relationship with Jesus must characterize the preacher as well as the hearers.
Of course, I knew all of this before I wrote it, and you knew it before you read it. But, oh, do I ever need fresh, constant reminders about growing in intimacy with God! I’m curious, how do you maintain an intimate relationship with Jesus out of which your sermons flow?
Posted by Steve Mathewson at 9:03 AM on February 21, 2007
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Ouch! Steve, your comments are a needed reminder that preaching is relational to the core. This is true on two levels. As you observe, it is proclamation rooted in my relationship with Christ. However, it is also a conversation with God's people that is grounded in my relationship with them. In the study I listen to God's word on my own behalf as a follower of Jesus Christ. But I am also listening on behalf of God's poeple. My default posture in the pulpit is one of advocacy. In terms of geography, I stand "before" them. In terms of relationship, I stand with them. A relational appreach to preaching can help me avoid avoid triteness because it gives me permission to honestly grapple with the text. It enables me to ask the hard questions my listeners may be afraid to ask themselves.
Posted by: John Koessler on February 21, 2007