I’m convinced that all the homiletical variety we desire is found in the biblical texts themselves, if we will pay attention to form. Expository preachers should pay attention to how the Bible speaks as well as what it speaks. But how do you do this with parables? Sometimes our Lord left them open-ended and didn’t spell out the “point.” Should we leave things open ended? Maybe.
I just wrote a book about preaching the genres of the Bible called Preaching With Variety (Kregel, 2007 ... Buy it today, while supplies last!) Here’s what I say in it:
I am not implying that your preaching should be aimless and that you should not know what you are trying to communicate. I am saying that parables often achieve their effects inductively and subtly. Sometimes Jesus left his stories open-ended, and if we would preach like Jesus, there are times when we will too. But “most preachers have a hard time leaving things unsaid” (Mike Graves, The Sermon as Symphony, 50). I certainly put myself in that category.My point about not making a point is especially pointed when we preach to postmodern listeners since they value mystery, imagination, narrative, and silence. They recoil from pat answers and formulas which package the truth with brown paper, strapping tape, and ribbon. As actor Sean Penn stated, “When everything gets answered, it’s fake. The mystery is the truth (from Entertainment Weekly, quoted by Rob Bell in lecture, “Subversive Preaching,” June 3, 2004”).
Open-ended preaching demands faith—faith in the sovereign Spirit to apply the truth, and faith in the capability of the listeners to ponder the truth.
What do you think? Is it OK to leave your big idea unstated? Can this be true to the text and helpful to the listeners?
Posted by Brittany Tarr at 11:03 AM on March 14, 2007
Comments
The movies I really like are the ones that show you the truth but don't tell you what to think about it. When films get too strong in telling you what to think, we call them "preachy". The sermon is a different form of communication, but I'd probably at my best as a preacher when I lead people to the truth but let them make the final steps.
Posted by: Dennis Mullen on March 14, 2007