My friend, David Hansen, has only one rule for sermon preparation on Tuesdays. This is the day he begins studying for Sunday’s sermon. David’s rule is “Do not rush.” David insists on “spending unhurried, inefficient time with the text.”
Whether you begin your sermon preparation on Monday, Tuesday, or even the week before, David’s rule will work for you. It will force you to slow down and listen more intently to the text. It will enable you to meditate on Scripture in the way Psalm 1 describes.
Almost every week, I find myself tempted to rush. An illustration comes to mind. I get an idea for the introduction. I’m in a hurry to read what the best commentator says about a phrase or an idea around which I cannot seem to wrap my mind. But on my best days, I resist the urge to rush. I’ve learned that just as it takes time for thought to form while I’m preaching, it also takes time for thought to form while I’m preparing.
What keeps me honest? Starting early. As long as I get started on Sunday’s sermon on Monday or Tuesday at the latest, I can discipline myself to stare at the text, mull over it, wrestle with how it holds together. What else keeps me honest? The biblical languages. They force me to slow down (for obvious reasons!). They force me to wrestle with relationships between words and clauses.
My sermon preparation picks up speed as the week progresses. But early on in the process, I take the advice of my friend, David: “Do not rush.” For more thoughts from David Hansen on preaching, check out chapter 6 in his classic, The Art of Pastoring (IVP).
Posted by Steve Mathewson at 7:13 AM on November 6, 2007
Comments
While my mind just doesn't allow me to start on a sermon before I've preached my previous sermon (on Sunday), I do love to get a good, slow start on Monday morning. And I have to force myself to not try to "finish" it on Monday, even if I could, but rather to do a little every day, because my understanding of the text and it's application grows as the week goes on and I mull it over and over. I'm a STRONG believer that a passage my affect ME before I can preach it to others.
Posted by: Dean on November 26, 2007