Sermon block happens. It just does! I have days where I can’t make any headway. The text does not make sense. Or I can’t figure out how to structure the sermon. Or I’m not seeing how the text connects to the lives of my listeners. How does a preacher struggle through sermon block? Here are a few practices which help me.
1. Walk away. Sometimes, I just need to take a break and so something else. Remember Eugene Lowry’s counsel. He suggests breaking away from sermon preparation at the point of a felt difficulty rather than at the point of closure. Your mind will continue to work on the sermon.
2. Stay put. Sometimes, though, I simply need to stay put at my desk and continue to wrestle with thought. Thinking is hard work. If I walk away too soon, my mind will have too little on which to ruminate.
3. Pray through it. When sermon block hits, I’ll often take my notes or a Bible and wander through our worship center praying. In the spring or summer, I’ll take a walk through the neighborhood and pray through the text. I suspect that sermon block is sometimes the gentle voice of the Spirit saying, “You forgot to consult with me on this sermon.”
4. Hold an imaginary conversation. I picked up this idea from Haddon Robinson. If I’m struggling with applying the concept to my congregation, I’ll imagine someone seated in my office. I’ll ask myself, “If this text is the answer, what is the question which the person seated in my office is asking?”
5. Create a Diagram. Occasionally, I’ll fight sermon block by taking a blank sheet of paper and creating a diagram. I’ll put some kind of summary of the passage in a circle in the center of the page. Then, I’ll branch out from there and create a box – perhaps in the upper left corner – which records my major questions which I can’t seem to answer. Another box – perhaps in the lower right corner – lists the possible problems or needs which this text address. Then, I may create a box in a remaining corner and label it “Vision of God.” I’ll record whatever this text says about the character of God, or about the way that God relates to His people. Eventually, a connection will emerge in my thinking.
What do you do when sermon block hits? By the way, I’m happy to report that I have not struggled with sermon block this week! I’m going to be out of town on Sunday, and I’ll listen to a friend of mine preach. I wonder if he struggled with sermon block this week?!
Posted by Steve Mathewson at 8:26 AM on March 7, 2008
Comments
I take a shower. By the time I pat to dry, I will have thought of something.
Posted by: Adrin Munoz on March 7, 2008
How sad that so many people are sitting in lines of pews depending on this system to actually nourish them enough in 30 minutes to keep them spiritually alive for seven days!
Suggestion - train God's people to feed on his word daily in private and prayerful reading of their very own bible so that instead of showing up half starved to death, they will show up Sunday morning all eager to share a few words of what God has thru' his Spirit given them in private reflection upon the Word.
(Of course the full-time paid evangelist would also share a few words in the Sunday morning meeting.)
P.S.
The evangelist/minister/preacher/pastor/ will now have a whole lot of free time on his hands with no sermon to prepare and can now use all the new-found time to evangelize out in the community instead of holed up in his office with sermon block. He could even conduct a few real Gospel meetings in the community! (Preaching The Gospel message is not inclined to bring on "sermon block".)
Posted by: child of God on March 13, 2008
Apparently "child of God" has never had to deal with sermon block. Maybe never written a sermon?
Posted by: Jimmy Doogan on March 14, 2008
Good ideas. I'm not sure, though, that it is wise to force a sermon to conclusion. I think of a sermon as something that is grown rather than built, as many homiletics texts put it. When I've done all I can and still hit an impasse, the best thing I can do is put it back in the folder, go back and water it from time to time, and pick it when it is ready. Works for me, anyway.
Posted by: Cleve Dawsey on March 19, 2008