Preaching Habits

 

There have been in recent years several significant books on the dynamic of habits. I have read much of the literature on this topic and watched several YouTube videos that show both the benefits of habits and the downside of habits. I would like in this blog to apply some of this to our preaching. 

Habits that Help

Right up front, we should acknowledge that we clergy have formed some significant habits around how we prepare our sermons. For example, I keep an illustration file that contains material and stores from different sources that I may use at an appropriate moment in a sermon. I draw these from wherever I can find them. In recent years this has included items from the internet. Mostly in my early days of preaching, these were from books or articles. Occasionally, I borrow from other preachers. When I do this, I cite the source. I was once disturbed by hearing a preacher use an story from The Anglican Digest that I had read the past week. It was disturbing because he made it first person, as if it was his experience. Of course, this is plagiarism. As one of my teachers once said, “Stealing sermons is like stealing shoes. It’s wrong!”

Another habit that I have developed over the years is doing my research on the lectionary readings on Mondays and start writing the sermon (or outline) on Thursday. I always do my final version of my sermon on Saturday. For many years, I also had a habit of reviewing the Gospel readings for the next season of the Church Year. This became even more necessary with the three-year lectionary. In my last decade of full-time work, I would just review my notes from past studies. In other words, sometimes our habit help us. 

I mention all this because they illustrate habits that help me prepare for preaching better. I have known a couple of Presbyterian preachers who prepared an outline of sermons for the next year. I cannot imagine doing this. However, my sermons have both a title and a descriptive sentence (often called a “sermonic sentence”), and I keep these in order from Advent though Pentecost. That way, I can look back on my last year and see if a particular form or theme has been overused. 

 On the other side of the preaching event is another habit that some of you have discovered. It is to periodically ask your congregation for feedback.  Providing a structured way for people to give such feedback is a habit that many clergy have found helpful. The topic of helpful habits for preparing a sermon is one that could be shared in a discussion group with other preachers. 

Unhelpful habits We Should Avoid

The top of my list would be using the same form for every sermon. As I have mentioned elsewhere in my blogs, I learned the need to vary the form of my sermon from Fred Craddock in his classic text “Preaching.” 

In speaking of the forms of oral communication available to a preacher, this is what he says. “The forms of which we speak are and have been for centuries the common store of writers and public speakers. In other words, these structures have demonstrated repeatedly that they can carry the burden of truth with clarity, thoroughness, and interest, and therefore, have come to be regard as standard.” 

Then he lists eight these. He uses descriptive terms and not those of classical rhetoric.

  What is it? What is it worth? How does one get it?

   Explore, Explain, Apply

   The Problem, the solution

   What it is not, what it is

    Either/or

    Both/ and

    Promise, fulfillment

    Ambiguity, clarity

    Major premise, minor premise, conclusion

    Not this, nor this, nor this, nor this, but this

    The flashback (from present to past to present)

    From the lesser, to the greater 

Then he observes, “No small amount of biblical, theological, and pastoral instruction, encouragement, and urging can be framed on these forms with a minimum of distortion, reduction, or dullness.” (Preaching, pg. 177) He is right! In my sermon note pad, I keep a list of these forms and during preparation I ask, “Which of these forms will best communicate this sermon?” I find that if I don’t remind myself of these variations, I tend to overuse two or three of them. I find that many preachers do not even try to vary their form. Like the torture bed of mythology, we arbitrarily make every message fit our favorite form. 

The Most Overused Form

I have no doubt which of the above forms is used and overused by too many Episcopal Clergy. It is the “Explore, Explain. Apply” method. I call this the Seminary of the Southwest Form because I worked in the Diocese of Texas for almost 10 years, and it was the form most used by their graduates. They have developed a form for their sermons and their habit of using it over and over makes preaching predictable and sometimes boring. I also observe that over time the applications tends to be too overused. We need to remember that even the most profound truths repeat time and time again become cliches. 

Another over used form comes from 19^th century preaching and is essentially a written form. I was once on the staff of a large Episcopal Church. The Rector was conscientious in putting together his sermons. Unfortunately, he had learned to use a common 19^th century form. It was Introduction, 3 points, and a conclusion/application. I once asked him why all his sermons had 3 points. He observed that they could have less or more, but that the 3-point division was easy for him to build upon. What he did not observe was how his congregation had learned his form. If he took to long for his first point, people began to look at their watches. He had become predictable. 

Another Rector of a large church said he used the 3-point sermon because 3 points were all his people could remember. It made for what he called “a logical progression.” I have the same dislike for the 3-point sermon used constantly as I have for those clergy who have told me that they only preach for 10 minutes because “that is the limit of how long people will listen.” When I teach preaching, I share that time is a secondary value in a sermon. Then I add that a 10-minute sermon that is bad is 9 minutes too long. 

The habit of using the same form all the time is a bad one no matter what that form may be. Besides, why not take the great insight from Craddock. Why not use a form of preaching that best fits the text before us. Trust me, people will listen and will be able to follow and remember. He also observes that another positive use of these forms is variety. Develop the habit of asking, “What oral form would best serve the message of this text and the message of my sermon?” 

For example, recently the lectionary had what I consider the singular hardest passage for Episcopal clergy to preach. The pagan widow pleads for Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus responds with “Is it right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs?” I read and listened to several attempts by Episcopal preachers to deal with this text. I noted that all used the Explore, Explain, Apply method. And what did they explore? In this story Jesus sounded cruel. If he said this to the widow, he may even have been racist, but he was certainly heartless. They went on to explain basically that Jesus would never have said such a thing. Obviously, the problem for our clergy is that the story does not fit our 21^st century view of Jesus. It did not allow him to be (a) human, (b) someone who could be astonished, (c) confrontational, and most of all (d) Jewish. A better form would have been the one intended by the gospel writer, “Not this, not this, but this!” I think a better message from this story is “Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, was astounded to find faith were his people never expected it to exist. We Christians can find too that faithfulness isn’t only the prerogative of God’s chosen people!” 

Use of a Narrative is an Underrated Habit

If you want a suggestion for a more effective and usable form, I suggest Narrative with the use of elaboration, teaching and illustrations. Recently, I joined my fellow 8 0’clockers at Grace and heard an excellent sermon using just such a form on the parable Jesus told of the two sons. As you remember. one said “no” to working in the vineyard but later repented.  The second son said “yes” but did not go. Our preacher started in the right place. Staring at us she asked the question that led Jesus to share this parable. “By what authority do you preach?” She noted, it was a fair question by those appointed to authority themselves. Her ending drove home her point. When we speak God’s truth, the words contain their own authority, just like John the Baptist and Jesus! 

Summary: In learning to Preach Better, there are habits that help and habits to avoid. Building on the good habits makes us a stronger communicator of the Gospel. Avoiding bad habits, makes us a more interesting and effective preacher.