What makes good preaching?

I’ve been listening to a lot of sermons recently, among them has been Tim Keller, Malcolm Guite, Martyn Lloyd Jones and David Johnston (the latter was preaching on Revelation IRL).

Admittedly, I am the choir to whom they were preaching and not everyone will approve or appreciate their ministries. But it’s caused me to reflect on some of the key components of preaching that appeal to me.

The cure of souls

I have listened to many ‘how to’ sermons over the years. I’ve heard historical surveys, prophetic denunciations and the odd ethical reprimand; and I’ve preached too many of these myself. But recently I’ve been reminded that, for me, the most powerful and helpful preaching has been that which deals with the cure of souls. My favourite preachers and authors all spoke directly to the human condition. They engaged with the tension between the old and new self, the vestiges of sin, the condemnation and anxiety experienced (perhaps especially by believers). They applied the Gospel to the inner-self. Not because the external or ethical self is unimportant but because the inner is the primary source of our problems. I wonder if in the haste to seem contemporary or relevant we have ignored the timeless struggle of the inner sinner in favour of encouraging better behaviour.

The law as love

I’m sure that I’m not alone in struggling with the law. Not just in the Romans 7 sense. I struggle to work out how to preach about it. It’s not just the Torah, it’s the ethics of the wisdom literature and the even stricter interpretations by Jesus in the New Testament.

One option is to ignore the law and other difficult Scriptures. Another is to rebuild the law and encourage believers to fall again under its damnation. But preaching which engages with the beauty of the law and its revelation of God’s character while maintaining the Christian’s freedom from condemnation, is more helpful to this sinner. Recently, I listened to Keller explain that the law reveals the life of Jesus which was welcome revelation to me.

Secondly, I find preaching helpful that reveals how the law instructs our discipleship; how to love and follow Jesus. We are no longer under the condemnation of the law, but if the law and biblical ethics reveal the character of Jesus they teach us how to follow him. In this way the law and wisdom books instruct our worship and adoration of Jesus.

Lastly, I recently listened to a sermon which reminded the hearers of the need to hear the bad news of the Gospel. I admire preaching which handles the law and other biblical ethical teaching so that the sinful structures and idols of both contemporary society and our individual hearts are revealed. Keller’s perspective on idolatry and the commandments is a good example.

The glory of Jesus

The most important thing I’ve learnt about preaching has also been a recent discovery. For years I’ve followed a relatively strict structure of ‘witty’ introduction, the meaning of the text in context and then a contemporary application. It was David Johnston in his sermons on Revelation who reminded us, sometimes it’s enough to simply glorify Jesus.
This helped me to define what I love about Keller’s preaching. I would argue that for him, the application of the text is the glorification of Jesus. Of course he engages with the contemporary application, usually from the outset of his sermons. But rather than the crescendo of his presentation of the Gospel being ‘how should we then live?’ his sermons climax in the glory of Jesus Christ. To me this is the logical outcome of applying the Gospel as the primary hermeneutic of biblical exegesis and preaching.

Preaching and Teaching in the ‘Brave New Church’

Recently, I posted a short video on Instagram about the place of preaching in church today. It came out of my own context rather than being a global statement about preaching. From a brief online survey, it appears that preaching is alive and well in many places.

However my own, more local, impression is that preaching and bible teaching receive little functional priority in approaches to the renewal of the Church. The Church of Scotland, along with some other older denominations, has experienced significant and well documented decline. The response has been serious rationalising of resources accompanied by a renewed focus on mission. There has been a marked shift, at least in rhetoric, to promote fresh expressions, new forms of church and church planting.

Such a focus on mission is welcome. However, it has made me wonder whether the shift to church restructuring assumes that we have already perfected some of the older facets of church. From a Reformed perspective, the church gathers around the Bible and its ‘exposition’. However, I would suggest that training for preaching and teaching was one of the weaker parts of my training for ministry. And while Scripture featured heavily in my university training, it was mainly considered from a deconstructive perspective, speculating what was behind the text. There was comparatively little consideration of the Bible as the living text at the heart of the contemporary Christian community. So, at the point of ordination, I certainly didn’t feel that I had ‘nailed’ the basics of preaching. However, perhaps training has improved in the last couple of decades.

After, fifteen plus years ‘in the pulpit’, I still haven’t ‘nailed’ preaching. Sometimes, I still wonder what it’s for, where it meets ‘teaching’ and how it might be improved. And I also wonder whether my colleagues have cracked it? One of the problems of regular routine preaching, is that you seldom ‘sit under’ someone else’s preaching. It’s possible, therefore, that I am alone in my existential preaching crisis and confusion.

I am relatively flexible about definitions and styles of preaching, partly because I am still to discover a definitive description. And, I wonder whether preaching extends far beyond its common conflation with Sunday Bible teaching. But leaving that aside, might I put in a request for a renewed commitment to the very best sharing of Jesus Christ and teaching of Scripture with all the fervour and drive that the church promotes restructuring and new forms of church.

A return to basics

A few years ago, I deleted everything that I’d posted previously. I had become tired of writing online and dealing with the mild anxiety fuelled by thinking aloud. I also embarked on postgraduate studies which soon absorbed any compulsion to write.

I began this blog by talking about preaching. However, I soon became distracted by Presbytery planning, which admittedly distracted and continues to consume the entire Church of Scotland. In relation to Presbytery Planning, some of the angst and fallout, that I anticipated, appears to have been realised. But writing about such things didn’t provide solace or encouragement. Instead, it became a ‘slough of despond’.

Over the last couple of years I have continued to wonder, what preaching is, what church is, and where the Church of Scotland is heading. Meantime, considerable effort has gone into turning around the fortunes of the Kirk. Among calls for congregational mergers, missional programmes and investment in all that is new, I still wonder where preaching features in our future and whether there is scope for renewal here too?