The other day a friend objected to expository preaching because it meant the church would hear “too much Bible.”
That comment gave me considerable pause. The conversation moved on so I did not get to ask what he meant, but I suspect he was referring to sermons that are filled with exegetical details and word studies that have little relevance or interest for the average Christian.
Exegetical detail work and word studies are part of the foundational work for the sermon, but not part of the presentation. If that is what my friend meant, then I agree.
However, good expository preaching pulls alongside a passage of Scripture, invites the listener into the core of what the biblical author meant, and allows God through his Word to communicate to the human heart. Done well, expository preaching unlocks the power of God. Executed with excellence, expository preaching can be as contemporary and relevant as any popular attempt to touch today’s Christian.
That kind of preaching challenges our thinking, alters our habits, refines our spirit and draws us closer to God.
Can we have too much of that kind of Bible? No. We need more of Scripture that touches us in that way.
Great thoughts! Unfortunately, many Christians have been exposed to the kind of preaching that gives the text an appearance of irrelevance. At the mere announcement of the sermon’s text, people in the pew begin starring at their watches and listening for the only statement of hope in the sermon; “Stand and Sing”. As Harry Emerson Fosdick famously stated, “Only the preacher proceeds still upon the idea that folk come to church desperately anxious to discover what happened to the Jebusites”. This view has only been exacerbated by preachers who treat the text as a mere supplement to the latest Reader’s Digest story, or clever illustration in need of a verse so that it can be called a sermon. Though such stories and illustrations can be useful, they must not serve as the primary voice in the sermon. True preaching allows the voice of God contained in scripture to speak to the present world. True preaching “incarnates” the word so that the message of the text helps shape the way we see our world. Fleer and Bland give a good description, “While inviting hearers to share the world of Scripture, preachers also have responsibility to locate points of connection with contemporary culture to those hearers better understand their real needs and responsibilities” (Preaching from Luke/Acts, p. 34). The sermon must demonstrate that the voice of God remains relevant in 21st century. The only way to do so is for His voice to be heard.
I agree with your thoughts. Exegetical work is INTEGRal in getting to the point of the passage, but our jobs as ministers is to explain the Biblical truth in a relevant way. We find that sermons were different depending on each audience (Acts 17 vs. Acts 20). We must make scripture relevant. Let me rephrase that: we need to teach the relevance of scripture in our daily lives.
We settle for cheap, watered down, meaningless preaching (and teaching). Let us teach and proclaim the word of God in a relevant, meaningful way.