Personal Preaching!

I’ve been thinking about preaching today.  Not about actually doing it, you understand, as preaching isn’t something I usually do on a Saturday but about what goes into a sermon.

Thinking about preaching is actually something I do quite a lot of.  As a Probationer Presbyter in the Methodist Church I do a lot of preaching and write at least one new sermon every week.  This means I’m not only thinking about the last sermon I wrote but starting to think about the next one I will write too.

Actually ‘write’ is a loaded word; since not all the sermons that are preached use words.  Many people who know me will never hear the words I preach in church on a Sunday because, at the moment, they would never dream about setting foot inside a church.  The only ‘sermon’ they ever get from me and others whom they know to be Christians is the sermon of our lives, the way we live, the things we say, the way we treat other people. If you are a Christian, what is the ‘sermon’ of your life saying to others?

But there are the sermons that are prepared and sometimes written down and preached in churches all over the world.  There are some poor sermons, some average ones, some good ones and the occasional brilliant sermon.

What makes the difference?

Is it length?  Not especially.  I have been bored by a five minute homily and entranced by a sermon that lasted a good hour!

I think it’s actually the personal involvement of the preacher in his or her sermon.  A good sermon isn’t just a sound exposition of the Scriptures, made possible by use of good commentaries.  It isn’t even one that has lots of good, relevant, amusing or thought provoking illustrations.  A good sermon is, I think, one that comes from the heart, one that comes from the spiritual experience of the preacher; a message that is in one way intensely personal and that at the same time contains profound truths about God and about being a Christian disciple.  Preaching such a sermon will lead the preacher utterly exhausted because they have given a part of themselves in that sermon.

Of course there is more to a good sermon than this.  A good sermon is one that is inspired by God through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit; who also inspires the minds and hearts of those who hear the sermon.  A sermon without the Holy Spirit is just a speech!

Preaching from the heart and giving of oneself in a sermon is costly, but it is genuine honest preaching; it is preaching that has integrity and that reaches the hearts of others.  It is the kind of preaching I long to hear and it is the kind of preaching that, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, I hope I do.