Emmaus Church Distinctives: Philosophy of Preaching

[Editorial Preface: This talk was given on January 12, 2020 at a church planting vision meeting for Emmaus Church, White Bear Lake. Since I shared this talk, I have already made minor alterations—thanks to helpful feedback. I expect more alterations to come as I refine my philosophy of preaching. If you have questions about this talk or Emmaus Church, please send them to me at Tom.Boyer@Bethlehem.Church]

Preface

In prior months, we have discussed some of our theological visions and values. In September, we discussed our vision for corporate worship and liturgy. In October, we talked about our vision for families and corporate worship.  Tonight, we are going to do something similar. We are going to talk about our vision for preaching. I would say that this vision is, at least generally speaking, shared by the plant’s leadership. But, more so than the previous discussion, this is also a bit more personal by nature, because I will be the primary preacher. Nonetheless, Tom Hipkins and I thought that it would be important that you hear about the vision and general thoughts concerning preaching. Some of this talk will be more philosophical undergirding—deep rooted beliefs about preaching. But I believe that all of this will affect the plant in some way. With that, I invite you to listen, and we’ll have some time for Q&A afterward.

I want to preface this talk with a few bullet-point thoughts:

●      I have preached approximately 20 sermons in my life, spread across the last 7 years. I actually counted the books I have read dedicated to the topic of preaching, and I realized that the number of books that I have read on preaching is actually pretty close to the number of sermons that I have preached! That’s not a sustainable ratio.  What does that tell us?

●      I am not a preaching expert. I believe that I am a moderate preacher, and I am eager to grow in the gift of preaching. But I say up front, you shouldn’t come to this church plant because you anticipate the preaching being world class. Don’t hear that wrongly, I desire to pour myself into sermon preparation, I desire to preach great sermons for the sake of God’s name and the sake of his people. But I am saying, let’s be sober and realistic here. I am neither an expert nor a master of preaching.

●      I am not unaware, but I am not fully exposed. What do I mean by that? I have a good working idea of what preaching is, and a good working idea of how I desire to preach. But, being in the pulpit regularly will surely expose me to new realities, new short-comings, and hopefully to new gifts. And I am sure that some of these thoughts are going to change over the course of the next decade. These are real convictions, but I expect experience to shape the convictions in a new way as time passes.

●      I also want to point out that my philosophy of preaching will not necessarily be discernible in my sermons. Why is that?

●      My sermons will probably feel more-or-less normal. Many of my thoughts will dictate my decisions, but in reality, if you aren’t paying close attention, it won’t be all that easily discernible.

●      My ability to preach is not as mature as my thoughts on preaching. In other words, I might think one way of doing things is the best, but if I do not have the skill to do it, then I will likely have to go another route. For example, I believe stories have a unique ability to capture the heart. But, if I don’t have an applicable story, then I may not be able to ascend to that desired goal of story-telling for edification.

●      Most experts say the average time it takes to master something is 10,000 hours, or somewhere between 6–10 years, depending on how often you do that specific task. So I take that to mean things are only looking up from here, but there may be some growing pains along the way.

Preaching Propositions

I now want to expand upon a few general propositions that shape my philosophy of preaching.

I.  Preaching is Primarily about God not the Preacher

This proposition seems fairly clear, so I won’t expand upon this too much. Preachers should strive to be faithful and articulate. But they preach for the sake of God’s people—not their own. Preachers preach to display God’s goodness and glory—not their own. Further, they preach from God’s Word—not their own wisdom.

Preachers are uniquely under the lordship of God. Historically, preachers would wear collars to mark their submission to God. The collar showed that the preacher was God’s slave. The preacher does not speak or act on his own authority but under the authority of his master.

II. Sermons Should Generally Be Expositional

The idea here is that sermons generally come directly from a biblical passage. Ideally, the sermon series is from a book of the Bible. You preach passages from a book in a literary order. This is more-or-less what Bethlehem (our sending church) does. So this is nothing new for most of us.

Topical sermons and unique sermons that follow the church calendar—I’m specifically thinking of Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter—are also appropriate. But the general diet should be expositional preaching.

The initial plan for the church plant is to begin in the Gospel of Matthew for the first year. After that, we’ll shift to an Old Testament book. We’ll aim to balance Old and New Testament sermon series.

III. Sermons Should Be Gospel-Centered but Not Gospel-Bland

By that, I mean that preaching entails proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. But the gospel is holistic and universe-consuming! So I don’t mean that we always tack on a quick word about Jesus dying on the cross for your sins. That is an absolutely true and necessary reality—without the atonement we have no hope!—but the gospel focuses on Jesus reconciling all things to himself. That process is massive and deeply layered. The gospel is big, so being gospel-centered means we are focused on Christ’s redemptive work. But that doesn’t mean that we emphasize the same thing every week. We don’t see that done anywhere in Scripture, we see gospel breadth. And I believe we should follow that model.

A quick note: Piper actually disagrees on this topic. Piper liked preaching “big God” sermons, and he wasn’t as concerned with always being “gospel-centered.” His criticism is that a “gospel-centered” sermon becomes redundant and bland. Based on modern evangelical preaching, I actually think he’s right. Based on my first 10 sermons, I know he’s right! However, I think there is a way to be gospel-balanced without being bland and redundant.

I also think there is a way to be gospel-centered while also preaching warning passages. There are times in the Scriptures, where the apostles sternly warn their people not to sin. I believe preachers should let those warning passages keep their flavor. The gospel should not dull these warning passages. So there is a balance here, we aim to preach gospel-centered sermons that match the flavor and force of the biblical text itself.

Here’s how Tim Keller explains a gospel mindset verse the mindset of works based religion:

I obey therefore I am accepted (religion) vs. I’m accepted therefore I obey (gospel)

I obey God to get good things (religion) vs. I already have good things, I obey to get God (gospel)

Our natural inclination is religion (in the negative sense), not gospel. So we must teach with a gospel push and gospel reminders each week.

IV. The Sermon is only a Piece of the Service

We discussed this a bit in September, when we talked about liturgy and the corporate worship service. My main concern here is that in modern evangelical circles, we underemphasize every other part of the service, and we make the sermon “the things.” If the sermon is good, then the service was good. If the sermon was bad, then the service was bad. We evaluate everything based on the sermon, and we plan everything based on the sermon. I think that’s problematic.

That doesn’t mean the sermon is unimportant. I see the sermon and the Lord’s Supper as the dual pillars of each service. The sermon will also likely be the longest element of a service each week. So don’t hear me as saying that the sermon is unimportant, but I just want us to think of the sermon as piece of a whole. The entire service should work together to shape our hearts.

V. Sermons Should Aim for the Heart

Here I am using the biblical type understanding of heart. I am not talking about pure emotions, which we often think about when we use the word “heart.” “What is your heart telling you to do?” Bad question. No, biblically speaking, the heart is the deepest most inner part of your being and desires. Tim Keller talks about the heart as focused on the mind, will, and emotions all simultaneously.

An OT scholar, Tremper Longman, says, ‘the heart is connected to your motives’—what really motivates you? What really gives you meaning? What is your hope? The answer to those questions reveals your heart disposition.

“As preachers we go after that motivational structure and try to adjust it.” -Keller

So my goal is to aim to change the heart—not just the head. 2 Peter 1:8–9 gives us a helpful picture of knowing without knowing. There is a part of our inner-self that needs to know. We need to know both logically and internally. By God’s help, I will aim to change not just the thoughts of people, but I will aim to shape their hearts.

VI. Sermons Should Balance Imagination and Logic

C.S. Lewis and Jonathan Edwards as beautiful examples of this. They are both deeply logical, deeply figurative, and deeply understandable. Lewis’s essays are clean and crisp logical treatises, and his works of fiction often encapsulate those ideas in narrative form.

Story shapes us. Our imagination matters. But we don’t do that in the absence of knowledge, and logic helps us often move through the craters of Scriptures.

I aim to preach with a balance that fulfills Augustine’s wishes.

Augustine:

Probare- instruct and prove

Delectare- rivet and delight

Flectere- stir and move people to action

I believe when all three elements are in play, then imagination and logic are function in beautiful unison.

VII. Sermons Should Be Simple Yet Deep

This wording comes from a friend, Tim Cain, who pastors in the San Diego area. Tim serves many homeless people, and that population shapes how he thinks about preaching. Here’s his basic articulation of the idea: “Sermons should be simple enough for the homeless man in the pew, and deep enough that I am moved during sermon prep.” That is a beautiful and lofty goal!

Calvin said something similar, “eloquence is not at all at variance with the simplicity of the gospel, when it does not disdain to give way to it, and be in subjection to it, but also yields service to it, as a handmaid to her mistress.” Eloquence and simplicity can play together!

Keller says something similar—evangelistic preaching involves understandable preaching, but not watered down preaching. Sadly, I think many churches today have missed this.

VIII. Preachers Should Preach for Immediate and Long-Term Change

Pastors should be bold enough in prayer to anticipate real change today, but generally speaking, it is the healthy dose of faithful preaching that shapes people. Preachers should have both elements in mind during their preparation and while they preach. We never know how God is going to shape his people through the preaching of his Word.

With that said, I do also believe that all preaching should be aimed at preparing us for death. Hence, there is always a long-term concern associated with preaching. Preachers who are only concerned about immediate change, may be short circuiting long-term discipleship.

IX. Preachers Must Be Willing to Offend, but They Should Offend Equally

We live in a very polarized age. That is sadly very apparent! I don’t desire to be polarizing, but I also don’t want to be straight-jacketed into saying nothing meaningful. If a preacher preaches out of fear, then I worry they may never speak into real issues at hand. And I believe that God’s Word speaks into real life issues. Thus, I believe preachers must have a backbone. Preachers should not seek to offend, but they must be willing to speak truth, and sometimes the truth is offensive.

With that said, preachers should be careful to not have a specific hobby horse. It is not helpful or healthy to pummel one issue week after week.

X. Sermons Should Make Biblical Knowledge Live

Preachers must let the biblical text keep its earthiness and its distinct flavor, but they should aim to give it life to the modern ear! Jonathan Edwards stated that the goal of sermons is not to make the truth clear to the people, but to make it real to them. Obviously, making truth real also involves making truth understandable! But Edwards’s insight is helpful! If the entire purpose of preaching is simply to pass along information, then preaching is no different than lecturing. I believe that, biblical speaking, preaching involves a unique element of proclamation. The goal of the preaching is to make the text live in the heart and mind of the audience, resulting in a response from the audience.

XI. Preachers Must Rely on the Holy Spirit

Preachers can try to preach through their own power. Sadly, I confess that I have before. It’s a natural human inclination to think, “I’ve got this.” But such preaching is folly! The Holy Spirit enlivens hearts to hear and respond to the Word of God. Likewise, the Holy Spirit gives the preacher the eyes and mind to see the riches of the biblical text and then the power to rightly and powerfully proclaim those riches. Preachers should possess a sincere confidence in their calling and enabling from God. But they should simultaneously remember their neediness. Preachers must reply on the Holy Spirit!

XII. Sermons Should Be Christ-Centered

Two passages immediately come to mind: “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me” (John 5:46), and “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). What do those passages tell us? They tell us that the Old Testament was about Jesus! The New Testament, likewise, is about Jesus—his life, death, resurrection, and the implications for the church. If the Bible that we are preaching from is centered around the person and work of Jesus Christ, then the sermons we preach from must also be centered around the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Preachers must preach about Jesus Christ, because he is the creator and redeemer of all things. He is the hope of the world—there is no other savior! If preachers are not pointing people to Jesus then where are they pointing them to? Sermons should point to Christ, because in Christ rests all hope for atonement, resurrection, victory, rest, peace, joy, flourishing, and paradise.