ROUGH DRAFT—NOT FOR CITATION
Preaching the Bible…and doing it Biblically:
“What did you think of that sermon?” As a professor of New Testament, I am often asked that question. It sometimes follows a chapel service at Colorado Christian University where I teach. At other times it follows a worship service at the local church where my family and I worship. Regardless of where I hear the question, I cringe. Sure, I’m a professor of Bible. Sure, I care about Biblical preaching. And, of course, I find some sermons more helpful than others. But I don’t attend worship services in order to serve as resident critic. Like all of the other believers gathered for worship, I attend worship services in order to worship! Therefore, I have no desire to assume the role of Roger Eberts and begin rating every sermon with a final thumbs up or thumbs down. So, when asked about my evaluation of any particular sermon, I explain what kind of sermons I like. I like sermons that preach the Bible and do so Biblically.
When I talk about preaching the Bible and doing so Biblically, I mean creating sermons that are not only faithful to the content of scripture, but sermons that are also faithful to the shape of scripture. I grew up in an environment where every sermon had a familiar shape. A typical sermon opened with an overview of the Biblical text, then offered an “exposition” of the text with three alliterated “points,” and finally closed with a moving personal story that led to an altar call. I thought that every “good” sermon could be outlined something like one of my own early sermons on the parable of the sower (Mark 4:1-20):
Introduction (Jesus’ story of the four types of soil)
Point 1: The Seed which Grows (the message of the Gospel)
Point 2: The Sower who Loves (the love of Christ)
Point 3: The Soil who Decides (the decision of the audience)
Conclusion (story of my conversion from “hard” to “good” soil)
Altar Call
Although I was faithfully preaching the content of the Biblical story, I now believe that I wasn’t preaching it Biblically. I was taking the marvelous story in this parable and transforming it into an essay. I was preaching the Bible, but I wasn’t preaching it Biblically.
I know hundreds, maybe thousands, of preachers and I don’t a single one who doesn’t strive to preach Biblically. When it comes to preaching, we in holiness circles have no lack of desire to preach Biblically. We all accept the authority of scripture and we all want to preach Biblically. Sometimes, however, we aren’t always sure exactly how to do that. In this article, I want to discuss three specific questions that I now ask about every Biblical text from which I am preparing to preach. I hope that asking these questions helps me to preach the Bible more Biblically.
First, I ask: “What kind of literature is this particular Biblical text?” Although the Bible is a single book, it contains many different kinds of literature. Biblical scholars call these different kinds of literature “literary forms,” and the scripture plays host to a myriad of literary forms. The Bible communicates to us through parables, blessings, commands, riddles, proverbs, hymns, stories, poetry, visions, speeches, allegories, prayers, rebukes, warnings, and admonitions—to name only a few. If I preach all of these forms in the “three points” fashion, I may be faithfully preaching the content of the Bible, but not be preaching that content Biblically. In order to truly preach Biblically, I must be faithful to the literary form of my particular Biblical text.
On the first day in many of my Bible classes, I walk around the room and hand the students random pieces of paper, including letters, bills, grocery receipts, wedding invitations, and quizzes. I then ask each student to tell the class what he or she was given. The students invariably begin by describing what kind of paper they were given. For example, one may say, “this is a memo that Dr. Phillips sent to a student” or “this is an obituary from the newspaper.” The students intuitively recognize what kind of literature they have before them and they invariably begin describing their literature by explaining the form of the literature they were given (e.g., a receipt, a letter or an invitation). When they look at a grocery receipt, they immediately recognize it and understand where it comes from and what it’s used for. And when they look at a wedding invitation, they immediately recognize it and understand how one is expected to respond to it. In other words, they immediately begin to interpret the function of a piece of literature in light of the form of that piece of literature. The point of the exercise is to help the students recognize that this same principle applies to Biblical literature, that is, the form of a Biblical text determines the function of a Biblical text.
Thus, the second question I ask about a sermon text is: “What is the function of this particular Biblical text?” If I really want to preach the Bible and preach it Biblically, I must reflect upon how specific Biblical texts functioned for their original audiences. I must ask the question: “How did a parable or a blessing or a proverb function for ancient people?” When we encounter the vast variety of literary forms within our own modern, highly-literate, culture, we tend to associate the various forms with their appropriate function intuitively and without any conscious reflection. Thus, we immediately understand the difference between a proverb about a snake (“don’t play with the rattle until you kill the snake”) and a scientific definition of a snake (“a snake is a legless reptile”). We intuitively recognize that the proverb teaches about the value of prudence and caution and has little to do with literal snake-handling, while the scientific definition describes a snake and, even when mastered, provides very little insight for how one ought to live.
If we are preach the Bible and to do so Biblically, we must understand how our particular text functioned in its ancient setting. We need to reflect upon how our blessing, or parable, or curse, or proverb, or confession functioned for its original audience. Many Biblical texts offer doctrinal or ethical instructions, but many others offer praise, encouragement, and warning. We need to think not just about what a text said to its readers, but also about what a text did for its readers.
Because the Church has insisted that the Bible cannot be frozen in the ancient world, but must also speak today, I ask a third question: “How can I make this Biblical text refunction for my community?” I strive to make the Biblical text refunction, that is, to make my sermon function in same manner for my congregation as it functioned for its original audience. If I take a Biblical blessing like “Blessed are the peacemakers” and preach a sermon which demands that people become peacemakers, I may have preached the content of the Biblical text, but I certainly haven’t preached that content Biblically. Rather, I have taken a blessing and made it function like a commandment. To preach an ancient blessing like a commandment would be the literary equivalent of reading your spouse’s grocery receipt like a shopping list. The information conveyed may be very similar, but the form is different—and the function is, therefore, very different.
My goal is to allow the ancient word to function in the same manner for my modern community as it did for the ancient community who first heard. I want to make a blessing bless, to make a proverb speak proverbial wisdom, and to make a warning warn. My goal is not to find three “points” to teach, but rather to create a sermon which will best enable the ancient words to function for my community as they did for the author’s community long ago and, in doing so, to allow the ancient words to serve as the new word of the Lord to a new community.
In both the ancient and the modern world, the form of literature determines its function. To truly preach Biblically, one must understand the form and function of the Biblical text from which the sermon is drawn. The hallmark of good preaching is that the form and function of the sermon are faithful to the form and function of the Biblical text so that the Biblical text can refunction within the contemporary community. In the remainder of this article, I want to discuss six of the forms found in scripture in order to illustrate how asking these three basic questions about the form and function of scripture can help us to preach more Biblically.
A Prayer (Phil. 1:9-11)
And I pray this: That your love may increase more and more in knowledge and all insight so that you may be able to understand what is worthy of being a priority, that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
What kind of literature is this text? It is a prayer.
How does this prayer function? Prayers are addressed to God and typically offer petitions to God in behalf of some person or persons. In this prayer, Paul makes two requests which are introduced by that. His first request is for the Philippians’ love to increase. For Paul, love is not primarily an emotion or a feeling, but rather love is a disposition of character that empowers proper decision-making. In this first petition, therefore, Paul is praying for the moral transformation of his congregation. Paul’s second request expresses his desire for the Philippians to be found pure and blameless in God’s sight. Paul reminds his readers that he is praying for the spiritual well-being of his congregation.
How do we refunction this prayer? If we want to preach this text Biblically, we need to preach in the mode of prayer. We shouldn’t call for the people to love another. In fact, if we want to refunction this text, we shouldn’t even speak directly to the congregation. Rather we should address God and allow our community to overhear our prayer as we, in following Paul’s example, lay out our spiritual vision for the community and plead with God that our community would be found “pure and blameless” at the time of Christ’s return. Rather than demanding moral transformation from our hearers, we should show them that we are praying for their moral transformation. After we have preached from this text, our congregation should leave the service thinking, “Wow, that pastor is my spiritual advocate. My pastor really is praying for me and my spiritual well-being.” This text calls for preaching in the mode of prayer.
A Parable (Luke 10:25-37)
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, testing him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do in order to inherit eternal life?” Then he said to him, “What has been written in the law? How do you read it?” But answering, he said, “You shall love the Lord your God out of your whole heart, and with your whole soul and with your whole strength and with your whole mind and your neighbor as yourself.” Then he said to him, “You answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” But because he wanted to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply, Jesus said, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of thieves, who stripped him and beat him and went away, leaving him half-dead. Then by coincidence, a certain priest came down the same way and when he saw him, passed by on the other side. And, likewise, a Levite was coming along the place and went by on the other side when he saw him. But a certain Samaritan was traveling and went down to him and had compassion on him when he saw him. When he came to him, he bandaged his wounds and poured oil and wine upon them. Then when he placed him upon his own donkey, he lead him to an inn and cared for him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Care for him and whatever you may spend, I will repay you upon my return.’ Which of these two does it appear to you became a neighbor to the one who fell into the hands of thieves?” Then he said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
What kind of literature is this text? It is a parable.
How does this parable function? This parable calls for action, as Jesus emphasizes with his closing admonition, “Go and do likewise.” What exactly does Jesus want the lawyer to do? He must go out and “become” a neighbor. Jesus has skillfully taken the lawyer’s question (“Who is my neighbor?”) and answered it in terms of “becoming” a neighbor. The lawyer was seeking to narrowly define who was—and more, importantly, who was not—his neighbor. The lawyer was willing to fulfill his obligations to his neighbor in order to inherit eternal life. He wanted eternal life and he was willing to pay the price for it, so he demanded that Jesus set clear limits on exactly what was expected from him. But Jesus didn’t think in terms of setting boundaries and limits. Instead, Jesus told the lawyer about a Samaritan who went beyond the barriers of social and religious restrictions and “became” a neighbor even to his enemy. Then Jesus required that the lawyer “go and do likewise.” That is, this text calls for the lawyer to go out and actively become a neighbor to anyone in need.
How do we refunction this parable? In order to refunction this parable, we must help our congregations to look beyond those whom they normally regard as neighbors and then challenge them to go and do like the Samaritan did. We must remind our communities that Christians are called to go out and become neighbors to those persons outside of their normal sphere of influence. In order to be true to the form of the parable, however, we should do by telling the story (or stories) of those who stand in need just on the other side of the road. As a community, this parable calls us to go out and become neighbors to the wounded persons around us, particularly those who are outcasts from our normal circle of friends and acquaintances.
Doctrinal Instructions (1 Thess. 4:13-18)
We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep in order that you may not grieve as the others who do not have hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then we also believe that God through Christ will bring with him those have fallen asleep.
For we say this to you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive who remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep, that the Lord himself will come down from heaven in the clouds, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then, we who are alive and remaining will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will ever be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words!
What kind of literature is this text? It is doctrinal instruction.
How does this doctrinal instruction function? Paul opens this passage with a disclosure formula (“we do not want you to ignorant”) which was a standard way for a teacher in the Greco-Roman world to introduce the content of his or her teaching. Paul followed this literary pattern and used this disclosure formula to introduce his Christian teaching about the dead in Christ. The content of Paul’s teaching is clear: The dead in Christ will not miss out on Christ’s second coming simply because they happened to have died before Christ’s return. These dead will be resurrected so that they enjoy heaven with those who are living. The function of Paul’s discussion is equally clear: Those who believe in the resurrection of Christ should take great comfort in the certainty of the resurrection that Christian dead will experience at the second coming of Christ.
How do we refunction this doctrinal instruction? We refunction this text by creating a sermon which comforts those whose loved ones have recently died. We proclaim the certainty of the resurrection which awaits the dead in Christ at the second coming and use this certainty to provide comfort to the mourning. Halleujah! Christ has arisen! His resurrection assures our resurrection, and, in this fact, we take comfort. If we preach this text as a warning (“Be ready for the second coming”), we have not refunctioned this doctrinal instruction, because Paul wrote this text to comfort believers, not to warn them.
Moral Exhortation (1 Peter 2:11-12)
I urge you, beloved, as aliens and exiles, to shun the desires of the flesh which war against the soul, conducting yourselves honorably among the gentiles so that, even though they malign you as evildoers, they may glorify God on the last day because of your good works.
What kind of literature is this text? It is moral exhortation.
How does this moral exhortation function? This text also opens with a disclosure formula that was familiar to Greco-Roman audiences, but with a different disclosure formula and a different purpose. Peter used a disclosure formula from the rhetoric of moral exhortation (“I urge you”), and thus he indicated to his audience that he wanted his readers to follow the moral imperative contained within these verses. Peter reminded his readers that they did not belong to this world (they were “aliens and exiles”), and he called upon his readers to live differently than the people of this world live. Peter urged them to live morally so that God would be glorified.
How do we refunction this moral exhortation? In order to be true to the form and function of this text, we must call for believers to recognize the dangers of cultural accommodation and to reject every form of compromise with conduct that does not glorify God—and for believers to do so in spite of the hostility engendered by such moral rectitude. This text calls for a decisive commitment to ethical living in light of our identity in Christ. If we refunction this text faithfully, our congregations will sense that they do not fit in with this world and will understand that they must not try to fit with this world.
A Rebuke (Gal. 3:1-6)
O foolish Galatians, you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was exhibited as crucified, who bewitched you? I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit from works of the law or from the believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Do you want to complete by the flesh what you began by the Spirit? Did you experience so much for nothing? If indeed, it was for nothing. Does He give the Spirit to you and work powerfully among you by works of the law or by believing what you heard? Thus, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
What kind of literature is this text? It is a rebuke.
How does this rebuke function? Paul rebuked the Galatians for the foolishness of what they believed. Paul was stunned by their failure to adhere to the basic truth of the gospel and he rebuked them in the strongest possible terms with the hope that they would turn from the error of their ways. The Galatians acknowledged that they had come to know the Lord by means of faith, but they had begun living as if their salvation depended upon their own efforts. To this misunderstanding, Paul asked a series of rhetorical questions: How did you receive the Spirit? By faith, of course. Would it make sense for you to abandon faith now and to maintain your spiritual life by works? Of course not! Paul is rebuking the Galatians for the mistaken belief that their salvation was contingent upon their good works. Instead, Paul reminds the Galatians that their salvation is and always will be contingent only upon faith! This rebuke functions as a call for a return to true faith.
How do we refunction this rebuke? If we are to refunction this text, we need to rebuke any reliance upon good works as a means of obtaining or maintaining God’s favor. Anyone in our audience who believes that his or her salvation is contingent upon his or her good works should feel foolish at the end of our sermon and should come to understand that his or her salvation is maintained solely by faith in Christ. This text calls for a return to the basic truth of Christian salvation, that salvation comes by faith alone, apart from good works!
A Genealogy (Luke 3:23-38)
And Jesus was about thirty years old, being the son—as was thought—of Joseph, son of Heli, son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Jannai, son of Joseph, son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai, son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of son o f Joda, son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri, son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er, son of Joshua, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Simeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim, son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David, son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Sala, son of Nahson, son of Amminadab, son of Admin, son of Arni, son of Hezron, son of Perez, son of Judah, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor, son of Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah, son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech, son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, son of Cainan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.
What kind of literature is this text? It is a genealogy.
How does this genealogy function? Genealogies have one basic function. They show how people are related to one another. Notice that this genealogy begins with Jesus and traces his lineage back to Adam (and eventually back to God). Since all humans are descended from Adam, this genealogy, therefore, functions to show how Jesus is “linked” to all of humanity. Because all persons are sons and daughters of Adam, all persons share equally in the benefits of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. This genealogy demonstrates how Christ relates to every individual within the entire human race.
How do we refunction this genealogy? We refunction this genealogy by preaching about the inclusive nature of God’s grace. We proclaim that God, in Christ, has reached out to the entire human race and included everyone in the sphere of salvation. If we refunction this text properly, the members of our community will sense a great reaffirmation that they are valued by God and that God has included them in His plan of salvation. This text calls for us to recognize that you, I, and everyone else is equally included in the power of the gospel.
Starting my sermon preparation with these three questions has made sermon creation much easier. I no longer spent several hours trying to figure out how I want to approach a particular text. As soon as I begin my sermon preparation, I immediately answer these three questions: What form? What function? How to refunction? And, as a result, my study and preparation is more focused and productive. Preaching the Bible and preaching it Biblically, and finding it easier. You can’t beat that!