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Article by Rev.Dr.I.J.W.Oakley first published in Irish
Baptist magazine, Feb 1987
“But as any good businessman will assure you, if you
have a fine stock of approved material, tasteful window-dressing will do it no
harm. Generally, in considering preachers of similar training and ability I find
little difference in the material of their sermons: but there is a great gulf
fixed between their methods of treatment and the play of their personality. How
often have you heard of speakers with excellent matter, whose effectiveness has
been lessened if not spoiled, by an irritating lack of any sort of presentation,
or by offensive mannerisms, or by stilted and gawky ways?”
So James Black warns the preacher that all the sound doctrine and careful preparation in the world will be of little use if on the day when the sermon has to be preached, he cannot communicate satisfactorily with his congregation. In looking at the various aspects of this subject it will be necessary to underline some points already mentioned under other topics and see how they work out in practical detail when the minister is in action in the pulpit.
There can be no question that the attitude shown by the
preacher and the impression which he makes on the congregation will enormously
influence their response to him and his message. The way in which worship is
conducted and the sermon is preached will be either an encumbrance or a
spiritual help. Unless the congregation are convinced that the preacher himself
is thoroughly committed to God, is sincere in what he says and obviously anxious
to be of help to them, his words will fall on deaf ears.
No man can preach the evangel of
redeeming love with the cold remoteness of a machine. The preacher will be a
prophet and not just a talker and it will never be said of his words that they
are only words but lack spirit and life. J.H.Jowett once suggested that every
preacher ought to add to his private devotional liturgy this extra intercession:
“From all cold officialism of mind and heart; from the deadliness of custom
and routine; from worldliness in which there is no spirit, and from ministry in
which there is no life; from all formality, unreality and pretence, good Lord
deliver us!”
So the preacher ought to conduct himself in a dignified
and reverent manner, ensuring that there is nothing in his bearing, personal
appearance, speech or dress, which will detract in any way from the glorious
task in which he is engaged. He will join heartily with the congregation in
singing the hymns – and not just mentally call the roll as he scans the people
in front of him! As he leads the congregation in prayer, he himself will be
praying. When he preaches the sermon he will be a live man, real and glowing,
and awake to the urgency of the issues with which he is dealing. He will handle
the Word of God with a sense of wonder, passionately convinced of its power and
marvelling at his immense privilege of proclaiming to men the greatest news in
the world. He will be a man who has a real enthusiasm for God and is therefore
characterized by a single-minded devotion. This will enable him to reject
ruthlessly the ever-present temptation to self-importance and self-display in
the pulpit.
If he renounces starchy and
ostentatious formality, he will equally renounce casual informality and slapdash
flippancy. They are not a proof of sincerity – but only of bad taste. No man
should behave in the pulpit “as if not only God but also all decent people
were absent too”. But on the other hand he ought not to be lugubrious and
dull, but radiant with the joy which he himself found and which he longs to
share with everyone else.
At one and the same time the
preacher needs to forget himself and yet be himself. Endeavouring to be
perfectly natural he will consecrate his individuality and his gifts to the
service of God. If only preachers would believe that God knew what he was doing
when he made them and accept themselves, at the same time recognizing that God
has allotted to each a unique role in his purposes and the work of the kingdom.
These considerations would deliver them from their two besetting weaknesses,
slavishly imitating those whom they idolize, and being jealous of those they
imagine are more gifted or “successful” than they are.
Undoubtedly there is a place for
humour in the sermon, as our Lord’s own teaching shows, when the occasion
requires it. At the same time it needs to be handled with care as it can cruelly
wound a sensitive spirit. Furthermore, when it gets out of hand and the
retailing of jokes enters in, a service of divine worship can quickly be reduced
to the level of a music hall entertainment. If the first reaction of people when
a preacher’s name crops up in conversation is “he’s a great comedian”,
that man, as a minister of the Gospel, has a very unenviable reputation indeed.
When the love of God has been
shed abroad in a man’s heart it will be soon apparent in his demeanour and his
approach to his people. His sympathy and concern will cause men to say “that
man cares for me” and they will want to hear more. He will never preach with
academic aloofness or a “take it or leave it” attitude. His words will be
marked by love as well as by logic, and he will persuade as well as proclaim.
Preaching for results and always seeking a verdict from men, the tender wooing
note will often be on his lips. Like the Master he will be filled with
compassion and he will endeavour to get near to men and plead with them. This
will mean that he will not despise the genuine note of feeling or try to exclude
emotion from his preaching. As the German philosopher Hegel once said “
Nothing great is ever accomplished in this world without passion.” This,
however, is a very different thing from the reprehensible practice of
deliberately whipping up emotion for its own sake in order to pressurize a
congregation.
No preacher who is concerned for
men will despise his congregation or in his position, “six feet above
contradiction”, hold them up to ridicule or make them the butt of his sarcasm.
He will respect his hearers and never underrate them in any way. They may not
all be great theologians but they have learned from life – perhaps more than
the preacher has – if not from books. Furthermore, they are experts in many
fields of which the minister himself is totally ignorant. When he denounces sin
he will ensure that frankness does not rule out tenderness. The task will never
be done with superior detachment but it will hurt and be seen to hurt. Knowing
his own heart and his many failures, he will identify himself with his people
and not exclude himself from the condemnation. When preaching it is so easy to
wound but never to heal and the old Quaker dictum is always worth remembering
“They have a right to censure that have a heart to help!”
Perhaps the best way to summarize the proper attitude which should mark the preacher in the pulpit is found in the tribute paid by the sceptic David Hume to the Scottish preacher John Brown, “That’s the man for me, he means what he says; he speaks as if Jesus Christ were at his elbow.”
It is said that Napoleon gave three commands to his
messengers and they need to be remembered just as carefully by preachers today
– “Be clear! Be clear! Be clear!” A similar point was made by Matthew
Arnold – “Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is
the only secret of style.” This advice is particularly urgent because the
preacher is addressing listeners and not readers. The reader can go back and
read a page over again several times. He can also consult a dictionary or
reference book if the meaning is not immediately clear. But if the hearer does
not grasp the meaning of a statement when it is spoken, it is lost forever. And
if that statement is crucial to the whole argument, the rest of the sermon will
have very little meaning for him.
Clarity in preaching depends on
two essentials – clear thinking on the part of the preacher, and the careful
choice and arrangement of his words. Through radio and television, members of
congregations have become accustomed to listening to expert communicators and
they are correspondingly more exacting nowadays in their demands of those who
preach to them on Sundays. If, therefore, the minister is to display an equal
competence in preaching the Word he will need to develop all his skills as he
adapts himself to different kinds of audiences and addresses them in terms
suitable to their conditions and outlook. As George Herbert put it in describing
the ideal preacher, “When he preacheth he procures attention by all possible
art.”
A recent newspaper article
accounted for the outstanding ability of Aneurin Bevan as a public speaker by
saying that he delighted in words, he used them with great skill and
discernment, and he had a respect for their exact meaning. If that can be said
of a politician, how much more ought it to be true of the preacher. A meticulous
choice of words will put life, colour, beauty and warmth into a sermon and will
help enormously in conveying its message in a striking way, while commonplace
matter, hackneyed expressions, and insipid phrases delivered in dreary monotones
will serve only to rock the cradle. Without being slick and sensational,
preachers ought to use language which is compelling and sparkling, which arrests
the hearer and which is easily remembered. Let the earthen vessel become as
worthy as possible of the treasure which it contains.
A new, unexpected and vivid way
of presenting familiar truths will awaken interest, and grip the attention.
Tired congregations need to be mentally enlivened as well as spiritually
quickened. Among many examples of this facility the following may be noted:-
“The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too
strong to be broken” (Moody); Having a creed without faith “is like hugging
a time table without making a journey” (Jowett); “Salvation is all of grace;
self righteousness has not a corner to hide its head in” (Spurgeon); “God
can do more with my sin than forgive it” (Sangster); “What we weave in time,
we wear in eternity”, “Sin forsaken is one of the best evidences of sin
forgiven”, and “One thief was saved that none should despair and only one
that none should presume” (J.C.Ryle). As John Wood aptly says, “The vivid
phrase or word can often do more in a few seconds than the most elaborate thesis
can accomplish in many long laborious hours.”
The otherwise good content of so
many sermons is frequently spoilt by sweeping statements, pious clichés,
unjustifiable exaggeration, a selective use of the evidence, and the ambiguous
and imprecise use of words. Among examples of the last may be cited the use of
“all” where “some “ is meant, the use of words like “literally” and
“incredibly” without due regard to their precise meaning, overworked words
like “nice”, “very” and “great” and unnecessary repetition as in
“voluntarily offered” and “returned back”. The constant perusal of a
dictionary and the study of good literature would help to enlarge a man’s
vocabulary and give a correctness and precision in his employment of words. This
in turn would give a sharpness and strength to what is preached. A careless use
of words blunts the edge of speech and fails to make the necessary impact on the
minds of the hearers. Royal thoughts ought to wear royal robes. At this point a
plea needs to be made for the use of good grammar. Howlers in this area – and
university graduates are guilty here as much as anyone else – can lead to two
results. In some cases listeners will remember the ungrammatical expressions and
later rehearse them in jest when they ought to be remembering what has been
preached. Other people – especially older members of the congregation who
often had a better grounding in grammar than the present generation – give up
in despair. Sometimes they have even been heard to say “I just could not stand
that week after week.” And who could blame them? Correct grammar is a matter
of habit and not something imported for a special occasion. When it is practiced
in private conversation it will be reproduced in the pulpit. Preachers often
starting from slender beginnings and struggling valiantly to improve themselves
in this matter, deserve all the help and encouragement which they can get. But
it is difficult to have any respect for and patience with those who just laugh
at their ignorance, or, worse still, publicly boast about it. “A king should
not ride in a dust cart: the glorious doctrines of grace should not be slovenly
delivered. Right royal truths should ride in a chariot of gold” (Spurgeon).
While the uncouth language of
some eccentrics has not in fact hindered their ministry, most of us who are
ordinary mortals, would be well advised to steer clear of the attitude of men
like Peter Mackenzie. When he was urged by one church officer to “clothe”
his words, he is alleged to have replied “Clothe me words indeed! Why bless
you, Man, they’re out before I can clap a shirt on ‘em!”
In choosing words which will be
most meaningful to the average congregation, it is wise to select simple Anglo
Saxon words rather than those of Latin origin. “Happiness” is to be
preferred to “felicity”, “forbidden” to “proscribed”, “call out”
to “evoke”, “afterwards” to “subsequently”. It has been said that
the language of preaching should be “the language of the market place and the
home raised to its highest power”. Quoting our Lord’s words “Feed my
sheep” Spurgeon complained that some preachers seem to have read the text as
“Feed my giraffes” because they put the food so high that the sheep could
not reach it. The same preacher also pointed out that a good test of simplicity
is the reaction of children, - “I shall feel I am very faulty in my style if
children cannot understand much that I teach in the congregation.”
It is also very helpful to a
congregation if the preacher expresses his ideas in sentences which are short,
simple and easy to follow. Sentences which are cluttered up with redundant
phrases, intricate subordinate clauses and involved parentheses can quickly
bewilder the listener and discourage him from following the preacher’s line of
thought any further.
Another commendable practice which experienced speakers use to make their ideas clear and unambiguous is that of restatement. This is especially valuable if the preacher is introducing an entirely new idea or is developing a closely reasoned argument. Restatement is to be distinguished from repetition, for whereas in the latter the same thing is expressed in the same words, in restatement the same idea is expressed in different words. When a point is emphasized several times in different ways enabling the truth to be seen from different angles, its meaning will obviously become far more clear than when it is stated once only. This practice is constantly used by the Biblical writers, as the parallelism of Hebrew poetry makes clear. For example,
“To
you O Lord I lift up my soul;
in
you I trust, O my God.
Do
not let me be put to shame
nor
let my enemies triumph over me”
(Psalm
25:1-2)
It is evident that much time and
effort are required from those who would master the skills of effective
communication. But for the sake of the message and the needs of the hearers, no
conscientious preacher will try to escape this challenge. Constant practice and
the wise use of the odd five minutes during the course of the day will bring
their own reward in the end.
It might be of interest and
encouragement to give just one illustration of such conscientious endeavour. One
Glasgow preacher of earlier days, who ultimately became a master of the pulpit,
knew that he had considerable early problems and difficulties to overcome. So in
order to train himself in the command of words he chose each morning one
sentence from a book and during the course of shaving, sought to recast it in
five or six different forms without altering the meaning. This may seem a
trivial example but it at least shows the length to which men in the past have
gone in order to be the best they can be. And for the cause of the Gospel and
its effective proclamation, why cannot their successors do the same?
The best sermon material in the world will be of little
value if the preacher’s delivery is weak and unimpressive. It is essential
therefore that the preacher speaks naturally and easily, pronounces his words
clearly, and takes care not to drop his voice at the end of a sentence. The old
adage decrees, “Take care of the consonants and the vowels will take care of
themselves!”
In endeavouring to speak so as
to be heard it is worth remembering that it is not sheer volume which is
required so much as good articulation. The Lord may not be in the wind and
thunder as often as we suppose, and whoever we are, we all would do well to
remember from time to time that “Nonsense does not improve by being
bellowed”! The preacher’s aim should be to reach people in every part of the
church, but not those who live in the next street. Perspiration is not to be
confused with inspiration. Emphasis can often be made by slowing down and using
low tones, rather than high, as the most important points are being made.
Human nature craves for variety and the preacher needs to vary the force, pitch and speed of his voice. To a large extent this variety will be determined by the personality of the preacher, the character of the discourse and the particular emphasis which it is designed to make. But at all times it is worth remembering that a sermon is not an intimate chat but the proclamation of a message from the king. Understandably most people find it difficult to resist the soporific effect of a monotonous drone. A preacher with this style:
“Leaves his hearers perplex’d
Twixt the two to
determine,
‘Watch
and pray’ says the text
‘Go
to sleep’ says the sermon”
It is a useful exercise to go through the sermon
beforehand to ensure that each word can be pronounced correctly and to decide on
which words the stress ought to fall. Normally this will be on the important
nouns and verbs together with certain key pronouns. Over-emphasis is
counter-productive and as profitless as underlining every second word in a set
of lecture notes. Stress can often be made by deliberately speaking slowly and
by pausing, while silence can be a valuable means of securing the concentration
of an inattentive audience.
There is one abomination in
speech which ought to be avoided at all costs. It is curious how some men use a
pleasant speaking voice in ordinary conversation but they adopt this monstrosity
as soon as they mount the pulpit steps. This is the unnatural parsonic voice
with its affectations, holy tones and clerical cadences. Spurgeon tells the
story that “when a reverend gentleman was once blowing off steam in this way,
a man in the aisle said he thought the preacher ‘had swallowed a dumpling’
but another whispered ‘No, Jack, he ain’t swaller’d un; he’s got un in
his mouth a-wobblin!’”
Some preachers seem ashamed of
the accent of their native county. But as long as a man speaks clearly and
without any grammatical irregularities, why should he not keep his accent? Those
who attempt to change to what they feel is an acceptable and more polished
accent, but do not quite make it, end up by making themselves look ridiculous,
and are an embarrassment to their hearers.
But in concluding this topic it ought to be said that the blame for drowsiness among congregations and a failure to hear the message ought not always to be laid at the preacher’s door. Church officers and members have their responsibilities too. It has been well argued that next to the grace of God, a church needs oxygen. If only the windows were opened “a gust of fresh air throughout the building might be to the people the next best thing to the Gospel itself; at least it would put them in a fit frame of mind to receive the truth!” Furthermore it is quite unfair to the preacher when people who are hard of hearing sit at the back of the church and then unreasonably complain that they cannot hear what is being said.
Gesture is an individual matter and should be a kind of natural emphasis illustrating the feelings and convictions of the preacher. But on the whole it deserves to be used with restraint and kept for the appropriate moment.
If, on the one hand, he ought to
avoid the immobility of a graven image, the preacher should not, on the other
hand, use his arms and hands like the sails of a windmill. Gestures which are
irritating – like “washing one’s hands with invisible soap in
imperceptible water” – should of course be eliminated at once. Furthermore,
it is vital that a gesture is suitable for the subject under discussion. It is
hardly fitting to speak of the love of God with a clenched fist!
Under this head it might be helpful to emphasize the importance of the preacher looking at his hearers face to face. There is a sense in which we talk with our eyes, and when preachers look up at the ceiling, out of the window or down at the floor, a valuable means of fixing the attention of the congregation is lost.
The length of the sermon depends on several
considerations. These include the ability of the preacher – a few minutes from
some men is more than enough, while quite a lengthy sermon from others will be
scarcely noticed – the nature of the sermon itself, and the capacity of the
congregation.
Three hundred years ago a sermon
by a Puritan preacher might last for an hour – or two. But modern
congregations lack the ability to listen in the way that their forefathers did,
and common sense dictates that the minister should preach to men as they are,
and not as he would like them to be. While he should do justice to his subject
he should also do justice to his people, and so have mercy on them especially if
there have already been long prayers and long readings in the service. “Why do
ministers preach long sermons?” asks Spurgeon. “Is it for their own pleasure
or is it for the pleasure of the people? If it is the latter they certainly are
grievously mistaken; and if it is for the former, they might practice a little
more self-denial.”
If preachers would spend more
time in preparation in the study they would spend less time preaching in the
pulpit. Woodrow Wilson, a former president of the USA, said it took him two
weeks to prepare a ten-minute speech and one week for a speech lasting an hour.
When asked how long it took to prepare a two-hour speech – “I am ready
now” came the reply. Long-winded preachers would be well advised to practice
saying in 12 words what they normally take 25 words to say. And then they might
see if they can reduce the 12 words to 6.
A useful guideline to the length of a sermon is that it should be long enough to deal with the subject adequately, but short enough to be interesting. As long as the attention of the hearers is held by the message, they do not notice the passing of time. But once that interest has gone, the congregation will switch off and then the sooner the last hymn is announced, the better for all concerned.
Should a sermon ever be repeated? Many with good reason argue that if a sermon is not worth preaching twice it was not worth preaching once. If God has blessed the message to one congregation he can bless it to another. On the whole the really great preachers have never objected to repeating a sermon; Campbell Morgan preached one at least 119 times! At the same time, if a man is growing spiritually and intellectually, he will find it increasingly difficult to confine himself within the thought and expressions of yesteryear. The golden rule would seem to be found in the counsel of Sangster, “Do not repeat your own sermons unless you can glow over them.” The moment a sermon no longer grips the preacher, it should be set aside. There is no chance whatsoever that it will thrill the congregation if it has already ceased to thrill the preacher.
Many ministers have made vast improvements as they have
heeded the truth about their preaching as it has been passed on to them by an
honest critic. Usually a wife or teenage children fill this particular bill
admirably! Of all members of the congregation they are the least likely to
engage in the fulsome flattery which people are inclined to hand out at the
church door. Many a young preacher has also been grateful for the wise counsel
of an experienced deacon who in a frank but kindly manner has warned him against
numberless pitfalls into which he might otherwise have blundered.
When Spurgeon began his ministry in London a member of the congregation used to send him a weekly list of the mistakes he made as he preached. “With genial temper and an evident desire to benefit me he marked down most relentlessly everything which he supposed me to have said incorrectly.” In view of the preacher’s excessive repetition of the words “Nothing in my hand I bring”, this man on one occasion sent a note saying, “We are sufficiently informed of the vacuity of your hand.” With his usual sturdy commonsense the young Spurgeon did not resent these attempts to help him, however humbling they might have been at times, and he endeavoured to make adjustments in the light of the criticisms. His only complaint was that he never knew the man’s name and so he was unable to express his gratitude to him.
Among the many aspects of preaching it is clear that good
craftsmanship and sound technique have their rightful place. It is not being
spiritual but just foolish to treat these things as of no account.
And yet they are not ends in
themselves and are of no use whatsoever unless they are at the same time
employed in preaching the truth of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let
J.C.Ryle sum it all up in his inimitable way:
“Whatever we preach, or whatever pulpit we occupy, whether we preach simply or not, whether we preach written or extempore, we ought to aim not merely at letting off fireworks, but at preaching that will do lasting good to souls. Let us beware of fireworks in our preaching. ‘Beautiful’ sermons, ‘brilliant’ sermons, ‘clever’ sermons, ‘popular’ sermons, are often sermons which have no effect on the congregation and do not draw men to Jesus Christ. Let us aim so to preach that what we say may really come home to men’s minds and consciences and hearts, and make them think and consider.”
