The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
\nJanuary 29, 2017
\nI Corinthians 2:1-5<\/p>\n
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.\u00a0 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.\u00a0 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.\u00a0 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.\u00a0 (NIV1984)<\/p>\n
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n
What makes for a good sermon?\u00a0 When I was at Seminary I worked at a Ben Franklin store.\u00a0 The manager of the store was a man by the name of Chuck.\u00a0 Chuck was a very devout Roman Catholic.\u00a0 We would talk about religion on a very regular basis.\u00a0 One day Chuck told me that he really liked the homilies (sermons) of their new young priest.\u00a0 When I asked him why, he said that they never knew what the priest was going to do!\u00a0 He always did something different as he was preaching and everyone waited to see what the priest was going to do this week!\u00a0 I have a relative who left the Wisconsin Synod to join the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America).\u00a0 One of the reasons they left the WELS is because they loved Pastor Marie\u2019s sermons.\u00a0 I was told that Pastor Marie was not \u201cchained\u201d to the pulpit like most WELS pastors.\u00a0 She wandered around the congregation while she preached.\u00a0 One Sunday Pastor Marie had a Nerf bow and arrow with her.\u00a0 As she wandered around the congregation during her sermon she would stop and \u201cshoot\u201d one of the members with a Nerf arrow.\u00a0 When I asked what the sermon was about they said, \u201cI don\u2019t remember\u2014 but it sure was a lot of fun!\u201d<\/p>\n
What makes for a good sermon, my friends?\u00a0 There are always some members of the congregation who would say that a good sermon is a short sermon.\u00a0 There are always some members of the congregation who would say that a good sermon is one that captures their attention and then holds their attention from beginning to end.\u00a0 In many churches today there are people who say that a good sermon is a sermon that outlines for you exactly what you need to do to become a \u201cbetter\u201d spouse or a \u201cbetter\u201d parent or a \u201cbetter\u201d friend or a \u201cbetter\u201d person.\u00a0 Back in the days when I didn\u2019t know how much I didn\u2019t know about preaching a good sermon, one of the professors who tried his best to teach me how to preach said to me on more than one occasion, \u201cMr. Lockman, a good sermon is a sermon that sticks to the text you have in front of you.\u00a0 So preach your text!\u201d<\/p>\n
What makes for a good sermon?\u00a0 While you, the members of the congregation, may have your own ideas and your own opinions as to what makes a good sermon and while I, the pastor of the congregation, may have my own ideas and my own opinions as to what makes a good sermon, in the end it is the Lord God Himself who determines and defines what makes a good sermon.\u00a0 Today as you and I continue our sermon series on God\u2019s will, let\u2019s study these inspired words of our God under the theme:\u00a0 God\u2019s Will for His Pastors\u2014 Preach a Good Sermon!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 How does the Lord determine and define a good sermon?\u00a0 Our text gives us two answers to that question.\u00a0 First, a good sermon from God\u2019s perspective is defined by the contents<\/strong> of what is being preached.\u00a0 Second, a good sermon from God\u2019s perspective is determined by the goal<\/strong> of what is being preached.<\/p>\n A good sermon from God\u2019s perspective is defined by the contents of what is being preached.\u00a0 That truth comes out very clearly when the Holy Spirit led Paul to write the opening verses of our text, \u201cWhen I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.\u00a0 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n God\u2019s people in Corinth were living in a culture which prized philosophers and orators.\u00a0 They were undoubtedly very accustomed to having traveling preachers sweep into town and try to impress them with their eloquent speech and pique their interest with supposedly superior wisdom.\u00a0 Then there was the apostle Paul.\u00a0 Paul did not sweep into town and try to awe the Corinthians with \u201celoquent\u201d<\/em> or \u201chigh-sounding\u201d<\/em> words.\u00a0 Paul did not try to convince the Corinthians that he possessed a \u201cwisdom\u201d<\/em> that was \u201csuperior\u201d<\/em> to every other philosopher they had ever heard.<\/p>\n Well, then, if Paul\u2019s preaching did not center \u201celoquence\u201d<\/em> or \u201csuperior wisdom,\u201d<\/em> then what were the contents of the sermons Paul preached?\u00a0 Paul\u2019s proclamation to the Corinthians, Paul\u2019s sermons to this congregation centered on the most important content of all!\u00a0 Paul says, \u201cI proclaimed to you the testimony about God.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Another way to translate the Greek here would be, \u201cI proclaimed to you the mystery of God.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Yes, my friends, Paul\u2019s sermons revealed to the Corinthians the \u201cmystery of God.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 And what exactly is the \u201cmystery of God\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 While the Bible gives us a number of answers to that question (For example, see Romans 11:25-27; I Corinthians 15:51; Ephesians 3:6; Colossians 1:25-27) here the Holy Spirit has Paul emphasize two things.\u00a0 The \u201cmystery of God\u201d<\/em> that Paul revealed to the people of Corinth centered on\u2014 \u201cJesus Christ and him crucified.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n From God\u2019s perspective a good sermon is not determined by how \u201celoquent\u201d<\/em> the preacher might be.\u00a0 From God\u2019s perspective a good sermon is not defined by how \u201cwise\u201d<\/em> the preacher appears.\u00a0 No, my friends, from God\u2019s perspective a good sermon is determined by how clearly the preacher enables you to see Jesus\u2014 who He is and what He has done for <\/strong>you!\u00a0 A good example of this comes from my professor at Seminary.\u00a0 He told us about a young preacher, fresh out of Seminary, who went out of this way to \u201cdazzle\u201d God\u2019s people with his sermons.\u00a0 He thought he was doing very well until one day, he got up into the pulpit and found a note.\u00a0 On the note were the words of John 12:21, \u201cSir, we would like to see Jesus.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 While the young pastor\u2019s sermons may indeed have been \u201cdazzling\u201d they did not point God\u2019s people to \u201cJesus Christ and him crucified.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n As mortal sinful human beings who will one day stand before the judgment throne of the Almighty and hear Him proclaim where you will spend eternity you need<\/strong> your pastor to preach sermons which very clearly proclaim to you that Jesus is both your true flesh and blood Brother and the eternal Son of the living God.\u00a0 You need<\/strong> your pastor to preach sermons which very clearly reveal that Jesus is the Christ, the Promised Messiah, this world\u2019s only<\/strong> Savior from sin.\u00a0 You need <\/strong>your pastor to preach sermons which remind you over and over again that no matter how horrible your sins might be, the Son of God was willing to be crucified (pointing to the cross) to completely pay the debt of sin that you owed to God.\u00a0 Yes, my friends, a good sermon from God\u2019s perspective is determined and defined by the contents<\/strong> of what is being preached.\u00a0 A good sermon from God\u2019s perspective is a sermon that enables you to see exactly who Jesus is and precisely what Jesus has done for<\/strong> you.<\/p>\n Does this give the pastor an \u201cexcuse\u201d for being lazy in his sermon preparation or sloppy in his sermon delivery?\u00a0 Does this mean that instead of taking the time to write a new sermon every week I could simply download my sermons from one of the many websites that offer sermons for sale?\u00a0 Not at all.\u00a0 The good Lord expects His pastors to use the gifts He has given them to present to you who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for <\/strong>you in a way that applies to your life and that ties in with what is going on in the world around you.\u00a0 In short, a good sermon from God\u2019s perspective takes a great deal of work on the part of the pastor!<\/p>\n The second aspect of what makes a good sermon from God\u2019s perspective is determined by the goal of what is being preached.\u00a0 This truth is brought out here in our text when Paul says, \u201cI came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.\u00a0 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit\u2019s power, so that your faith might not rest on men\u2019s wisdom, but on God\u2019s power.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The apostle Paul was keenly aware of something that pastors today would do well to remember\u2014 when a pastor is preaching he needs to make sure that he gets out of the Holy Spirit\u2019s way!\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because of his own sinful pride a pastor is tempted to want people to be impressed by his sermons.\u00a0 His<\/u> style, his<\/u> delivery and his<\/u> \u201cinsights\u201d can sometimes take precedence over the power of God the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Either consciously or unconsciously the goal of the sermon then becomes gaining a following for\u2014 the pastor!\u00a0 He becomes the focus\u2014 and God\u2019s people suffer.\u00a0 Why do God\u2019s people suffer if the focus is on the pastor?\u00a0 Because there is no <\/strong>pastor who is smart enough or strong enough or good enough to save you for all of eternity!<\/p>\n That\u2019s why the goal of a good sermon is for the pastor consciously strives to get out of the way of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 The goal of a good sermon is to keep you focused on \u201ca demonstration of the Spirit\u2019s power.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The goal of a good sermon is to make sure that your faith does not rest on \u201cmen\u2019s wisdom, but on God\u2019s power.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Since our sermon series on God\u2019s Will<\/em><\/strong> includes a comparison of \u201cmen\u2019s wisdom\u201d<\/em> and \u201cGod\u2019s wisdom\u201d<\/em> we won\u2019t touch on that subject here today.\u00a0 But, what exactly did Paul have in mind when he talked about a \u201cdemonstration of the Spirit\u2019s power\u201d<\/em> and how does that tie in with preaching a good sermon?<\/p>\n Look at it this way, my friends.\u00a0 Only God has the \u201cpower\u201d<\/em> to convict you of your sins.\u00a0 That\u2019s why a good sermon will always contain the message of God\u2019s powerful holy Law.\u00a0 If you are wandering away from your Lord, if you are living your life in a way that brings tears to Jesus\u2019 eyes, if you are becoming comfortable or confident in your own righteousness, a good sermon will not only remind you that God sees and hears and knows every single one of the sins you have committed, but a good sermon will remind you that one day God Himself will hold you accountable for each and every one of those sins.<\/p>\n Just as God is the only One who has the \u201cpower\u201d<\/em> to convict you of your sin, so also only God has the \u201cpower\u201d<\/em> to assure you that through faith in what Jesus the Christ has done for <\/strong>you, your sins are<\/strong> forgiven!\u00a0 That\u2019s why a good sermon will always contain the sweet, simple, powerful and glorious message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 If you are feeling overwhelmed by the guilt of your sin, if you are feeling unworthy of God\u2019s love a good sermon will not only remind you that God\u2019s agape <\/em>love for you is unconditional and unbounded, but a good sermon will remind you that no matter how heavy the burden of your sin and guilt might be, your crucified and risen Lord says to you, \u201cCome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest\u2026for your souls\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 11:28, 29).\u00a0 I good sermon will point you to both the cross on Calvary\u2019s hill and to the empty grave in the garden so that you can see how your crucified and risen Lord lovingly holds out His nail-scarred hands to you and says, \u201cTake heart, (My child); your sins are forgiven\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 9:2).<\/p>\n And since only God has the \u201cpower\u201d<\/em> to strengthen you and to guide you and to protect you as you journey through this spiritually dark and dangerous world on your way home to heaven, a good sermon is a sermon that encourages you to turn to your Lord and to trust in your Lord every single day of your life.<\/p>\n What makes for a good sermon?\u00a0 Is a good sermon a short sermon?\u00a0 Is a good sermon a sermon that \u201cwows\u201d you?\u00a0 Is a good sermon a sermon that shows you how to become a \u201cbetter\u201d person?\u00a0 No, my friends.\u00a0 A good sermon from God\u2019s perspective is a sermon whose contents are centered on \u201cJesus Christ and him crucified.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 A good sermon from God\u2019s perspective is a sermon whose goal is to make sure that your faith does not rest on \u201cmen\u2019s wisdom, but on God\u2019s power.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 That\u2019s why God\u2019s will for His pastors is\u2014 Preach a good sermon!<\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany January 29, 2017 I Corinthians 2:1-5 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.\u00a0 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.\u00a0 I came to you in weakness and fear, 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