Dr. Mike Graves, Scholar in Residence and Minister of Spiritual Formation
Occasionally, someone will ask me how long it takes me to prepare a sermon. My standard answer nowadays is 61 years. Sermons come from a life of learning and living. But of course, what they’re asking is how many hours, and often other such questions about how preachers put sermons together.
A couple weeks ago now, I preached from the story of Moses leading the Israelites across the sea on dry land as the Egyptian army was pursuing them. Many of you were there, and if you weren’t, we now have wonderful ways to watch, either live via streaming or later via the link. Typically, when people are in the room listening to a sermon, that’s their only role, to listen. What else could they do, besides tune it out?
In fact, there are other options. Fred Craddock used to say that in the traditional approaches to preaching, the listeners were on the team, but as javelin catcher. Ouch! In an attempt to have a more meaningful role, on the two Monday nights prior to my preaching, 30 or so of us gathered to talk about the biblical passage and work on the sermon together. Yes, it was a group effort. Actually, we did two things. Besides wrestling with the text and how it might be preached, I taught them some things about preaching.
This might seem counterintuitive, teaching laity about preaching. Isn’t that what I did at the seminary with those going into ministry? Yes, but preaching doesn’t belong solely to the preachers. It is the Church’s scriptures that preachers try to interpret. It is the Church’s gospel that gets proclaimed. And even if preachers do all the talking (which isn’t always the case since there are some contexts in which dialogue takes place during services), listeners should always be more active than passive.
The group that joined me on those Monday evenings thought I was merely being polite when I thanked them for their insights. They assured me they gained the most from the presentation, that learning about the preacher process inspired them and made them look forward to the coming Lord’s day. While I get that and appreciate it, such conversations inspire the preacher as well; so much so that I will likely try it again in the spring. I hope you will be there, not just on that Sunday, but on the Monday evenings leading up to it.
