Preparing to Preach

By Bruce E. Shields

Who is your ideal preacher? Think about a preacher who has had a positive impact on you. Can you recall a single sermon he preached? Was it the sermons or the character of the preacher that left the lasting impression?

I often ask student preachers these questions, and invariably it is character they recall and not individual sermons. I hasten to add that this does not mean sermons have no lasting value, but rather that the sermons make up just one part of the overall impression that preachers leave.

This means the preacher needs to pay attention not only to the preparation of individual sermons, as important as that is, but also to the preparation of the whole person to preach those sermons. The great 19th-century

preacher Phillips Brooks put it in this oft-quoted way:

Preaching is the bringing of truth through personality. It must have both elements. It is in the different proportions in which the two are mingled that the difference between two great classes of sermons and preaching lies. It is in the defect of one or the other element that every sermon and preacher falls short of the perfect standard. It is in the absence of one or the other element that a discourse ceases to be a sermon, and a man ceases to be a preacher altogether.¹

Preparing the Preacher

Therefore the preparation to preach a sermon includes the preparation of the person who will speak that sermon. To some extent this happens whether the preacher is conscious of it or not, but intentionality should play an important role in the process.

Somewhere in the preparation process, every preacher should become aware of his personality.

“¢ What persons, places, or events have worked together to make you the person you are today?

“¢ Do you think your voice as a preacher has been determined by any of these?

“¢ How does the story of your life intersect with the story of God”s search for fallen humans?

“¢ How can you help those who listen to you preach connect their stories with God”s story?

Think about the many roles the preacher plays. The preacher is, of course, an individual with many elements””physical characteristics, thought processes, social expectations, emotional needs””and people who interact with that preacher experience all of these together. The preacher might ask how the combination of those characteristics measures up to his ideal preacher-person.

In addition to individual traits, the preacher plays many roles in society. There are family roles: child, sibling, spouse, or parent. In the larger community there are certain expectations of the preacher, depending to a great extent on the size of the community and of the congregation. In the congregation the preacher is both a member and a leader.

Congregational leadership roles get even more complicated. In addition to being the preacher, he is in most cases expected to be a pastor/counselor, a priest/interceder, a worship leader, an administrator, and a teacher.

The challenge is for the preacher to integrate all these roles (and often more) into his personality in such a way as not to be overwhelmed, but to be a whole person in every ministry situation. In other words, all these things make the preacher who he is as a person, and that is the personality through which the preacher brings the truth to the congregation.

As a preacher, you might be fortunate enough to be on a church staff where you are not expected to perform ALL the leadership roles. However, at some level you will be expected to BE all of them.

If you are a young preacher, or if you are contemplating that role in your future, now is the time to begin thinking it through, praying about it, and imagining yourself in such roles. If you have had some experience, even an internship, you have a head start with this. If you are a beginner, find an experienced minister with whom you can seriously discuss these expectations. By working intentionally on the many facets of who you are, you can become somebody else”s ideal preacher.

Preparing to Preach

What does this mean for the preacher preparing for next Sunday”s sermon?

“¢Â First, bathe the preparation process in prayer. Most preachers can tell numerous stories about people who heard sermons and responded in astounding ways. Sometimes a listener tells the preacher what he heard, and it can surprise the preacher, who doesn”t recall saying such a thing.

Such experiences teach us preachers that we are not in total control of the hearing of our sermons, but that God”s Spirit is at work. To invite the Spirit into the process of preparation from its very beginning is to give God space to work on us, in us, and through us in the sermon.

I recommend preachers enlist folks in the congregation to be prayer partners in the process. Bathe the process in prayer.

“¢Â Next, hear the text for yourself. Paul Scherer, the great preacher and professor of preaching, used to tell his students, “Stay with the text until it says, “˜Slide over; I want to sit next to you.”” Until the preacher has heard the message of the text (both content and intent) as a personal claim, that preacher is not ready to apply the text to the congregation. Hear the text for yourself.

“¢Â Then hear it for the congregation. The human imagination is a wonderful tool. We can even imagine we are other people. In his study, the preacher can think about individuals and families who will gather to worship and listen to the sermon text from their points of view.

If you are a little weak in the imagination department, as I am, you might actually try getting a group of your listeners together to hear the text and respond to it. I discovered this sort of discussion group to be very helpful in my preparation, and it also guaranteed a solid group of good listeners the next Sunday. Whatever your method, hear the text for the congregation.

Note that I”m using the word hear and not read. I am convinced the ear receives communication in a much more personal way than the eye. We need to pronounce the words and/or hear them spoken by others. Listen to biblical passages on the Internet or on tape. Say them aloud to yourself or read them to others. “Faith comes from what is heard” (Romans 10:17, New Revised Standard Version).

“¢ After this devotional study and personal/congregational hearing of the sermon text, the preacher should do the work of scholarship. A close look at the context of the text and careful study of the details and the rhetoric of the passage are important here. Think about the doctrinal issues in and underlying the text. Wrestle with the central meaning of the passage as you see it.

There are no shortcuts to good biblical preaching. Commentaries and dictionaries can help, but there is no substitute for the preacher”s own work on the sermon text.

“¢ Then, as you put the sermon together, do not be afraid to put yourself into it. Objectivity is fine in lecturing, but not in preaching. The sermon must be more than a delivery of information. It must get at the deep needs of Christians trying to follow Jesus. If it isn”t clear that you, the preacher, have heard God”s Word for yourself, the hearers will not be motivated to listen for themselves. First person plural pronouns (we, us) should far outnumber second person (you) in our sermons. “Truth through personality” is still the most effective communication.

“¢Â Finally, present the sermon to God as an act of worship. Too many preachers tell me they can”t worship with the congregation because they are thinking so much about details of the service or the sermon. Preacher, you need to see this sermon into which you have poured energy and time as a major act of personal worship. This also reminds us again that God is active in the preaching of the sermon and that God will remain active as people apply the word in their lives.

Do you hope to become somebody else”s ideal preacher? Work on the disciplines that build character””and you”ll find those same disciplines will build good sermons.

________

¹Phillips Brooks, The Joy of Preaching (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1989), 26. Originally published as Lectures on Preaching (London: H.R. Allenson, 1895).

Bruce Shields has decades of experience preaching and teaching preaching. He serves as professor emeritus at Emmanuel School of Religion in Johnson City, Tennessee.