Category Archives: preaching

CHAP. VII. The Parson preaching. (pt. I)

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THe Countrey Parson preacheth constantly, the pulpit is his joy and his throne: if he at any time intermit, it is either for want of health, or against some great Festivall, that he may the better celebrate it, or for the variety of the hearers, that he may be heard at his returne more attentively. When he intermits, he is ever very well supplyed by some able man who treads in his steps, and will not throw down what he hath built; whom also he intreats to press some point, that he himself hath often urged with no great success, that so in the mouth of two or three witnesses the truth may be more established. When he preacheth, he procures attention by all possible art, both by earnestnesse of speech, it being naturall to men to think, that where is much earnestness, there is somewhat worth hearing; and by a diligent, and busy cast of his eye on his auditors, with letting them know, that he observes who marks, and who not; and with particularizing of his speech now to the younger sort, then to the elder, now to the poor, and now to the rich. This is for you, and This is for you; for particulars ever touch, and awake more then generalls. Herein also he serves himselfe of the judgements of God, as of those of antient times, so especially of the late ones; and those most, which are nearest to his Parish; for people are very attentive at such discourses, and think it behoves them to be so, when God is so neer them, and even over their heads. Sometimes he tells them stories, and sayings of others, according as his text invites him; for them also men heed, and remember better then exhortations; which though earnest, yet often dy with the Sermon, especially with Countrey people; which are thick, and heavy, and hard to raise to a poynt of Zeal, and fervency, and need a mountaine of fire to kindle them; but stories and sayings they will well remember. He often tels them, that Sermons are dangerous things, that none goes out of Church as he came in, but either better, or worse; that none is careless before his Judg, and that the word of God shal judge us. By these and other means the Parson procures attention; but the character of his Sermon is Holiness; he is not witty, or learned, or eloquent, but Holy. A Character, that Hermogenes never dream’d of, and therefore he could give no precepts thereof.

Not much has changed, Herbert’s advice for preaching would match any homiletics instruction today. After reminding the reader of the importance of being committed to the pulpit, he gives us some essential guides for good preaching.

  • Give attention to presentation: use ‘earnest’ speech and good eye contact
  • Use examples that are relevant to your hearers: notice the whole sermon is not adapted to one specific demographic as many ‘Church growth experts’ would suggest today, but the message is to include particulars adapted to different groups ‘now to the younger sort, then to the elder, now to the poor, and now to the rich’
  • Use specific illustrations rather than abstraction and generalities: as Herbert says ‘particularize’ ‘for particulars ever touch, and awake more then generalls’
  • Use Stories: they are remembered better
  • Use these methods to keep your hearers attention but don’t let them overwhelm the main message and character: ‘he is not witty, or learned, or eloquent, but Holy’

I find his point about country people being ‘thick, and heavy, and hard to raise to a poynt of Zeal’ pretty funny. Country folks are pretty laid back and not going to get real excited, but they’ll remember a good story.

BTW: Hermogenes, I assume refers to Hermogenes of Tarsus a Greek rhetorician.

(Picture: Outdoor Pulpit, St. Luke’s Church, Plymouth, 1951; from Gora Gray‘s flickr page: I’m assuming he didn’t take it though)

Windows

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George Herbert’s poems are a rich source for mediation, reflection and prayer.   His poem ‘The Windows’ is one of the most humbling and at the same time inspiring reminders of the burden and delight, labor and play of preaching:

THE WINDOWS.

LORD, how can man preach thy eternall word ?
He is a brittle crazie glasse :
Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford
This glorious and transcendent place,
To be a window, through thy grace.

But when thou dost anneal in glasse thy storie,
Making thy life to shine within
The holy Preachers, then the light and glorie
More rev’rend grows, and more doth win ;
Which else shows watrish, bleak, and thin.

Doctrine and life, colours and light, in one
When they combine and mingle, bring
A strong regard and aw :  but speech alone
Doth vanish like a flaring thing,
And in the eare, not conscience ring.

For more of Herbert’s poems. 

K.I.S.S.

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I’ve been trying to apply the mantra Keep It Simple Stupid to my sermons since returning to the pulpit.  I don’t know if it has improved my preaching but I plan on continuing to focus on simplicity.

You see, the big temptation I have is to try to be creative or put a new spin on a text, or look at it from a fresh perspective.  This is understandable, given that sermons (especially following the lectionary) can get as repetitive, boring and stale to preach as they can be to listen to.  So I find myself tempted to makes something more interesting by developing a more complicated sermon structure or approaching a text from a less obvious way, looking at inferences or subplots rather than the main point.  The problem is that complexity makes a sermon more difficult to follow and the less obvious bits I seem to pick up on can tend to also be less important; there’s a reason the main point of the text is the main point.

So I’ve committed myself of a year of preaching the most basic, simple and obvious message of each Sunday’s text in order to serve the meat and potatoes instead of intellectual delicacies and creative, theological tidbits.  As I do so I find myself pushed to make things more interesting by focusing more on presentation, illustration and clarity.

This seems like an obvious thing to do, but when you come to a story for the 10th year in a row the first question seems to be, ‘How can I deal with this that isn’t just like what I’ve done the past three times’ rather than ‘What does this say to us, here and now?’