Sermon 48 - Why Do I Preach About Me?
I am not an ordained minister. I have, in fact, although I have taken some studies in theology, biblical studies, and religious studies, not taken any courses in how to write sermons. I haven't read books about how to write sermons. I haven't even read collections of sermons. (You may, in fact, be wondering why I write sermons at all. Well, so do I.)
I have, however, been forced to listen to seventy years worth of sermons by other people. And, along the way, I have picked up little pointers, or suggestions, in general conversations, hanging around churches.
I am also a teacher. So, I know how to give presentations about various topics. Sermons and presentations aren't exactly the same thing, but there are some similarities, and there are some pointers that are common to both. So, there are a few tips that I have picked up, along the way, that are relevant to how to write sermons.
Probably the first and most famous tip on how to write a sermon is that you have to include three points and an illustration. I tend to give more than one illustration. And I take most of the illustrations from my own life.
And, then there is the advice, for both presentations and for sermons, to talk about what you know. When I wrote my first book, and I was looking for tips about how to get it published, somebody, in responding to my general queries, obviously hadn't understood the point of the process that I was in. He told me to make sure that I knew about the topic that I was writing about, before I wrote the book. Well, I had, in fact, written the book already. And I had written a book about what I had been researching, for a number of years. So, yes, I knew what I was writing about.
But I understand why he gave this particular piece of advice. I have reviewed quite a number of books in my time. And I have heard a lot of presentations in my time. And I have listened to an awful lot of sermons in my time. And I know that there are an awful lot of people who write books, and give presentations, and give sermons, and don't really know what they're talking about. Because they have decided that they need to talk about important topics (and I've already written a sermon about that), and, because they think they need to write about a big important topic, they pick a big important topic, and then decide to do a little bit of research on that topic. With the emphasis on "a little bit."
And it shows. It shows that they are not really well versed on this particular topic. And, yes, the topic they have picked is probably important. It is a big important topic, and that is why they picked it. And then they have written, and are speaking, about this particular big important topic, and they are making a mess of it, because they haven't really done the research on this big important topic, and they really don't know what they are talking about. And so they blunder around, and try to fill the space, and the time, with anything they can think of that is related to this big important topic.
And the book, or the presentation, or the sermon that they produce is a mess. And probably not terribly enlightening, comforting, or helpful to the people that they are giving it to. Because they picked a big important topic, rather than something that they know about.
So, I have reviewed a number of these books, and I have listened to a number of these presentations, and I have certainly listened to an awful lot of these sermons in my lifetime.
And, therefore, I try, when I'm writing a sermon, to talk about what I know.
I know me. I know my life. I know my work, and my professional field of study. I know a few other things, but, when giving a presentation, or writing a sermon, I tried to stick to what I know.
So, in choosing illustrations, I tend to talk about me.
This is not because I think that I am particularly important. I am only too well aware that I am not important. But I am a person, and therefore I have had experiences, and these experiences can be used to illustrate many topics that could be of help, or comfort, or use to others.
Primarily these illustrations may be of use to others in helping others to avoid mistakes. I am very much aware of the advice to learn from the mistakes of others, because you will never live long enough to make them all yourself. So, when I'm talking about me, I am offing talking about mistakes that I have made, or decisions that I have made, that resulted in mistakes and problems and, generally, things to avoid. And, when I put these into sermons, hopefully they will help other people to avoid temptation and sins, and the various problems that I have encountered in my life. And I hope that that may help other people.
After all, that is probably one of the reasons that I'm writing sermons: to help other people.
So, I write sermons about, as I have mentioned elsewhere, ordinary topics. I write sermons about blackberries. I write sermons about broad beans, and corn, and gardening, and how to bake bread. Or, rather, since I actually know very little about gardening, I write sermons about learning how to garden, or about academic theories related to gardening, and, possibly, the difficulties of putting them into practice.
I write sermons about grief. I know about grief, although I am neither a psychologist, nor a trained counselor. Once again, probably it would be more accurate to say that I write sermons about the differences between academic theories of grief, and the lack of comfort that may result from trying to apply these academic theories.
I do, occasionally, write sermons about things that I know, and have studied. I write sermons about science, which many people may consider to be rather odd. I write sermons about information security. Extremely few people care anything about information security. But information security actually relies on some very universal and fundamental principles, which can be used to illustrate some fundamental theological principles, as well. So, I write about what I know.
I write sermons about what I know, and what I have experienced. Therefore, I write sermons using illustrations me. Not because I am a particularly interesting person, or because I know things that people are particularly interested in. But I know these things, and I know theological points that these things illustrate.
As I have mentioned, I am a teacher, and so sometimes I use sermon illustrations about teaching. Or about writing books. Because I know about teaching, and about writing books, I also know, as I have mentioned above, that I know that it is right dangerous to write about things that you don't understand, and that you don't know. So, I write about what I know, and what I know is me.
I don't, I should probably point out, know me particularly well. Do any of us know ourselves particularly well? There are always dark corners of ourselves that we would rather not explore. The dark corners of ourselves may indicate that we are not, perhaps, as good as we might be, or we might hope to be. So, very often, we don't examine ourselves too thoroughly. I have, often through my own mistakes, and definitely as a result of grief, being forced to examine myself possibly a little more comprehensively than other people might have been forced to examine themselves. But that still doesn't mean that I know myself particularly well. There are lots of dark corners where I would rather not go. And there are lots of things that I have tried to examine about myself, which I still haven't figured out. Paul seems to have felt the same thing. There's a long section in Romans where he talks about not doing the things that he wants to do, and doing things that he doesn't want to do, and ending up throwing up his hands, and exclaiming "wretched men that I am!" And I very much feel for Paul, in that particular passage. And I can echo, with him, an amen to that "wretched man that I am!" So, no, I definitely can't say that I know myself particularly well. No, all I can say is, that I know little bits of myself, and that some of the little bits of myself have provided me with illustrations that might provide helpful tips for other people, who can avoid the mistakes that I have made.
So I write sermons using illustrations about myself. And now I have written an entire sermon about myself. So, am I just being egotistical, or is there a point, for you, to all of this?
The point is, you are having experiences all the time. The same as me. And these experiences are, pretty much constantly, pointing out lessons about God.
God is in your whole life. God is not just there on Sunday morning. God is all around you, all the time. God is trying to teach you things, all the time. When you wake up in the morning. (When you wake up in the dark, in the middle of the night, come to that.) When you go to work, whatever it is you work at. When you go for a walk. All you have to do is be aware.
God told the Jews to bind His law on their foreheads and their arms and their doorposts. The Pharisees actually did that. They would fasten a container on their foreheads, and arms, and doorposts, with a piece of scripture written on a piece of parchment in it. (Usually it was Deuteronomy 6:4-5, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.") And Jesus pointed out that they did this, and fulfilled the letter of the law, and missed the whole point. Which was to be aware of God at all times, in everything that you do.
So, when you walk down the street, and grab a blackberry off a vine growing on a piece of waste ground, remember that God has provided for you. God has provided *everything* for you. Life, and food, and even a bit of a sweet treat that you didn't plant or grow. When you *do* plant something in your garden, think about what you are doing. And why. And what is God teaching you about life? When you do business, remember that God provides everything that you are doing business with and about, and be open, and honest, and generous in your dealings, as God is generous with you. If your business is service, do your service willingly, not just a slapdash token: do your work as to the Lord.
God is always with you. God is all around you. In *everything* you do. All the time, not just once a week. As Deuteronomy goes on to say, in chapter 6:6-7, "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Be aware of what God is telling us, all the time, and *everything* that we do.
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