Blogging Ottinger (tim)Good Sermons
It seems like there’s good meta-data coming from sermon reviews over at Speaking Out Of Turn (an interesting blog generally). You might find it worth your time. It is telling, perhaps, that the best sermons are those that are about God and not about us or the needs of the local church. It reminds me that the thing we’re to do is spread The Word, not Our Words. After all, who gets the glory if we come up with some great turn of phrase or some witty stories or clever “hooks”? We do. Are we supposed to get the credit for what we do and say? Or is it supposed to be Someone else.
I guess that’s part of the whole struggle with being a “good preacher” or a “good teacher”. You want to do a good job, to rightfully handle the Word that’s entrusted to us, but then you want to give a good talk, a good oration, with a good hook so that you can hold the attention of the people and drive home the point of the message. But I guess that it’s another issue of primary motive. I suppose if we’re giving good oration to the message that’s one thing, and if we’re picking the message to support our goals or our style then it’s another.
I have a good pastor. He doesn’t go out of his way to be a comedian or a tear-jerker “inspirational speaker”. He teaches the bible every week, and he plans in advance to let the bible guide his sermons so that he doesn’t get caught up in the immediate happenings in the church. I think maybe he trusts that God will make the most of His message, and that he doesn’t have to do any special work to “make it relevant” since it’s all relevant and redeeming.
Its a good place for me to be and learn. I’ve had a few really great pastors lately, and I’m glad for the meta-education it gives me. I am learning about presentation and focus since the material itself is pretty familiar (thankfully!). Ah, I wish I’d been interested sooner and had managed to get educated sooner. I would love to know more about the culture of the biblical times, and would love to read them in ancient Greek and Hebrew. It would be cool.
