Sermons

Acts 7:2-54

More than 1/3 of the book of Acts is speeches, confessions of faith, testimonies, talking, sermonizing, yadda, yadda, yadda.

No wonder people really have not read this book of the Bible.  After the "begot" sections of Genesis, I think reading sermons are always a little dry.  For me, sermons are a "had to be there moment."  The next best alternative is to see a video of a sermon...but that will fail to capture the atmosphere of the sanctuary.  The next best alternative is to listen to the sermon...but that will fail to capture gestures.  And when all else fails, you can read a sermon and still get something wonderful out of it.  But when you view a sermon, listen to a sermon, or read a sermon the key reason why it doesn't really work is that it becomes an isolated, individualistic exercise.  It becomes about you.  A sermon is always preached in a context to a group of people. 

Or as I like to say, a sermon preached in an empty sanctuary isn't really a sermon.

Have you ever really sat back and thought about your expectations for a sermon?  Have you ever thought about how your expectations from the person sitting behind you in the pews might be similar and different? 

Dragged before the council, Stephen today offers a sermon.  He connects the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to the on-going, unfolding work of the disciples.  He offers a reading of the Hebrew Scriptures.  Now, to be clear here, everyone listening to Stephen had been steeped in the scriptures we call the Old Testament.  They knew the larger context out of which Stephen was pulling his reference. 

Why is this important? 

A quick illustration.  Let's say we have all just finished reading A Tale of Two Cities and we are having a book discussion.  We can turn from quote in the book to quote in the book because we know the larger context, the plot, and each person brings an interpretation to the table because s/he read the book. 

So, when Stephen connects Jesus to a passage from the book of Exodus or Amos or Isaiah, he is preaching to people who are on the same page.

Today, when we throw out a passage of scripture to people who have never heard it before, it is not the same experience as what is happening in this passage of Acts.  Just like if I say, "I was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  If you have read Dicken's, you know how those words foreshadow what unfolds in the pages of A Tale of Two Cities. 

To be sure, you can still understand a literary quote without reading the whole book.  You can understand verses of scripture without reading the whole book.  But, when we read the whole book it adds depth and new insights.  That is one of the reasons why I think going through a book of the Bible chapter by chapter is so helpful, especially since many in our culture today are not as well versed in scripture as years ago.

As I enter my third year of a program on preaching, I have given thought to what it means for me to stand up on Sunday morning and try to offer from my heart a response to scripture.  That, for me, is what a sermon is.  It is a heart-felt response to scripture, a confession of faith, but it is not just the pastor's responsibility.  That heart-felt response, the confession of faith, comes from the People of God sitting in the pews. 

Otherwise a sermon can easily become a 'talk' or a 'motivational speech' or just more words amid a culture saturated with words.  Because I believe that the People of God are actively involved in adding and completing a sermon I encourage you to read the Bible verse(s) before coming to worship on Sunday morning or when you first sit down to worship.  I encourage you during the sermon to keep the Bible open so you can look back.  I encourage you to write down notes of your own thought that you might return to during the week.  And my radical vision for the church would be for the People of God to respond to a sermon; not through intellectual critique of why you liked it or did not like it.  But through saying..."When the pastor said this...I thought of this."  "When the scripture said that...I was challenged/given hope/confused."  That would move the sermon from something people consume or the weekly product offered by the pastor to being the ministry of the life of the church.

I think that is what Stephen was trying to do centuries ago...and what I will try to do this Sunday.

Blessings and peace to you all.
See you in church!