The Gospel in the Gospels Message 2.9.2023

    Narrative texts can be difficult to preach, particularly in an era so addicted to “application-driven” preaching. The difficulty is both a matter of form and content. Narrative by its very nature, driven by plot and character requires us to deduce applications from the story. And let’s be honest, it’s a little difficult to identify with or draw conclusions from someone like Samson and his sprawling, violent, petulant, and sometimes erotic story. This is the nature of story. We tell them not only to understand the characters in the story but to come to grips with our own strengths and weaknesses. None of us has the same profile of strengths as Samson, but to one degree or another, we all share his weaknesses. We can find preaching trajectories through Samson’s story by looking at the way God ultimately used a very flawed person to bring deliverance.

    Biblical narratives are not primarily about flawed human characters, but about the gracious God who redeems. In a sense, every character in every Biblical narrative is a contemporary extension and stand-in for Adam. Fallen human beings, despite cultural and social distance are far more alike than different. Sin is the greatest commonality and grace the greatest need. 

    The exception is Jesus and the overarching “Story” narrated in the stories of the Gospel. Though characterization in the Gospels is somewhat simpler because of the divine origins and claims of Jesus, they are even more complex from a preaching point of view because we must pay attention to what is said by the Gospel authors about Jesus, as well as what Jesus Himself says and does. 

    How do we sift the various narrative streams in a Gospel to carve a path for weekly preaching? How do we arrive at a message? There are several paths I wish to discuss. Each of them is a valid and useful approach. I often frame these discussions in terms of longevity. Each year when we preach from a Gospel, we must choose one of these strategies, tracing a trajectory through the book. Next year, next Gospel. The year after, still a third Gospel. Three years in the future and we preach the fourth of our Gospels. In the fifth year, we are back to where we started, and we must decide how we are going to preach these same texts to this same congregation. There are lots of shortcuts and ways to beg, steal, or borrow but the best process is to work through the text before you year by year using different approaches, tracing different trajectories. Let’s look at some alternative approaches and see how they can both contrast and complement one another. 

Occasional

    In a sense, this is the original approach. Papias of Hierapolis affirms that in compiling his Gospel, Mark recounted the occasional preaching of Peter and recorded what he remembered, largely without attention to chronological order. Peter preached and Mark preserved. 

    It is possible to partially emulate the practice of Peter and Mark, randomly picking out texts from any or all the gospels according to the needs of the moment. The weakness of this approach is that, for most of us, it will result in excluding texts that are either hard to understand or too demanding. Or minimally we will focus on what interests us and marginalize texts which don’t leap immediately to the forefront. 

    Peter was an apostle. You are not. Peter walked (literally, physically) with Jesus. You have not, not yet at least. Peter and his associates worked to refine and hone the story of Jesus in that first generation of preaching and teaching. They were the originators of the message. All our preaching is derivative. 

    Additionally, the messages we preach must accomplish several goals. Teaching, reproving, correction. Providing guidance in right doctrine as well as applied Christian behavior and leading the lost to Christ. These goals would seem to require a more disciplined plan than “the next thing that crosses my mind or that piques my interest.”

Liturgical/Lectionary

    The most ancient approach in the Great Church Tradition is to follow a lectionary. For many Free-Church Protestants this is a little “high-churchy,” Though it is rooted in a more liturgical approach to scripture and worship, its ancient roots (the Synagogue used a lectionary system before the Church) are a time-tested way to ensure a balanced, planned approach to all scripture, not just the Gospels. 

    Lectionaries include both daily readings and readings for Sundays. As each lectionary entry includes (minimally) a Psalm, an OT lesson, and an NT lesson there is plenty of weekly material for an entire program of preaching and teaching. During the period between Christmas and Easter, a preacher can just decide to follow the Gospel readings and they will culminate on Easter. 

    The lectionary is great for those who don’t think they need structure or who don’t want to reinvent the wheel. For someone who is just starting out the Lectionary may be perfect for keeping on task. Though the reading is laid out for you, you must still do the heavy lifting regarding exegesis, exposition, and sermon crafting. 

Straight Expository

    At first glance, this is the easiest approach. Pick your Gospel, start at chapter one verse one, and preach pericope by pericope through the book. I’ve done it. The only real problem with this method is time. If you give each pericope due attention, the shortest Gospel (Mark) will take more than a year. Most congregations need greater variety and many simply won’t tolerate it. It looks less like a well-considered plan and more like laziness. While easy to follow, this method can be exhausting for everyone involved. It is possible to do this while summarizing or skipping large amounts of material but that kind of undermines the very notion of preaching the whole book. 

    Just a quick example, there is more than enough material in the three chapters of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount to get from Christmas to Easter. To do so, however, leaves out a lot of the road to the cross, the events of the Passion, and virtually every parable. Straight expository beginning-to-end preaching works better for non-narrative texts than narratives. Both because the texts are shorter and tend to be structured according to subject rather than by narratological plot. 

    Now don’t get me wrong, our approach to each text should never change. We need to do detailed exegesis regardless of how we proceed through the book.  Yet that exegesis, if it is to yield a preachable sermon must follow some sort of a plan or the weight of its randomness will become unbearable.

Thematic Exegetical

    If you want to flourish preaching the Gospels, you need to become so familiar with them that you can trace a variety of thematic trajectories through them to guide your exegesis. This is good for you as a preacher because it will help you be more creative and it’s good for your congregation because they will be able to see familiar material from different perspectives. The words do not change. The exegesis will remain essentially the same. We are talking about a difference in emphasis, focus, and perspective. I call it thematic exegetical, but you can use various trajectories to approach the material.

• Themes

• Topics

• Doctrines

• Characters

• Locations

    Here is a more detailed example. I’m preaching through Mark right now. My theme for Mark follows the theme of the year which is beginnings. Another trajectory could have been Mark discusses the problems Jesus faced, the parables Jesus taught, and the promises Jesus made. I could have used some of the same texts and the same exegesis. Different trajectory, different emphasis, different perspective. Four years from now, the next year for preaching from Mark I will have usable, accessible material at hand and the first use of that material will be to determine what trajectory I want to trace through the book. 

Summary

    Preaching and teaching are too important to neglect. Preachers talk about sermons, and they are our “work product” each week but our job is not to write and preach good sermons. Our job is to teach scripture. Sermons are the primary means to that end. Good sermons do a better job of feeding our flocks the bread of life than bad sermons. If this is to be your sacred task, your vocation, you need to think long-term. 

     Our sacred task is to bring a message from God to His people. This flock, in this location, under our care. Not any message for anyone but this message for these people. Not generic, not homogenized, not canned, not commoditized, not marketed, not stolen, not “borrowed”, not just preached but lived. By you, in your environment. This message, this place, these people, hearing God’s Word framed by your thinking and clothed with your voice.