Some Assembly Required 5.11.2023

     Dreaded words for any parent: some assembly required. The reason is that each of the terms in the phrase conceals, or plain lies about what is meant. “Some” really means “most” or “all”—essentially you have a box of parts. “Assembly” means basic manufacturing. “Required” means that you will be up late, become angry, and perhaps, even fail. Woe to the man who reads these words at 11.00 p.m. Christmas Eve!

    Every week the preacher faces something like this phrase hanging over, even haunting our work. I wish to encourage you by stating that, unlike toy assembly, Sermon assembly is a process you can master and improve, week by week. Yes, some assembly is required—actually, lots of assembly, but we have many models and precedents as well as well-designed tools to use and procedures to follow. If we work hard with the outcome in mind, we can get better at the study and writing that go into the “assembly of sermons.”

The “Picture on the Box”

    My dad was an avid model builder. Every model he built began with looking at the picture on the box. Now, Dad was a good artist. He could paint elaborate insignia and modify the old-fashioned decals that came with the model airplanes he made. Regardless of how he modified and decorated the finished work,  he first made the model so that it looked like the picture. 

       If the basic representation of the airplane was incorrect, if the engines were in the wrong place or the canopy on the bottom it did not matter how much he prettied it up. First things come first. An accurate and realistic model will look like the thing it is representing. 

    Our job is to preach scripture. Whereas we don’t actually have a “picture” of what the text says we should approach sermon building with a primary understanding of the text in mind. Before we pretty the sermon up we need to follow the “picture on the box” or anything further will be a distraction. 

Blueprint/Plans/Instructions

    Every model my dad built came with instructions. There is a basic order to building something whether it is at 1/30th scale or the “real thing.” For the Christian, the scripture provides all that we need to inform doctrine and practice. By aligning our lives with scripture, we construct our lives around the example of Jesus. 

    To prepare consistently good sermons you need a blueprint. You need instructions. You need a plan. There are many ways to organize the work of preaching. My plea at this point is to use the same instructions every week and follow them every time. 

    By using the same basic blueprint every week, we develop regular rhythms and something akin to muscle memory. When the basics of production become second nature this allows us to focus on a deeper study of the text before us week by week. 

Intended Use

    What is it for? How will it be used? What is the intent? We will leave behind my father’s airplane modeling and consider how Mrs. Beckman works when she crochets. Every item begins with a pattern and set of instructions. 

    The stitch-by-stitch work is the same, but a mitten is not a scarf. The intended use of the item produced contributes to the process of production. The gauge of the hook used, the weight of the yarn, and the tightness of the stitch are determined by the intended use of the item. 

    You and I make a similar choice in sermon-making. Is this message intended for a typical Sunday morning audience? Is this study intended for Christian service camp? What are the ages of the kids being taught? Our job is to preach and teach the Word so that God’s people are equipped for service. We cannot preach everything to everyone in a single sermon. Choices must be made. Environment and use have a bearing on the words we choose and our approach to explaining the text. This requires some consideration of who the audience is, the context of the message, and our relationship with the congregation. 

Review (Editing)

    Virtually every time you write a sermon there should be a lot of material on the cutting room floor. Something that sounds clever or particularly effective in isolation may lose its effectiveness in the context of the entire message. Bringing points and subpoints into harmony requires not only accurate but creative writing. Words are your friends and words are your adversaries. Choosing them wisely is a lifelong task we must execute sermon by sermon. Learn how to edit your work and edit relentlessly. Find a friend and enlist your wife. Eliminate extra words, learn how to write the way that you speak. As the saying goes “Murder your darlings”. 

Execution

    Do it well, or don’t do it at all. 

        How long does it take? Until it’s finished. 

Conclusion

    No written project can be completely automated. You’re going to have to think, choose words, move things about, and come to a stop. Each time you prepare a sermon you must make choices, yet those choices can be embedded in processes, procedures, and best practices that become more effective over the course of your ministry. This is not a bicycle, a lawn chair, a model airplane, or a scarf. You are not assembling a different item every week. The topic changes, the text changes, the theme changes—but it’s still a sermon. You can leverage the economies of scale that come with some kind of automation merely by doing the same thing every time.