The Workshop of the Wordsmith 2.26.2026

    I deliberately began this year discussing the process of writing. Most who will read this blog were trained in Biblical Studies to some degree. The work of exegesis and detailed study of textual questions is our thing. When I entered ministry at around 20 years of age I didn’t understand anything about audience analysis or evaluation. I just figured “fling the text at them” and let them sink or swim. My earliest sermons reflect this approach. In reviewing those old sermons, I can often tell that my exegesis is spot on. It is not nearly so clear how I intended to embody the heart of the text in the words of the message. 

    Through more than 40 years of preparing and then preaching what I had prepared, it became clear to me that better preaching, for those who are correctly trained in the Biblical and Theological disciplines is a matter of learning how to intentionally write and edit. I also realized—after having heard thousands of sermons, that most issues in proclamation could and should have been solved during composition. Even when I, or those who I have heard, were preaching extemporaneously it was clear that even the best exegetical practice can be overwhelmed and obscured by bad composition. 

    And so, I’ve wanted to spend some time with you, as we begin this this year, in the workshop. Not the hermeneutical workshop but the workshop of the wordsmith. The place where you frame the thoughts of God in your words for your local church in your local, shared circumstances. 

    Before transitioning to some Easter themes in the weeks ahead I want to review some final ideas and share some observations about the atmospherics our work. How can we make our workshop function more effectively so that when we bring our work to the pulpit, we can have confidence that we have done our very best to articulate the message for that Lord’s Day?

Pace

    You don’t have to hurry. You shouldn’t hurry. Rushing around undermines the goals of being concise and being clear. Start early. Leave slack time. Let your dough rise before you bake it. When I look back (as I often must) at old sermons it is amazing how often I see the places I hurried to finish the job. Getting finished and getting complete are not always the same thing. It takes practice and experience to fully finish so that when the work time is done the sermon is ready to preach.  Generally, when looking at those old sermons, I can tell where hurry caused me to choose a word that was close but not precise, clarifying but not clear, near but not on target. 

    Please understand that I practice what I preach. I was hurried and harried yesterday (Monday) and didn’t get my sermon done. The temptation was to phone home and let Mrs. Beckman know I’d be late for supper. Instead, I stopped. Had I hurried, the sermon I finished today would have surely been insufficient. I would have reviewed it on Friday and felt compelled to make changes, most of which would have been issues of clarity and conciseness—they would have had little to do with content but would have been awkward and unclear. 

    Sometimes the only thing to do is wait. Now, I don’t mean dawdle. I’m not talking about neglecting what can and should be done but about recognizing that the temptation to hurry, to move too fast, to rush can undermine the goal of the whole project which is not just to finish a sermon but to be understood. 

Practice

    One sermon a week, even two may not be enough to get better. One of the reasons I produce these very essays week after week is that it allows me several more thousand words of writing. Writing that needs edited, whittled, and condensed. 

    If you teach Sunday School or a midweek Bible Study, why not write your own material?  Make it a part of your plan. Schedule it. Include it in your sermon calendar and then allow enough time to do both the study and the composition. For those who preach, writing should always mean the whole process: Drafting, editing, redrafting, and presenting. As you write more you will become more familiar with your own voice, phrasing, and style. You will stretch your vocabulary as you consider how to be more flexible in your word choice, grammar, and syntax.

    This is workshop work. Good writers, those who write best-selling novels, award winning biography and history, and yes, those who preach memorable sermons write thousands of words that never make it past the door of their own workshop. If every word you write makes it into final copy, you will never improve and eventually you will grow bored with your own work. 

Persistence

    I have written many unreadable essays and preached many poor sermons. I have taken work to the pulpit and left the pulpit embarrassed. Then I reviewed, took stock, refocused and continued with the mission. Perfection is not attainable. Improvement is. My goal for this Sunday is the same as always. A fresh, Biblically accurate, understandable sermon. 

    For most sermon series I have enough preliminary work complete so that by the time I reach sermon 5 or 6 I must be careful about the amount of information I need provide so that I can clearly explain the text. Most of what needs done by this point is editorial and evaluative work. A good preacher will be constantly reining back the inclination to rush forward with more bread than the congregation can tolerate at one sitting. Remember that, by and large, they will be hungry again next week. Be persistent, even stubborn if necessary. Leave them eager for more. Do not founder them. Make sure that they are well fed every week and promise that there will be more on the table next time. 

Onward

    We began the year with a clean sheet of paper and discussed the process of refining our linguistic toolbox. Then I wrote about the process of lifetime learning in the specific context of lifetime teaching. Let me end these discussions by saying once again that, whether you realize it or want it, you are a writer. To be a preacher means signing up for a lifetime of producing words you will speak to a congregation on behalf of the risen Lord. He chooses to use our words, our voices, our presence to communicate His will for His people. It is serious business for serious people. Be that person.