What You Should Expect From A Sermon
For starters, when I listen to a sermon, I am not interested
in being entertained. Forget the movie
quotes, leave out the predictable jokes, and please do not try to quote Lady
Gaga lyrics! If I want entertainment, I easily
can watch a movie on Netflix or listen to music on my iPhone without leaving my
home. Oh, and do not try to be hip and
relevant by using trendy cultural clichés, it doesn’t work and is simply lame. I am in the pew; tell me something that I can’t
hear from ‘Entertainment Tonight’ or from the most recent ‘Avengers Movie.’
When I listen to a sermon, I am not interested in a list
of ‘how-to’s.’ If I am actually interested
in ‘how-to’s,’ there always seems to be a new book or a TV talk-show guest who
offers a particular version of self-help exercises to improve my life for
$19.95. I am in the pew; tell me
something that I can’t hear from Oprah or Cosmopolitan Magazine, and please
don’t point me back to myself to find the answers to all my problems or I might
as well just stay on my living room couch.
When I listen to a sermon, I am not interested in hearing
a bunch of spiritual stories about the preacher. Frankly, the life of that pastor is not my
life and his life is not mine. If I am
interested in that pastor’s life and stories, I can go out for coffee with him and
learn more about his life. I am in the pew;
tell me something more than the stories of a mere mortal man.
When I listen to a sermon, I am not interested in hearing
mainly about Democrats or Republicans or the most recent social cause or scandal. If I am interested in these things, I can
watch MSNBC or FoxNews. I am in the pew;
tell me something more than the repeated talking points of the Associated Press.
When I listen to a sermon, what do I
expect? What should you expect?
We should expect that sermons tell us about
our sin – as uncomfortable as that makes us – and about the answer to our sin. Yes, we need to be hammered with God’s Divine
Law; our idols need to be exposed. We
need to be shown where we have failed in thought, word, and deed. We are in the pew because we are broken and
in need.
We then should expect to hear again and again
about our baptism, the incarnation, justification, grace alone, and faith alone
– the Gospel! We should expect to be prepared
to receive the very body and blood of our Lord and the life that it gives. After all we are in the pew; we need to hear
more than stories from a pastor’s life or what Lady Gaga, Entertainment
Tonight, Cosmopolitan Magazine, or the news can say. We desperately need and should expect to clearly
hear God’s Word, the Word that delivers forgiveness, life, salvation, and hope
into our hearts and minds. We need and
should expect to hear Christ Jesus: crucified, dead, buried, and resurrected –
for you and for me.
This is what I expect to hear in a sermon –
this is what my soul needs to hear in a sermon and it is what you should expect
and what your soul needs as well, for we simply do not and cannot hear a
message such as this anywhere else.
This article is published in The Sargent County Teller Newspaper: Milnor, ND (March 4, 2016)
To learn more on this subject: Discerning a Christ Centered Sermon
To learn more on this subject: Discerning a Christ Centered Sermon
CLICK HERE to 'Like' on Facebook
CLICK HERE to 'Follow' on Twitter
CLICK HERE to Subscribe on iTunes
CLICK HERE to Subscribe on Podbean