A servant is hurried by his master to go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and invite the poor, crippled, blind and lame people to his master’s house; the servant states that he had already made the invitation, but that there was still room after persons had responded to the invitation as others had cited various reasons why they could not come. The master then told him to go beyond to the hedges and to the highways and to compel people to come in, so that he could have a full house (Luke 14:20-13). This is the great commission, the primary job of Christians, the job given to them by Jesus, the Messiah. In Mark 16:15 Jesus tells His disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (NKJV). It is the job that He fashioned for them while He was on earth; and although the good news can be delivered in several ways, the most common method is the spoken word. Make no mistake though, a sermon comes in various forms. When we think about the Word of God we think about Jesus, who was Himself the Word (St. John 1:1). Not only was he the Word, His life and His words enacted the Word. Through the various forms of Jesus’s living sermons comes salvation, hope, victory, good news, spiritual and physical healing, moral awakening, fellowship, and call to action. If we are to be like Him, the greatest deliverer of a sermon, we have to anticipate these same outcomes; moreover, we have to embrace the case for preaching as presented in Mark Chapter 13; we have to ensure that everyone hears the gospel as we have already seen in Mark 16:15; and we know from Peter when he says that we are “born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God" (1 Peter 1:23) that our sanctification is dependent upon our systematic study of the word. “Born again” as referenced by Peter here, does not refer to the act of accepting Jesus Christ, but rather to the on-going process by which persons are made whole. Usually, this sanctification process is augmented and advanced by the spoken Word of God as delivered in preacher’s sermon. Moreover, we have to talk about Him, which based on Him being the Word is the same thing as preaching.
So we know what preaching is, and we know why preaching is important, but do we consciously effect outcomes? Reverend Michael Quicke, principal of Spurgeon’s College references homilitetician, F.B. Craddok, who suggests various outcomes preachers want to realize during and after a sermon:
. . .some preachers have a strong hesitation about being instrumental in changing
the life of others in the belief that 'Truth is its own evangelist' and that all that
they have to do is transmit information. Other preachers unconsciously have such
rhetorical timidity that they may design sermons to say absolutely nothing that
might make a difference, or to be so boring that apathy is virtually guaranteed (58).
Craddok goes on to say that most preachers gauge the success of their sermons based on the comments parishioner make at the end of worship, while other congregations are expected to answer “questions about its biblical and doctrinal content as well as the effectiveness of its delivery” (58). Southern Baptists give an altar call, the Salvation Army rely on a repentance bench, and in charismatic movement persons are called to receive support through prayer (58).
The most important thing to note about assessment of sermons Quicke concludes is that:
Preaching is a complex event dependent upon unique factors associated with an individual preacher in a particular context. Most importantly, it is a dynamic spiritual activity. Only God can bring about genuine spiritual consequences through preaching. These may be immediate or long term and are often not open to evaluation. Preaching is a spiritual activity subject to God's sovereign working which cannot by definition be open to exacting human scrutiny (58).
The bottom line is that preaching is necessary, that the expectations of preaching are varied, that it must have outcomes, but that the neither the preacher nor the hearer alone can effect the outcome.
So the preacher preaches, but what exactly is it that brings about change in the hearer? In general, it is the Holy Sprit that gives Christians the words to say, especially at crucial times. In Luke 12: 12 we are told “ for the Holy Spirit will teach you in at that time what you should say” (NIV). It is the Holy Spirit is the oracle that speaks through the messenger. He teaches messengers what to say, and illuminates the truth of the Word. He brings things to their remembrance and irradiate the word of God. But how does the Holy Spirit affect the pastor, the congregation, the focus and development of the sermon? The onus is upon the preacher to draw nigh to the Spirit through prayer and through the reading of the Word. This contact is what sets the stage for the delivery of the message; it acts like an unguent lathering the messenger with the anointing necessary to effect the outcomes of life-changing behaviors in the Christian, and the choice for Christ in the unbeliever. In order, the Spirit works first on the preacher, and then works through him to the receivers. The Holy Spirit makes the word of God lucid to the believer, explaining through the preacher any area that need explaining.
Messages administered with the unction of the Holy Spirit are empty man-made discourse usually centered on the ego of the preacher. The consequences of delivering such messages is having a congregation of immature Christians, who don’t have the wherewithal to withstand the challenges of life.
Ultimately, the reasons for delivering sermons in a local church setting is to empower parishioners to be spiritually and physically healthy to perform the great commission. We are made strong by the hearing and doing of the Word, by practicing the presence of the Lord, by fellowship with one another, and by sharpening each other. Without the sermon messages are halted, and there is no direction for the Church as a body.
References
Davis, Steven F. (2001). The Doctrine of Preaching in the New Testament. The American Journal of Biblical Theology, 2(21). Retrieved from http://www.biblicaltheology.com/Research/DavisS01.html 28 May 2016.
Quicke, Michael. J. (1999). Preaching Outcomes. Evangel (Summer 1999), pp.58-62. Retrieved from http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/evangel/17-2_quicke.pdf on 28 May, 2016
Online Journal
Last, F. M. (Year Published). Article title. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pp. Page(s). doi:# or Retrieved from URL
Example:
Poiger, U. G. (1996). Rock 'n' roll, female sexuality, and the Cold War Battle over German Identities. The Journal of Modern History, 68(3), 577. doi:10.1086/245343
