Before preachers soar homiletically, they must dig exegetically. Before we decide what God wants to say through us to our congregations, we must know what He wanted the biblical writer to say to another people in another place and time. And we preachers must accept that biblical exegesis is not determining what the biblical writer wanted to say, but discovering what the biblical writer wanted to say. As such, the biblical exegete will go the Scripture with no preconceived thoughts or personal agendas, but with an open mind, anxious to discover what God has disclosed. In exegesis, the preacher strives for accuracy.

Some preachers bunch or lump their exegesis together at the beginning of the sermon, especially their discoveries relating to historical data. They feel it is crucial to give all their background material first, to "lay the foundation," as it were. Exegesis works best, though, when it is interwoven throughout the sermon and is undetectable, though evident. Exegesis should function in a sermon as yeast does in bread or seasoning in food. It should impact the product but not be glaringly detectable. And the preacher must ever resist the temptation to impress the hearer with his or her scholarship, remembering that it is virtually impossible to lift up Jesus and show oneself to be smart simultaneously.

Advertisement

Theology

Was the sermon theologically sound? Preaching is a deeply theological act in which a human being speaks a word on behalf of God. It is because God has spoken that the preacher dares to speak, and the word the preacher proclaims must ring with theology.

No matter the passage of Scripture, the preacher must not only craft an exegetical proposition, but a theological one as well. He or she must plumb for the profound theological themes in the passage, linking them to similar themes in the rest of Bible. Indeed, it is in comparing a theological principle or theme in one pericope to a similar theme in another passage that the biblical exegete will be able to test the veracity of that particular theme. Along the way, the preacher will ask questions such as: "What is God saying and demonstrating to His people in this passage? Was the sermon christocentric?"

It is alleged that Charles Spurgeon once remarked that it didn't matter what his passage for the day was, after reading it he would immediately make a beeline to the cross. For Spurgeon, Christ and His cross were to be at once the core, content and center of all preaching. Preaching that failed to lift up Jesus Christ had no currency for Spurgeon, who like Paul reveled in the "foolishness of the cross."

A sermon that is grounded in the love of Christ will exhibit a grace orientation even if it deals with matters of the law. It will reek of restoration and resurrection, since, in a true sense, all Christian preaching is resurrection preaching. Hope will not be a lacking ingredient, but an ever present reality that seasons every element of the sermon.