By Steven A. Long
Now shouldn't we pray for Holy Spirit help in sermon delivery? Of course. But it isn't a bad idea to ask for assistance in study and preparation as well.
The last flaw is that Stream of Consciousness sermons often leave the audience wondering, "What was that sermon about?" That should not surprise us. Such sermons are often about nothing in particular, though they may touch on many topics.
An older Stream of Consciousness preacher once gave me this pointer on successful sermon delivery: "Sometimes I turn to the back of my study Bible on Sunday morning and look at the topical outlines for a sermon idea. Several issues will grab my attention. But I won't lock myself into the Three-Point structure. Sometimes I have three points, sometimes one. Sometimes I don't have any point at all."
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Indeed.
While Stream of Consciousness writing can be good literature, a key point to remember is that writers such as Joyce use the technique judiciously. Yes, Joyce continues with this style for forty pages in Ulysses, but the bulk of the book contains dialogue and plot, and even that is mighty tough reading. Writers who overuse this devise will be rewarded with a frustrated reader and a book slammed shut. And that is another difference between Stream of Consciousness writing and preaching. When our brain can take no more, the preacher drones on without relief.
I suspect that while a good Stream of Consciousness sermon may be a possibility, very few of us could successfully pull it off week after week. The fact that so many preachers continue to feed their congregations a steady diet of this type sermon is a testimony to tolerant or biblically ignorant parishioners, not a successful style of preaching.
So if you want to preach stream of consciousness sermons keep mind that they are as difficult as mountain climbing many people die on Everest last year when they filmed the Imax movie I can see it at a theatre like the one where my Dad lives though he never goes because he is getting older which we all will do sometime I suppose we need to prepare to meet our maker and evangelize the lost especially if they are going to climb a mountain... Ethyl, fire up the organ time for the invitation.
1Joyce, James. Ulysses. (New York: Random House 1961), 727-728.