F.W. Boreham: Telling Stories, Exalting the Cross

Next the preacher turned to talk about the joy of finishing and finishing well. He drew on literature for examples from Livingston’s journal, from historian Henry Buckle, from missionary Henry Martyn, from Charles Dickens, and several others who “long, but long in vain, for the priceless privilege of finishing their work.”

In this vein the preacher continued. He reached the high point of the sermon to quote from Hudson Taylor’s autobiography a poem that included the stanza:

’It is Finished!’ yes, indeed,

Finished every jot;

Sinner, this is all you need;

Tell me, is it not?

Several other examples from history and literature follow, extolling the virtue of finishing. The sermon text comes again and again like the chorus of a hymn:

’The Finished Work of Christ!’

‘Tetelestai! Tetelestai!’

‘It is finished!’

Boreham’s unique homiletical style in his books and in the pulpit found a great welcome from the public, but some other preachers criticized them as theologically shallow. If a modern reader is looking for theological jargon in Boreham’s writings, he will search in vain. This is no accident, for Boreham said: “Theology is to a sermon what the skeleton is to the body: it gives shape and support to the preacher’s utterance without itself being visible. It is very noticeable that Jesus Himself seldom or never became theological.”6

In his autobiography, Boreham said, “The one passionate desire of my heart has been to lead my hearers to Christ. I have never entered a pulpit without feeling that, if only people could catch a vision of the Saviour, they would have no alternative but to lay their devotion at his feet. My soul has caught fire when ever I have exalted the cross.”7

F. W. Boreham was a master storyteller, but this skill was more than a mere attention getter. Like the parables of Jesus, Boreham’s stories were the vessel for bringing the water of life to thirsty souls. His stories did more than capture attention; they also conveyed the gospel truth and stuck in the memory of all who heard them.

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Austin B. Tucker is a frequent contributor to Preaching and a Distance Learning Instructor for Liberty Theological Seminary. He lives in Shreveport, LA.

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Notes.

1. W.A. Van Leen, www.ccgm.org.

2. T. Howard Crago, The Story of F. W. Boreham. Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1981, p. 121.

3. F. W. Boreham, A Handful of Stars. Chicago: Judson, 1950 reprint. pp.183-185. Copyright by F. W. Boreham, 1922.

4. Crogo, 180.

5. F. W. Boreham, “Hudson Taylor’s Text” A Handful of Stars. Philadelphia: Judson reprint, 1950 (copyright, 1922, by F. W. Boreham).

6. Crago, 120.

7. F. W. Boreham, My Pilgrimage. Judson, 1950, p.20, quoted in Clyde Fant and Wm. Pinson, Twenty Centuries of Great Preaching, VIII, 189.