Saccharine & Sermonettes
Friday, February 24, 2023
“Preaching exists not for the propagating of views, opinions, and ideas; preaching exists for the proclamation of the mighty acts of God.” – Alistair Begg
I don’t understand the rationale behind most homilies. Webster’s defines a homily as a “short sermon, lecture, or discourse, usually on a moral theme.” It can also be defined as an “inspirational catchphrase.” In other words, keep it short and sweet so your listeners don’t get bored or offended.
As a pastor, I generally preach for about 40 minutes. It seems like that is about the time it takes to adequately interpret a passage of Scripture and to offer some practical applications. Go much beyond that timeframe and your audience may become a bit fidgety. Worse yet, they may actually doze off. But, by the same token, if you shorten your sermon to 20 minutes or less, no sooner do you get started than it’s time to finish.
Of course, there are times when an abbreviated message is appropriate such as the 35 years I spent taking sports teams into prisons. After all, the inmates came to see a hotly contested game, not to hear some preacher pontificate. And so, we would generally limit our gospel presentations to about 15 minutes… including a 5-minute testimony and a 10-minute message.
The bottom line is that the length of the message isn’t the most important aspect. On the contrary, the content is the most critical element. And, as Alistair Begg points out in today’s quote, that content had better be about God… and not you.
Sermons can be entertaining, but pastors dare not be entertainers.
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:2-4 (BSB)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
