To Preach a Book: The Eighth Sermon

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
~ 2 Timothy 4:2

Follow one preacher’s journey preaching through a book.

The eighth sermon covers Ruth 3:1-5, which is the opening image and inciting action of the fourth scene. The fourth scene closes the story middle and propels us into the story end scenes.

Sermon Introduction

I opened this sermon quoting one of the most famous opening lines in English literature, which is the opening line of Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice. In the novel, Mrs. Bennett is the harried mother of five single daughters who frantically spends her days in trying to secure rich husbands for them in order to save their family from ruin upon the loss of their estate when Mr. Bennett dies. Some see Naomi this way in this part of Ruth, so I connected the two and hoped to show that Naomi was not a Mrs. Bennett.

I recapped the resolution of the previous scene and drew attention to the revelations that moved the story forward. I also reminded how that scene marked the first sign of upward arc change for Naomi. Though the third scene marked a positive value shift in the story, they main tension of the story is still unresolved because they haven’t yet found rest.

I introduced the fourth scene and how Naomi was awakened to the possibility of finding rest through redemption by the kinsman, Boaz. The scene comes at the midpoint of the book where the unifying theme of finding rest is stated and the theme of covenant faithfulness is highlighted. While Naomi’s actions are risky, they are presented in the narrative as actions of faith.

Verses 1-2 Naomi Recognizes Their State

At the end of the harvest season, Naomi acknowledges the blessings they had received, but also recognizes they are still without rest, that settled dwelling in peace and safety with abundant provision. It is not bleak though, because their current state also includes an opportunity because of Boaz their kinsman.

Verses 3-5 Naomi Lays Out a Plan

Naomi instructs Ruth what to do to request redemption from Boaz. The plan is odd to us because we are not familiar with the ancient customs, but we need not read into it anything untoward. Ruth has been presented and maintained as a wisdom character of the virtuous woman. Naomi’s plan and her actions do not conflict with that. When compared with Proverbs, we can note contrasts between Ruth and the strange woman.

Most likely, Ruth had maintained wearing her widow’s garments to this point, which would have marked her as unavailable. Naomi’s instructions to her seem odd on the surface, but she’s probably instructing her to put off her widow’s garments and present herself first and only to Boaz. Ruth responds faithfully and does as instructed.

Sermon Conclusion

Naomi’s actions are seen as faithful because she is responding to the recognition of God’s providence working for their relief. By the end of chapter 1, Naomi was without hope, but this passage in the middle of the book marks the return to hope for Naomi. I concluded by making practical application for our congregation about how we tend to withdraw when we lose hope, and yet faith and hope moves us out of the safety shadow.

Links

You can listen to the eighth sermon here.

Up Next

Next we will look at the ninth sermon in the series

50 Million Opportunities

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
~ Matthew 12:36

Spurgeon was an average preacher.

Did I really just suggest Spurgeon was an average preacher? If you know anything about Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), you have reason to be suspicious. He started preaching at 17 years old, and by the time he turned 20, he had preached over 600 times. For most of his ministry, he preached about 10 times a week. Spurgeon preached for 38 years and died at age 57. For much of his ministry, his weekly sermons were published in 20 different languages and sold 20,000 copies per week. His collected and published sermons filled 63 volumes with around 25 million words, and is the largest set of books ever published by a single author. In 2017, a two-volume set of his previously unpublished sermons was released. He preached to crowds of many thousands at a time and it’s estimated he preached to over 10 million people in his lifetime.

Spurgeon also managed do a few things outside the pulpit. He wrote over 140 other books besides his published sermons. He pastored a congregation of 4,000 members, edited a monthly magazine, and answered 500 letters per week. He read around six books each week, usually of substantial Puritan theology, and could remember what he read. He founded and oversaw over 60 organizations, had a pastor’s college that trained close to one thousand preachers in his lifetime, and he regularly counseled what he called difficult cases. In other words, all the hard situations no other pastors could figure out were referred to him. He had a wife who was near invalid and twin sons. He also lived with constant physical pain and criticism and slander. It’s estimated he donated nearly 50 million dollars to ministries in his lifetime. Even this is not everything that could be said about him. Oh, and he did it all without a Macbook or iPhone, or even electricity since the first public electricity generator wasn’t installed until 1881 in Surrey. For that matter, he did it all without a college or seminary education.

I know what you’re thinking. Nothing about that sounds average, and you’re right. It’s not average, and it’s one of the reasons it’s laughable whenever anyone compares a modern preacher to Spurgeon. Spurgeon has not been equaled, and the only safe or sane estimate is to expect that record to stand. But, in what way was Spurgeon average?

Average Numbers

I confess I am not a Spurgeon scholar, or any other kind of scholar while we’re on the subject of my deficiencies. I have read a lot of what Spurgeon wrote and a lot of what has been written about him. So far, I’ve only found one measure of Spurgeon where he was average, and that was his speech in the pulpit. I realize Spurgeon was famous for his unmatched eloquence in the pulpit, but I’m talking about his rate of speaking words in the pulpit. It has been figured to have been around 140 words per minute, which is within the average of 120-150 words per minute for public speaking. Spurgeon wasn’t a fast talker, neither literally nor figuratively. Here is one area where we preachers can take heart that we are very much like Spurgeon. We probably speak words in that same average range for public speaking like he did.

You might to be tempted to take small comfort in that fact, but we can make something of it. If Spurgeon preached 140 words per minute for an average of 40 minutes for the first three years of his ministry, he preached 3,360,000 words in those 600 sermons he preached. If he preached an average of ten times a week, then he annually preached 2,912,000 words. The average pastor today preaches 2-3 times per week. Let’s take the higher number and say the average pastor preaches three times a week for 45 minutes at a rate of 140 words per minute. Each sermon would be 6,300 words and add up to 982,800 words each year. That’s a lot of words, but still less than 34% of Spurgeon’s annual output. Even when Spurgeon was average at the number of words he produced per minute, he still managed preach three times the number of words preached by the average pastor in a year. Maybe he wasn’t so average after all.

Beyond the Numbers

Pastoring is, or should be, a long game. Most pastors would hope for 25-30 years of fruitful ministry. Some do get beyond that. 6,300 hundred words preached in a single sermon doesn’t seem like much. Of course, three sermons a week come out to 18,900, and 156 sermons a year add up to 982,800. The average pastor today is producing around one million words from the pulpit every year.

Those words really start to stack up when you count ministry in years. After 5 years of ministry, the average pastor has preached 4,914,000 words. 10 years doubles that number and 20 years quadruples it to 19,656,000 words. If you make it to 40 years, you will have preached 39,312,000 words, and 50 would be 49,140,000. Think about that. 50 years of preaching will produce around 50 million words preached. That is a lot of words. Of course, the average pastor in 50 years of preaching would still produce less than half the words of Spurgeon in his 38 years, which would be 110,656,000.

Let’s forget about Spurgeon for the moment and consider what these numbers might teach us. David and Moses both teach us the benefit of numbering our days ahead of time (Psalms 39:4; 90:12), so numbering our words ahead of time should benefit preachers. Considering the number of words we are likely to speak in public is especially sobering when we consider that we will have to account for each one (Matthew 12:36). Jesus said that every careless word will be accounted for and surely this will be a part of the accounting we all shall have to give in the future (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Romans 14:12; 1 Peter 4:5).

Every word a preacher speaks from the pulpit is an opportunity to get it right and get it wrong. We get it right when we accurately expound the text in its original contextual meaning and speak according to the analogy of the faith. We get it wrong when we misinterpret or misuse the text, but we also get it wrong when we speak carelessly. Careless words are spoken without thought and consideration.

Who’s Counting

I’m scared to think of how many of the millions of words I’ve preached to this point have been careless words. I know there have been wrong words in there, since I’m not infallible and don’t have all knowledge. I’ve been preaching for over 20 years. Do I have another 20 years to go? I don’t know. Only God knows that.

I do know that words from the pulpit will be judged with greater strictness than words spoken on the street (James 3:1). Since Jesus said every careless word would be accounted for, he’s obviously keeping count. How many preachers’ words are careless when they get in the pulpit with little preparation, study, and forethought? How many times do preachers just rare back and let ‘er fly? Will those words still be counted careless if they said what was true, but it was almost accidental because they gave it little to no consideration beforehand?

These thoughts should make us tremble over the words we have spoken and will yet speak. Each word matters and each word is an opportunity for right or wrong. The only way to assure we are preaching thoughtful and true words and minimizing careless ones is to follow the preaching program Paul charged Timothy with, “Preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:1-2). Paul meant “all scripture” (2 Timothy 3:16). Preach the words God gave in the way he gave them and you can make your words count for good.

To Preach a Book: Sermon 7 – God is Not Silent

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
~ 2 Timothy 4:2

Follow one preacher’s journey preaching through a book.

The seventh sermon covers the short, transitional scene in Ruth 2:18-23. This scene is like a bridge to move from the important events earlier in chapter 2 to those in chapter 3.

Sermon Introduction

I gave a brief review of the climactic resolution of the previous scene. Ruth went out empty, but came back full after a day of gleaning in the field. As important as that was, it was more important that she met Boaz.

I also introduced the third scene and highlighted its importance. The third scene resolves the dramatic tension built up in the previous scene. Providence had turned for Naomi and Ruth, but neither of them knew it. So this third scene turns on revelation, where both Naomi and Ruth learn what they didn’t know.

Verses 18-20 Naomi is Surprised by Grace

Ruth returned home to report to Naomi what happened. Naomi is surprised by the food she brings and inquires where she gleaned that day. When Naomi learns that it was Boaz’ field and what transpired between Boaz and Ruth, she is beyond elated. She prays a blessing on Boaz and recognizes God’s hand of providence at work. She reveals the family connection to Ruth.

Verses 21-23 Ruth Remains Faithful

Ruth gives further revelation to Naomi that Boaz not only blessed her for a day, but invited to glean in his field for the entire harvest season. Of course, Naomi advises Ruth to accept his invitation.

The scene ends with summary exposition. Ruth spent the next two months gleaning in the fields of Boaz. She stayed with his maid servants following the reapers. She was given safety and provision, which they both lacked when arriving in Bethlehem. Apparently, nothing further happened between Ruth and Boaz.

Sermon Conclusion

Ruth’s identity and character is further established by this scene. It is apparent that God was working for the good of Ruth and Naomi, while he was accomplishing his redemptive purpose in bringing forth David and the Messiah. We are furnished with a good picture of what daily faithfulness looks like. It means trusting God to accomplish his redemptive purpose and daily walking by faith according to his word.

Links

You can listen to the seventh sermon here.

Up Next

Next we will look at the eighth sermon in the series.

This post is part a of series. To read the entire series from the beginning, go here.

Saving Miss Piggy

As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman without discretion.
~ Proverbs 11:22

It ain’t easy being green

“I wear rubber boots when it rains.” The kid to my right whispered in my ear. What should I do with that? I turned to the kid to my left and whispered to him, “I like to play in the mud when it rains.” My part was done. That kid turned to the kid to his left and relayed the message, and it kept going like that until the last one whispered to the teacher stationed at 12 o’clock. It’s called the gossip game and it was supposed to teach us some kind of lesson, but I guess it was lost on us. I remember playing a lot of group participation games like that in school.

Around fourth grade, or maybe it was fifth grade, I had the opportunity of taking a creative writing class at a local college. The class was taught by one of the professors there. She went on to get elected to the state house of representatives, so I guess our class was a great success. One day she had us participate in a group brainstorming exercise. She started off with a word and then gave us prompts and we were supposed to respond with the first thing that came to mind.

She was teaching us about the need for conflict in stories and the goal of the exercise was to setup a problem and each of us would have to write a story to solve that problem. The memory tends to fuzz and fray after a few years, so I can’t recall all the details. We ended up with Miss Piggy as a character and she was in trouble. She might have been stuck up in a tree and we had to get her out of the tree in our compelling short stories.

Up a Tree

Our brainstorming session is also what is known as free association, which is a common technique used in improvisation workshops for the training of actors. It is also a psychology tool made famous by Freud. In free association you respond to a word or action with the first word or action that comes to mind. The goal is to get a free flow of ideas without any structure, logic, examination, or judgment of the value of the idea. At the beginning of class, we had no notion Miss Piggy would be stuck up in a tree, but free association put her there by the end.

Free association may have value, like the usefulness of hose clamp pliers for removing hose clamps, but is not equally applicable to all needs. I’m juberous of declaring value of free association for the pulpit and sermon making. Sometimes preachers are quite open about their free association process for developing a sermon. A preacher was driving and got stuck in a traffic jam and had an idea for a sermon on getting stuck in life. Maybe the traffic jam was due to a highway accident and he thought of a sermon on making a wreck of your life. A preacher was shopping at shops similar to those at https://www.shopfrontdesign.co.uk/shop-fronts/frameless/bristol/, which will definitely catch your eye. and passing all these signs advertising the best sale of the year, he got the idea for a sermon about not selling out.

At other times, preachers don’t take us along the development journey. He reads Luke 15:8-10, talks for a few minutes about the parable, and then announces he is going to preach on the thought: Have you lost your coin? Another preacher reads Mark 5:21-43 and says he will preach for a few minutes on this thought: How to get Jesus to come to your house. A preachers decides he wants to preach on the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a big subject with a lot of biblical information to work with, but the preacher starts associating. He thinks about what a kingdom is and what a kingdom needs. A kingdom needs a king, so he looks up some verses on kings. A kingdom needs subjects, so he looks up some verses. A kingdom needs laws, so he looks up some verses. A kingdom needs a throne, so he looks up some verses. He putters on along this line until his 45 minute quota is filled.

The Problem

A lot of preachers use this sort of free association exercise to develop their sermons. They setup the problem their sermon is going to solve. Sunday after Sunday they’re always saving Miss Piggy from the pulpit.

So, what’s wrong with preaching this way? Does free association or similar brainstorming have no place at all in developing sermons? The biggest problem with this approach to preaching is that saving Miss Piggy sermons are not text-driven, they’re idea driven. Rather than starting with the text of Scripture and asking, What has God said?, such sermons start with the free ideas of the preacher to setup a problem to solve that will more or less use some Bible verses. That’s just not preaching in any biblical sense of that term.

Preachers are called by God to preach his word and to work hard in his word and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17). The preacher’s primary job is not solving people’s problems, but preaching God’s book and giving them all his counsel (Acts 20:27; 2 Timothy 3:16-4:2). God’s word is inspired, inerrant, authoritative, and profitable. Your words are not. Your thoughts on how every Christian has an “Amen!” button are worthless in light of eternity. My thoughts on how to always have a smile will not save or sanctify anyone. Even sharing your personal journey is of limited value. Pastor Jason Shults wrote, “Your life story will only lead people to salvation to the extent that it points people to Jesus.”

Of course, preachers get ideas all the time from various circumstances, and I’m not saying there’s no value in them. However, if you have an idea for a sermon, there should be a biblical text that actually speaks to it without ripping it out of context and writing extra stuff in your Bible margins to make it fit. Otherwise, it’s not biblical preaching and you’re just saving Miss Piggy, and I guess that makes you Kermit. So the next time you’re up a tree trying to prepare a sermon, just look for Jesus to come by. It worked for Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10).

To Preach a Book: Sermon 4 – Desperate Words of Wind

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
~ 2 Timothy 4:2

Follow one preacher’s journey preaching through a book.

In the fourth sermon, I finished Chapter 1, which is the opening of Scene 2. Here is where I picked up all of verse 19 and covered through verse 22 of Chapter 1. Scene 2 begins the middle section of this story. The middle consists of Scenes 2-4 covering the barley and wheat harvest in Judah. The inciting incident for the scene and the middle section is Naomi’s returning to Bethlehem empty. Their emptiness is contrasted against the beginning of the harvest in Bethlehem, so there is food everywhere and Bethlehem is full but they are empty. The story progresses through the middle until Ruth goes to the threshing floor at night to request redemption from Boaz. The middle resolves with Boaz’ agreement and his going off to settle the matter.

Sermon Introduction

I wanted to review Scene 1 and point out some ways it sets up the whole story and introduces the controlling, unifying theme as well as key themes for the entire story. I tried to draw attention to how this was accomplished by pacing and the characters’ choices and responses to the events. I also wanted to introduce Scene 2 and the opening image of the scene we were looking at in this sermon. Naomi is presented as a wisdom character, an archetypal sufferer wrestling with her situation. Further, she is depicted as a suffering widow of Israel, hinting at the Messianic and eschatological overtones of the book.

Verses 19-22 Naomi’s Return to Bethlehem

The opening image of Scene 2 has Naomi returning to Bethlehem with Ruth. The author notes how her return created a stir among the townspeople. The whole city gathered around them, which is a bit of hyperbole since we know Boaz wasn’t there. When he comes into the story, his knowledge of Naomi and Ruth is only what he has heard. We would naturally expect Naomi to be peppered with questions in a situation like that. Her explanation of her situation takes up most of this section.

In verses 20-21 Naomi speaks of her experiences and attributes the events in her life to God’s providence. Here Naomi sounds most like Job in his complaints. We can certainly see similarity in their circumstances, but there is an important intertextual connection as Naomi uses the name Almighty, El Shaddai, for God. The book of Job uses this title more than any other book, and especially in a similar attribution to God’s providence (Job 27:2). Naomi speaks explicitly to the unifying theme as she declares her own emptiness. I took the title for the sermon, “Desperate Words of Wind,” from Job 6:26.

Verse 22 closes the chapter and the opening image of Scene 2. The reader is reminded that Naomi had Ruth, so her emptiness was not quite as complete as it might seem. This short verse contributes to the theme of Ruth as a stranger, or foreigner. Her status in some ways contrasts with the wise woman in Proverbs 31, but also contrasts with the adulterous woman in Proverbs. The last phrase mentions the providential timing of their return, which is so crucial for the events to unfold as they do throughout the book and bring Naomi and Ruth to rest.

Sermon Conclusion

We need to be careful of hasty conclusions concerning Naomi. It’s early in the story and her character arc is by no means complete. Reading Naomi as Job-like sufferer also gives us pause before engaging in hasty condemnations. The author does not give any judgments about Naomi’s words, but the obvious connections with Job are certainly key to how we should think about her. The characters are dealing with great hardships in life and the story gives us direction on responding to those who are suffering and thinking about our own sufferings.

Links

You can listen to the fourth sermon in the series here.

Up Next

Next, I will look at the fifth sermon in the series.

This post is part a of series. To read the entire series from the beginning, go here.

To Preach a Book: Sermon 3 – A New Identity

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
~ 2 Timothy 4:2

Follow one preacher’s journey preaching through a book.

For the third sermon, I chose to preach the rest of Scene 1, which is Ruth 1:6-18. You will notice on my scene sheets that I actually broke the scene in the middle of verse 19. I ended up putting verse 19 with Scene 2. It’s not a big issue, but the rest of verse 19 is part of the inciting incident for Scene 2. Verses 6-18 give us the turning point, crisis choice, climax decision, and resolution for the scene and moves the story into the middle. We learn more about Naomi and Ruth as characters in this story. I entitled the sermon, “A New Identity,” because the conversion of Ruth and Ruth’s identity which is a recurring motif throughout the story.

Verses 6-13 Naomi’s Choice

The opening of the story has left Naomi a childless widow in a foreign land. She lost rest, even the hope of rest, and she had to make a choice. She chose to return to Israel after she had learned the famine was ended and Judah had food. We are not told how she received this story revelation, but it creates the turning point in the scene.

She began the journey back and Ruth and Orpah accompanied her. Verses 8-9 give Naomi’s words to her daughters-in-law, which sets up their choice in the scene. She bids them to return to their homes and family. Naomi blesses and prays for them to experience Yahweh’s kindness. This is the first mention of hesed, which refers to covenant kindness or faithfulness, introducing an important theme.

This is also the first of four instances where Ruth is praised for virtuous acts, introducing her as a wisdom character. The book of Ruth obviously parallels Ruth with the virtuous/wise woman of Proverbs 31. The word for virtuous that describes the wise woman, used in Proverbs 30:10, and 29, is also used to describe Ruth in Ruth 2:1; 3:11; and 4:11. I needed to explore this, so I printed out the text of Proverbs 31:10-31 and read through it several times. I wanted to identify characteristics of the wise woman and noted those down the left hand margin. I identified ten different characteristics that were praised in that passage. I also wanted to note where Ruth was either praised for, or displayed those characteristics in the book of Ruth. I put this information on a spreadsheet and included there a contrast with the strange, or foreign, woman in Proverbs. The same word is used of Ruth to describe her as a foreigner, but she is obviously the antithesis of the Proverbs strange woman. You will find links for these sheets at the bottom of the post.

Verse 9 states the controlling theme for the story of finding rest. Finding rest is symbolized by family, the house of a husband. Ruth and Orpah both initially respond with their intentions to stay with her. In verses 11-13, Naomi responds to them in terms of finding rest and that she cannot provide it for them. Naomi is hopeless and is introduced here as a wisdom character, a Job-like suffering figure. She had endured extreme hardship. She acknowledged God’s hand of providence in her life and made a statement similar to Job’s statements about his sufferings in Job 6:4 and 19:21. She will have further statements establishing her as an archetypal sufferer.

Verses 14-18 Ruth’s Choice

The scene moves toward resolution as Ruth and Orpah must make a choice. Orpah returns to her people and provides a foil for illustrating Ruth’s conversion and character as she assumes a new identity. Ruth had already been praised for showing covenant kindness and the narrator describes that she clave to Naomi. Some translations have clung. The word for clave/clung is associated in the Old Testament with covenant faithfulness and describes what Israel was supposed to do (Deuteronomy 10:20; 13:4; Joshua 23:8). It sets up Ruth’s confession in verses 16-17 and her unwavering loyalty throughout the book.

Verses 16-17 are the familiar confession of Ruth, and are some of the most beautiful words in the Bible. The words demonstrate the conversion of Ruth and declare her loyalty to Yahweh, the God of Israel. Her loyalty, love, and faithfulness to Naomi are clearly seen as the fruit of her loyalty, love, and faithfulness to Yahweh. Ruth has a new identity, though her ethnic identity doesn’t change. Ruth’s identity is a recurring motif. The scene resolves with Naomi and Ruth returning to Bethlehem.

Sermon Conclusion

The conclusion needed to point out realities about faith. The book presents the characters, especially Naomi and Ruth, in such a way that their choices and actions are seen as actions of faith. Both Naomi and Ruth are in hard circumstances, with limited options. Ruth’s choice is enhanced by Orpah’s choice to return. For the two young widows, returning to their family homes seem the most promising. That is not what Ruth did.

We learn a certain lesson about faith, which is that faith is not merely knowledge or ideas. The Christian faith is not theoretical, abstract ideas we merely entertain, discuss, and play with. Faith in forms how we make decisions and how we live in this world.

Sermon Introduction

To introduce this sermon, I wanted to give a brief summary of the previous sermon. We covered the opening part of the scene. I wanted to point out important lessons there and connect it to the rest of the scene before us.

I wanted to introduce the last part of Scene 1 in terms of the important themes introduced at this point of the story. The controlling/unifying theme of the whole story is introduced here. The themes of wisdom and covenant faithfulness are also introduced. These themes are important for the shape of the story and informing how we read it.

Links

You can listen to the third sermon of the series here. You can download the markup sheet of Proverbs 31:10-31 here. You can download the spreadsheet of the parallels and contrasts of Ruth and Proverbs here.

Up Next

In the next post, I will look at the fourth sermon in the series.

This post is part a of series. To read the entire series from the beginning, go here.

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