24 Sep 07 Preaching VIX (A Paradigm Shift)

During my time in Oregon, as I was in the midpoint of my doctoral studies,  I took a class on preaching with Dr. Donald Sunukjian.  I am not overstating or exaggerating when I say this course changed my whole approach to preaching.  As a result of this course and his instruction my preaching underwent a major paradigm shift.

Before this course I prepared and preached under the assumption that every sermon had to be filled with supporting statements from the Bible and that every fact, every utterance, every point had to be accompanied with multiple scriptural references.

Those of you who endured some of my sermons up to this point, and those of you who were taught this way understand this particular paradigm of preaching.  It’s not wrong and I’m not critical or condescending of this particular style.  In many respects it is a great way to study, prepare and even teach but is not the most effective way to communicate the truth of a particular text and keep it around 20 minutes.

Dr. Sunukjian taught us to view the text as a narrative.  To explain the text with the text itself and the context and seek for the application of that particular text.  This paradigm viewed each text as containing a main idea and our objective as communicators was not to lead people on a textual expedition to see how many bible verses you could fit into your sermon in support of what you were saying.  Our goal was to allow that one text to come alive and speak to the people of God.  On occasion I will bring in other passages but I limit this to passages (and only a few) that support the main idea of the main text or that encourage us to pursue this main idea in the context of application.

Dr. Sunukjian also challenged us to illustrate the text with true, real-life stories (of ourselves and others) as it applied to the text.  We were to stay away from the canned illustrations and the "preacher" stories and stick to the examples in real life that portrayed truth and factual interaction with the text.

I come to the text now and view the text for a Sunday as a gift to be unwrapped, explored and given to the church.   A gift that my hearers will take to immediately and want to interact with on a personal level.  I’m not always successful in this regard but understand that towards the end of my time in Oregon I stopped being a preacher who preached sermons and became a messenger who delivered messages. 

I’m determined to limit my posts, on one given subject, to fewer posts than there are Rocky movies so I plan for one more post (The Arlington Years) and an epilogue.  (Following this, I’ll probably begin a new series of posts on Chipper.)  I’ve received another offer and have accepted the services of a second ghost writer who has penned his recollection of the Arlington years.