Learn to listen beyond the preacher

In jest, I often say that I only work an hour each week and that hour shouldn’t count as I would be going to church anyway and I just preach so I don’t have to listen to someone else’s sermon. That’s good for a laugh, in part because it might hit home when it comes to sermons.

            Every week in this county, hundreds of excellent sermons dig deeper into scripture to allow God’s word to break into our hearts and lives. When it works a sermon can really open up the way you understand the Bible or even your very understanding of God. But that’s not every sermon.

            Some sermons go round in round in circles missing several good places to come to an end before finally tapering off to no clear conclusion. Every preacher, me included, has some sermons that are better than others and some that are just not up to par. Yet, I remain convinced that sermons matter and that you can gain something from every sermon you hear, even the ones that might first seem like a dud. The strategy is simple and I’m convinced that it won’t fail if applied faithfully.

            First let me generate a little sympathy for the task of preaching. I am all too aware of how difficult it is to get to church on a Sunday morning. I sometimes see whole families sitting together in their seats and think how hard it must have been to get everyone up and out that morning.

People come to worship and hear from God. The last thing they need is some words of advice from me or any other preacher. That wouldn’t be worth climbing out of bed on a Sunday morning. The task is to so speak God’s words in my own words that the truth that is God will come through. This can never be done without conveying something of the preacher’s personality, but the sermon is never about the preacher.

So if the sermon will always be carried through the personality of the preacher, then how can we gain something from every sermon? The task for the hearer is to listen beyond the preacher to the Word of God. Every sermon worthy of being called by the name sermon (rather than being just a speech) is an engagement with scripture. The sermon is the preacher’s attempt to get you to connect with that scripture in a new and powerful way. So when the preacher’s words can’t hold you, hang on to the scripture.

Here’s the plan. If possible, read the scripture before you ever get to church. In liturgical churches (those with set words for the worship service) such as Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Episcopal (as well as many others) the scripture readings on Sundays follow a lectionary, which is a pattern for scripture reading. For example, in the three denominations named we have a pattern of scripture reading, which allows us to read the whole Bible through on Sundays every three years.

If you know what the scriptures will be for Sunday, read and pray about them in advance. Then you will be better prepared to gain something from the sermon. Even a bad sermon will offer some nuggets on the scripture text you have already read and prayed about.

But even if you could not know what to read in advance, you can always follow the sermon with scripture reading and prayer. Preferably later that day, or at least in the next few days, reread the text on which the sermon was based. Rereading and praying about the verses you heard in the sermon offers a way for God to bring the parts you most needed to here back to mind and to lay them on your heart. Even if the preacher didn’t get through, God still can.

If the sermons you hear do not come from the Bible, then you need to find a new church. But if they are scriptural, you can always count on God’s word to speak to you even when the preacher doesn’t. Rather than letting those words of scripture wash over you once during the sermon, try bathing in the scripture by going back and meditating on it later. I guarantee you will get more out of every sermon if you follow this practice.

If the sermons you hear are on scripture and you still don’t enjoy them or feel you get anything out of the experience, pray for the preacher. We preachers need your prayers all the time. Then having prayed for the preacher dig back into the text for yourself. You will, more often than not, find that God is more than able to yet use those all-too-human words of the preacher.

(The Rev. Frank Logue is pastor of King of Peace Episcopal Church in Kingsland.)

previous         Return to Religion Column page       next