Saving Your LIfe for God
This post will be directed more
toward the pastor who prepares sermons and Bible studies each week of the year.
However, most of the information will be meaningful for all teachers of God’s
Word. The intent is to provide some practical insights into
approaches to sermon preparation and some concurrent spiritual
considerations.
Many authors who have written in the
area of pastoral ministries and preaching instruct us to “save our mornings for
God.” As D. Martin Lloyd-Jones put it, “safeguard your mornings!”[1]
Along with Lloyd-Jones, this precedent was set by well-respected and
well-intentioned men such as W. A. Criswell,[2]
Stephen Olford,[3]
and many others.
I remember when I first was
introduced to the concept. It seemed so pastoral and spiritual. One of my
pastoral ministries professors fervently stressed that if we expected God to
honor our preaching efforts then we must “save our mornings for God.” As I sat
listening to the lecture I began to daydream. I visualized in my mind what it
would be like carrying a cup of coffee to my pastoral study in the early part
of the day and declaring to my secretary, “No calls, I am in study.” The
thought of my secretary telling members who called before noon that “the pastor
can’t speak with you now, he is with the Lord” was, in my mind, the way it was
supposed to be. It seemed so reverential and God-honoring. I agree that it is,
or at the very least, it can be.
One of the realities of my
personality and make up is that I am one of those rare morning people. While I
am typing these words on my laptop it is 4:30 a.m. I love mornings. For me it
is the best time of the day. Typically, no one in my household is awake and I
can enjoy the still calmness that is reserved for this precious time of the
day. I can reflect upon the Lord, read and study the Bible devotionally, and I
can think in terms of how I can use the day for the purposes of God. I have
even used this time to begin the process of sermon development.
However, I must add that I, like
many pastors, have discovered the difficulty of the discipline of closing
myself up for 4 to 5 hours each morning in my study for the purpose of sermon
preparation. If I am completely honest with myself, even though I acknowledge
the value of the approach, I rarely have actually utilized it. At the risk of
becoming overly transparent I must admit that as I look out the window of my
study and see the beauty of a spring day, I think to myself, “I’ve got to get
out of here.” Fellowshipping with hundreds of books in my pastoral study, for
me, loses its thrill in a relatively short time.
Before you write me off as some
undisciplined pastoral heretic who does not love the study of God’s Word, allow
me to clarify this thought. Although I hold the highest respect for men of God
like Criswell, Olford, and Lloyd-Jones; and as much as I agree that their
suggested approach is valuable, I have recognized that my personal and pastoral
DNA does not fit well into that mold. After a few years of pastoral ministry, I
began to question the concept’s viability for me (I know, it’s a sacrilege!).
As much as I tried to fit that mold, I could not get away from how I am
hard-wired. Lloyd-Jones also stressed that it is important that a man of God
truly understand himself and his own study habits. I have come to terms with my
own personality and makeup.
We simply are not all the same.
Lloyd-Jones indeed argued that mornings should be safe-guarded, but in the same
lecture stressed the need to understand and know oneself in order to be most
effective in sermon preparation.[4]
With no disrespect to these great men of the faith, and after an honest
evaluation of my study habits, I simply decided that rather than saving my
mornings for God, I would save my life
for Him. For me every day, no matter what time of day, is a time to be
available and open to study, pray, and prepare. I find this approach to be much
more favorable and meaningful, at least for me.
Jerry Vines and Jim Shaddix stressed
the importance of calendaring times with God stating,
“If you want to be a man of God, you must put your appointments with Him on your calendar as religiously as you do meetings, counseling sessions, study time, family time, meals, recreation, and other needful activities. He must be your first priority.”
They
added that these special meetings with God should not be hurried in order to
“get your life in touch with Him in preparation for subsequent service.”[5]
I certainly agree although I do take their suggestion and relate it to my personality
and hard-wiring.
I remember a seminary course that
was related to the subject of the spiritual disciplines. It was one of those
courses that helped minister trainees come to grips with where they were and
where they should be in their spiritual development. The principle of practicing the presence of Christ was
one that struck a chord with me. The idea is that the Christian should live his
or her life as though the Lord was present at every moment and in every
circumstance. It is a joyous and wondrous principle to develop.
Honestly, sermon preparation has never been
something I sat and did in 4 to 5 hour increments. My approach has been to work
on messages throughout the week as the opportunity, desire, and need presented
itself. Calvin Miller introduced me to a concept that I altered to fit my
personality and spiritual hard-wiring.[6]
He suggested taking Monday mornings and developing the basic outlines for the
week’s teaching and preaching opportunities. He noted that while the previous
week’s messages are still fresh in your mind the ability to see the connection
of a selected passage to the membership and church situation is more likely. I
simply adapted and altered his approach to fit my personality and work habits.
Aspects of Practical Sermon
Preparation
I want to share an approach that has
worked well for me and one that I share in my classes. Please understand that
this is merely a suggestion that will work for people who are hard-wired
similar to me. It is an approach that will alleviate the feeling that one is
not as spiritual as required because he is not hard-wired to use his mornings
for God. Some readers will prefer the traditional Criswellan approach. I have
no problem with that and encourage preachers and teachers who find that approach
effective to continue to use it. And if that is the case, some of the
suggestions given here still will prove meaningful and useful.
Monday Morning Meandering
The approach allows me to reflect
upon the previous day’s preaching and do a little self evaluation. I ponder how
I thought the message was received by the members and how I felt while
preaching it. In my mind I revisit the comments of the members as they exited
the worship facility. I also consider my wife’s comments as well. At my request
she always gives me her feedback on the message. I am not looking for her
praise. I simply know that she will be “Judgment Day” honest with me in telling
me if the message was more about Tony than the Lord. This Monday morning
approach has proven to be a valuable time for me both personally and
professionally.
Over the years, because of the
homiletical bridge, basic outlining has become much easier for me. Indeed
experience is a preacher’s best friend when it comes to sermon preparation.
Please understand that I do the basic
outline at this point. The wording of the outline takes several variations over
the week but the main ideas and teaching/preaching points are captured with
relative ease on Monday morning. Each Monday is different. How much work I
accomplish depends on my mood. Some Mondays I will work for several hours and
do deep word or etymological studies and commentary reading. On these rare
occasions the sermon basically is complete when I walk out of my study. Most
Mondays, however, I am content to achieve “basic outline status” as I call it.
As noted, thinking deeply over the
passage and its implications after considering the previous Sunday’s messages
keeps the sermon preparation process fresh. There is never a feeling of “well,
it’s time to go prepare a sermon” as I experienced in the earlier part of my
pastoral career. I have come to believe that the approach is as valuable as the
“save your mornings for God” approach. I realize I seem somewhat contradictory
because I do this work on Monday mornings
and I am encouraging you to do the same. But remember that Monday morning is the
only time I work in this respect and the goal is only to create the basic outlines.
I am comfortable doing this because, again, I am a morning person. You may not
be and therefore may prefer a different time of day to do this type of work
(and it is okay! Don’t fear the lightening bolts!).
Special Sanctuary Supplication
There is just something special, at
least for me, about the empty church sanctuary (I know that in the modern age
we call it the “Worship
Center
People tend to be predictable.
Although they may show some openness to innovation and change, for the most
part people love standing right in the center of their personal comfort zones.
What I mean, at least in the case of church, is that church people tend to sit in
the same chairs or pews each Sunday. This is true of the staid, traditional
church as well as the more casual, blended or contemporary church. As I love to tell my students, “people are people.” I make use of this reality in sermon preparation.
Each week I find a time to walk
alone in the sanctuary with a legal pad in my hand. Because people tend to sit
in the same place from week to week I can remember them by name and experience
as I stroll by their seats. This gives me the opportunity to do a little
pastoral reflecting upon things they may have told me, pains they have endured,
joys experienced, or anything else that is significant in their lives. As I
whisper a prayer for them and reflect upon the week’s selected text, the Holy
Spirit begins that wonderful process of illumination. The Lord graciously
begins to reveal the relevance of the text and its meaningful application for
this particular family and church.
Most of the time I walk back into my
study and begin to type many of these thoughts and ideas into the message. Some
of the thoughts have no place in the actual sermon. They were given by the Holy
Spirit in order that I might pray for a situation or consider how I might
minister to a family in need. Some of these thoughts do indeed make their way
into the message. Sharing this illuminated and biblically charged information
with the congregation the following Sunday is an awesome joy. I know that the
message is God’s Spirit-anointed message because I broke away from the study
and walked in that special place called the “Sanctuary.”
Open Optic Observation
One of the benefits of getting out
of the study to do some aspects of the sermon preparation is that its gives the
preacher the opportunity to be out where the people are. Instead of being
locked behind the veil of the Pastor’s Study door, he can travel around during
the course of the day and interact with people from his church and community.
Simply taking visual notice of people as they go about their business and
intentionally being involved in what is happening around him in his real world
provides a multiplicity of information and material that will enhance the
preaching event. He should be diligent to jot down on paper or record on a
recording device all he deems relevant for the message he is preparing.
Obviously he will be careful with the use of people’s names or circumstances
that could prove to be uncomfortable for people in the church. Well-utilized
observation, however, is an excellent friend to the preacher as he seeks to
enliven his exposition.
I have found that hanging around
airports and malls provides me with a world of preaching material. At the time
of this writing there is a trend among teen-aged girls of the Southeast United
Sates to wear tight fitting short sleeved shirts, even in the winter months.
Their desire for these “shirts” to be seen is of such massive importance that
these young ladies refuse to wear jackets or coats even on bitterly cold days.
I have sat back on a mall bench (clutching a Mocha Latte) and chuckled as I
watch them enter the mall and try to act as though they are not absolutely
freezing, especially if teen-aged boys are within eye-shot. If a preacher can’t
find a way to bring this humorous reality within the teenage culture into his
message, God help him!
I remember an occasion during the
Christmas holidays when I was at the New
Orleans
The young man jumped to his feet,
and in full military fashion saluted his father with a snap. The three spoke in
meaningless generalities for only a few moments. The mother repeatedly looked
at her watch and continually pulled on her husband’s coat sleeve. Obviously,
she had a more important place to be. After about a five-minute meeting the
couple took their leave. The son reached out to hug his mom but she stopped him
because he might muss her hair. She simply blew him a kiss. The father declared
“proud of ya’ son, don’t take no garbage”
(that’s not the word he used but this is a book written to Christians). They
quickly exited the gate.
I could not take my eyes off that
young man. He watched his parents until they were out of sight. Then this
military trained defender of our nation sat down on that cold, hard plastic
chair and wept like a baby. When I shared that story with my congregation the
following Sunday morning there was not a dry eye in the sanctuary. This young
man wanted to be with his parents. He obviously wanted to be hugged and
encouraged. He wanted the affection that only a mom can give. He wanted his
daddy to tell him how to possess strength and confidence. But they were on a
schedule. They had more important things to do. Isn’t it encouraging for us to
know that our God never leaves us or forsakes us? Isn’t it encouraging for us
to know that our God never has a more important place to be than with His
children? I believe there is not a more “relevant” message being proclaimed
today. Wow! The power of open, optic observation!
Personal Pastoral Praying
One of the reasons I love reading
the lectures of Lloyd-Jones is because he was not afraid to be somewhat
transparent. I believe it is time for preachers to stop trying to look so
“spiritual” all the time and be a little more transparent before their people.
The people in the pews (or chairs) will appreciate this quality more than you
might expect. Lloyd-Jones was not afraid to acknowledge that although prayer is
vitally important, he always struggled with the oft-exalted element of praying
early in the morning. Again, many authors of books related to pastoral ministry
tout the spiritual value of praying early in the morning. Lloyd-Jones also
noted its value. He further noted that a survey of the biographies of the great
preachers of the faith reveals that many were men who prayed early every
morning. Lloyd-Jones noted that he
simply had difficulty getting started in prayer, especially in the morning. He
again stressed that knowing one’s self is of vital importance in this regard.
He noted that he started the day by reading something somewhat devotional in order
to warm up his spirit and set the tone for prayer.[8] Too often we preachers read biographies, and
even note the example of Jesus, and feel as though we are somehow not as
spiritual if we do not start the day with God-honoring reverent prayer. For
many preachers, the thought of doing anything other than praying first thing in
the morning would be a sacrilege.
I have come to a place in my life,
being completely honest with myself, that prayer is something that I do in the
totality of my life and relationship with the Lord. This certainly was true of
Jesus. The New Testament records that Jesus indeed prayed in the morning (Mark
1:35). But He also prayed in the evening (Matthew 14:23). The Bible also
records that Jesus even prayed all night on some occasions. So, why do we
preachers tend to spiritualize a certain part of the day? Please understand that I am not saying that
one should not pray in the morning. I encourage it. I do it quite frequently. I
merely am pointing out that as awesome as it is, we should be careful to not
over-spiritualize the concept.
So what is meaningful pastoral
prayer? First, and again, it is not necessarily something that is connected to
a specific time of day. Every now and then one of my students will say, “But
Dr. Guthrie Psalm 5:3 says, ‘In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the
morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.’ OR Psalm 119:147 says, ‘I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I wait for your words.’” These well-meaning and wonderfully spiritual students
believe that this type of “putting me in my place” shows that something is
spiritually amiss in my life. My response, however, is that I am not devaluing praying in the morning. I merely
am de-spiritualizing it. I am not
saying that it is not a spiritual encounter with the Lord, but that the event
itself, because of the time of day, is not spiritual. The prayer is spiritual,
not the time of day. We are in a relationship with the Lord. People in
relationships share meaningful communication at various parts of the day. My
relationship with my wife is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week relationship. We
have had many of our most meaningful times of communication at different times
of the day. I also have had as many thunderous spiritual encounters with the
Lord at 11 p.m. as I have had at 4:30 a.m. The notion that God will not be as
attentive because it is not early in the morning seems, to me, ludicrous.
Second, pastoral
prayer should be honest and confessional. Pastors tend to play a spiritual “get
out of jail free” card. Some men convince themselves that because they are
God-called pastors that they are somehow above the concept and need for
confession of sins and shortcomings. This is indeed a great tragedy. I believe
it is the primary reason their sermons seem flat, devoid of anointing, dull,
boring, and certainly without meaningful relevance or application to the
listeners. God help the man who feels he is somehow above the need for
confessional prayer!
It is sad that
many pastors somehow feel as though they are spiritually above the consequences
of waywardness, temptation, self-reliance, bitterness, and so on. Tragically
many pastors feel they are excused from the consequences of unconfessed sin,
again, because they are God-called. When I have confessed my known sins, the Lord has blessed my preaching ministry in ways I never expected. My prayer habit is to confess my humanity and sin before the Lord
in spite of my position. The title “Pastor” does not protect me or any other
man from the realities, struggles and temptations of being human.
Sermon
preparation should not begin with the
biblical text, but rather in conference with God. If a pastor feels led to
preach through a particular book of the Bible, obviously that leading should
have come from the heart of God. If a pastor just “decides” (something he
should not do) to preach through a book then he must, at the very least, turn
to the next passage to be proclaimed and then kneel before the Lord and ask for
understanding and Holy Spirit assistance, illumination, and anointing. The late
Adrian Rogers noted that anointing is
“… a quickening, an empowering, an enlightening, a boldness, or an insight that the Holy Spirit imparts to the preacher.”
Throughout these
years of teaching I have come to understand that God calls men of all
personality types and dispositions to be His preachers. He calls the calm, the
abrasive, the self-assured, the erudite, the amateurish, the joyous, the
class-clown, the serious, the wealthy, the middle-class, and even the poor.
Frankly, in my classes I have stood in front of many men who felt as though God
had called them to preach, but I had my doubts. However, when the day came for
them to preach their in-class sermons I had to whisper a prayer of repentance
as they preached with an anointing and unction that comes only from the Lord.
Let me stress that last part of the sentence … that comes only from the Lord!
Several years ago I was facilitating a
sermon delivery class. In this course students do most of the work as they
preach 20-minute sermons they have prepared specifically for the class. On a
scheduled day the student will preach his sermon and be evaluated by his peers
and the professor. On one particular occasion it was a certain student’s time
to preach. He was amazingly confident. When he jumped to the pulpit he
declared, “Now Dr. Guthrie, I know we are supposed to preach for only twenty
minutes. But you just need to prepare yourself for a message inspired by the
Holy Spirit! And when I get filled with the Spirit and the anointing falls on
me, we just can’t put a timer on Him! So you just put down your stop watch!”
Many thoughts went through my mind at that moment, most of which I repented of
later.
When the young
man began to preach I realized that he was naturally gifted. He was eloquent
and articulate. His ability to connect with his audience of peers was
fascinating to behold. He also was arrogant, cocky, and totally self-absorbed.
He was a young man who had not yet learned to not allow the comments of people
to overly feed his ego. He thought he was great. Yet, in reality he was less
than impressive. Not because he could not communicate. Indeed he could. But
because of his lack of humility and his disregard for the sanctity of the place
in which he was standing. He was unimpressive because all the focus was on him
and he wanted it that way.
When he reached
the twenty-minute mark he (as expected and announced) just kept right on doing
his thing. Of course, I got up from the back of the room and walked to the
pulpit and stood beside him. Only then did he yield. I asked the students for
their feedback as I did when the other students preached. There was a silence
that literally could be heard. Since none of the students wanted to comment I
took the opportunity to convey a significant message to this young, gifted
orator. I said the following, “Son, if you loved Jesus anywhere near as much as
you love yourself, you would be an excellent preacher. But as it is, you are
not full of the Spirit, you are full of yourself.” I took my seat and called
the next preacher.
That evening I
received a repentant email from the young student. He noted that as he was
driving home after class the Holy Spirit reminded him continually of my words.
The Holy Spirit did not fill him, he confessed. His sermons, he acknowledged,
were developed by shear knowledge of craft instead of a balance of craft and
spiritual power. He asked my forgiveness and shared that he had already asked
forgiveness of the Lord. He noted that he would be a different student and
preacher from that day forward. He was.
Often times I find myself a little
surprised that I have to remind preachers of the words of the Apostle Paul,
“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”[10]
Reliable Relevant
Reflections
“You are smarter than you think you
are, so go study on it!” is a phrase my mother used to say to me when I
struggled with a homework problem. When she was in elementary school my daughter, Kara, often would walk into our
living room and ask me about a particular homework problem. I chuckled almost
every time because she reminded me of myself at her age. Most of the time when I
did as my mother suggested, although it was a frustrating process, I eventually
worked through the problem. I was
smarter than I thought! I always gave my daughter the same advice. She would walk out
of the room in frustration but I came to expect her to come bounding back into the
room within minutes excitedly declaring she has found the solution to the
problem. Most of the time, she did. She is
smarter than she thinks!
I share the above truth to make a
basic point. We preachers know a lot more than we think we do. The problem is
that we simply don’t consider it. What do I mean? We preacher-types tend to
fall into the same routines in the process of sermon preparation. We study the
passage exegetically, as we should. We structure the outline in a homiletical
fashion, as we should. We then start looking
for application and illustration sources through books, magazines, internet
sites, and other sources outside of ourselves, as we shouldn’t? Allow me to
clarify.
Creativity in expository preaching
is, in my estimation, critical for effective communication in the contemporary
culture. Preachers need to find creative ways to connect the eternal truths
they uncovered in their exegetical work to the modern listener. This is not
accomplished, in my opinion, by searching through commentaries, illustration
sources, internet sites, or any other impersonal means. I wholeheartedly believe
that preachers should first resist the urge to look into any resource for application and illustration help. They should
first rely on themselves, their own observations, their own experiences, or
what they themselves know to be true as a growing child of God.
For many preachers and Bible
teachers this is a radical concept. The preacher, however, must understand that
every source they look into and investigate is merely put out there by another
Christian, scholar, researcher, or pastor. These findings are either things
these sources actually discovered, experienced, or are things they heard or
read about. We preachers experience life in exactly the same ways as others.
Why do we feel so obligated to remain reliant on these outside sources?
In our efforts in searching for
application and illustration sources, we tend to find those things that will
“work.” But preachers need to understand that because something “works,” does
not mean it connects. Yes, connecting
is the goal. We need to come to the place where we appreciate the value of our
own minds, scholarship, knowledge, and experience. In our theological training
we should have been taught to do exegesis, search out the application, and
develop meaningful illustrations. This means that we should not be completely reliant on outside sources.
We should use them sporadically and only if necessary.
Regular Responsible Reading
Aspects
of a Preachers Spiritual Development
What
the Powerful Preacher Understands
He
must be in touch with God … daily
He
must be honest with where he is … spiritually
He
must spend time each day in prayer and Bible study … consistently
He
does not mistake “busyness” for righteousness … discerningly
He
asks what the text he is studying is saying to him … personally
Please don’t think that I am
saying that we should stay out of the commentaries. Quite the contrary. But we
tend to think that only commentators or other sources have anything meaningful
to say. I often shock my students by acknowledging that I never quote a
commentator in a message. So many preachers say things like, “William Barclay,
the famed Professor of
Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow, stated
in his commentary on the Philippians...” Believe me, most of your folks have no
clue who Barclay was, nor do they care. So why bother quoting him? Most
congregants want to hear from their pastor. Read Barclay and others, yes! Quote
them? No! Say instead (and this is only if you must), “Some scholars have
confirmed …”
I tell my students to first
exegete a passage from their knowledge and ability. Then, when they feel they
have done all they can do within the parameters of their own abilities, turn to
commentators and other sources for contextual clarification, verification of
exegetical findings, additional insights, etymological work, approaches to
outlining, and so on. Once we feel assured in our exegetical findings then it's
time to consider application and illustrations.
[1] D.
Martin Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and
Preachers, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981, p. 167.
[2] W.A.
Criswell, A Guidebook for Pastors
[3] Stephen
Olford, Spirit Anointed Preaching
[4]
Lloyd-Jones. Preaching and Preachers,
165-169.
[5] Vines
and Shaddix, Power in the Pulpit, 62.
[6] Calvin
Miller, Market Place Preaching:How to
Return the Sermonto Where It Belongs,(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1995),
148-49.
[8]
Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, 169-170.
[9] Joyce
Rogers, Love Worth Finding: The Life of
Adrian Rogers and His Philosophy of Preaching, (Nashville
[10] 1
Corinthians 2:1-5 (NAS).
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