Homiletics, Sabbath Justice, Page 9

November 13, 2006August 25, 2017

Preaching With Power – G. Ralph Thompson

We have finally come to the final preacher in Dr. Clifford Jones’ book Preaching with Power. In this post we will look at the chapter that contains the interview with G. Ralph Thompson. Pastor Thompson is the former secretary of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Understanding of Preaching

Thompson believes that preaching is having the message of God permeate the preacher to the point where the preacher can embody the message. To put it in his words, Thompson says, preaching is “God’s message by God’s men or women to God’s people.” (page 148)

Method of Sermon Preparation

Pastor Thompson described his method as reading several translations and then read the commentaries. Then he finds a thesis for his sermon followed by the creation of an outline and then he puts meat on the outline.

Pastor Thompson says that he finds illustrations from biographies, autobiographies, and from daily life. He is quick to note that he makes use of the spiritual disciplines to keep the connection to heaven. Thompson also emphasizes that we connect the time of the Bible to the present time by paying attention to the connections. Thompson believes that if you pay attention you will see that we deal with the same issues that the Bible characters dealt with and that we can connect the two times (Bible and contemporary) easily when we recognize this.

Understanding of Black Preaching

Pastor Thompson, like many others in the book, believes that Black Preaching is more about content than style. He notes that Black Preaching comes out of the context of the Black Experience. He notes that he orginally had a problem with the very idea of Black Preaching, but has come to aknowledge its existence and even appreaciate it. Once again I like how these authors seek to find a theological foundation for Black Preaching rather than the stylistic components that some would seek to say is the basis of its uniqueness.

Understanding of Adventist Preaching

Pastor Thompson emphsizes that he is not a Baptist, Methodist, or Church of God preacher and thus his messages should not sound like theirs. He attempts to preach a unique Seventh-day Adventist message that he connects to the “Great Controversy” theme.

While he wants to emphasize that he is an Adventist preacher, Thompson also wants to be known as a preacher of Christ. Thompson keeps the unique Adventist thrust as well as the Christ-Centered thrust by looking for Christ in the doctrines. This is something that many have talked about, but needs to be fleshed out a little more. How can one preach both Christ and all of the doctrines of Adventism?

I have saught to answer some of this on my blog, but I also must mroe clearly articulate this especially since many are saying this is what to do. Perhaps some of the problem is the lack of Adventist homiletics texts. There are not that many books that teach Adventist preaching and thus few have attempted to attack this question head on. It is my hope that more such resources will become available as time goes on.

September 1, 2006August 10, 2017

Prophetic Voice or an Echo?

Preachers cannot fall into the trap of preaching only what people want to hear. We all have heard sermons and experienced worship that was not relevant to our situation. To counteract this we sometimes seek to ask the question what to people want. What questions do our people want addressed in a sermon. While such questions are valuable, they can never blunt the prophetic witness.

While we ask what the people want to hear or what the people want to have addressed, which are important and valuable questions, we also must ask what do the people NEED to hear? It is easy to get caught up into preaching things that will tickle the ears of congregants.

We should always remember that we don’t always desire to hear what we need to hear most. The gospel always confronts the world we live in in creative ways that need to be explored by the preacher. There are some aspects of the gospel that are always fun to preach. There are aspects of the gospel that people want to hear all the time, but then there are aspects of the gospel that confront us and the world in uncomfortable ways. Let us preach the gospel and let it confront the world. Let us not just preach what sounds good and feels good to preach.

August 10, 2006August 25, 2017

Preaching With Power – Dr. Benjamin Reaves

We are nearing the end of our conversation with Dr. Clifford Jones’ book Preaching with Power. In this post we will look at the chapter that contains the interview with Dr. Benjamin Reaves. Dr. Reaves taught homiletics at Oakwood College as a professor. He also was the chair of Religion and Theology department, as well as President during his tenure at Oakwood College. He is currently a vice president of Adventist Health Systems.

Understanding of Preaching

Dr. Reaves sees preaching as “communicating biblical truth from God, by God’s power, for God’s saving purpose. The objective of preaching is to motivate people to accept God’s will and plan for their lives. The sermon is the vehicle to communicate biblical truth.”

Here Dr. Reaves sees the importance of preaching Biblical truth, but with purpose. The purpose is to motivate people to accept God’s will and plan. The sermon is not only useful information but it also utilizes the Bible to energize God’s people for action based on God’s plan.

Method of Sermon Preparation

Because Dr. Reaves is now in “itinerant ministry” he considers the occasion, needs of the people, current events, as well as the preacher’s own need in the determination of what to preach. When he was in parish ministry he used the aspects of ministry to come up with a preaching calendar.

This discussion of determination of what to preach for itinerant preachers is valuable. I like Dr. Reaves’ approach especially his recognition that even the preacher’s needs can shape the pastoral approach.

Dr. Reaves’ next step is to prepare the preacher. This is something that is done all of the time. The preacher is not one that simply comes up with a sermon, but should always be in contact with the divine.

Dr. Reaves’ “actual” preparation consists of asking several questions that H. Grady Davis introduced. Among other things, Dr. Reaves asks, what does the passage say? He quickly adds that this investigation is completed independent of any bible commentary. Dr. Reaves reads the passage several times in many different translations. Each time he applys the questions that in Davis’ work. Dr. Reaves then moves to exegetical commentaries and finally Dr. Reaves creates a homiletical outline.

Dr. Reaves is a manuscript preacher. There is argument over whether use of the mansucript is a hinderance to effective preaching. In an upcoming podcast you will hear Dr. Derek Morris present that he believes it is important. Dr. Reaves emphasizes that the issue is not whether you use notes or you do not use them, but that you are effective in your use of the manuscript. Dr. Reaves notes that Charles Adams (the Harvard Whooper) is a master of manuscript preaching.

It is interesting how Dr. Reaves and Dr. Morris both love to preach narrative sermons while one uses the manuscript and the other preaches without notes. One thign is certain, great preaching does not require either a mansuscript or a lack thereof. Currently, however, I tend to agree with Dr. Morris that leaving the notes behind can open up avenues for a greater connection to the people. By no means does this mean that Dr. Reaves is not effective. Dr. Reaves is one of the most effective preachers that I have heard. I would encourage all to see the number of sermons that are available for Dr. Reaves on the internet. My site provides many links.

Understanding of Black Preaching

Dr. Reaves rightly notes that Black preaching is not a monolithic ideal nor is it a merely a style of preaching. At the heart of Black preaching is a world view that believes that God is a liberator who will make all things right. Reaves rightly notes that we must not fall into the trap of thinking that if there is no celebration there is no Black preaching.

Dr. Reaves seems to believe that the Black Preachers uniqueness comes from theology. Black preaching is not necessarily in volume or style, but in a perspective that sees God on the side of the poor and the oppressed working for their good. This is in line with Dr. Cleophas LaRue’s beleif that Black Preachers approach the text with

two fundamental questions in mind with respect to the creation of their sermon: (1) How do I demonstrate to God’s people this day through the proclamation of the Word the mighty and gracious acts of God on their behalf? and (2) How best shall I join together scripture and their life situations in order to address their plight in a meaningful and practical manner?Heart of Black Preaching, 19

I think it cheapens Black Preaching to reduce it to Whooping or yelling or noise. As Dr. Reaves notes if we follow such understandings then Howard Thurman would not be considered a Black Preacher.

Lest I be misunderstood, I do not wish to minimize or eliminate the enthusiastic proclamation of the Word that sometimes demonstrates itself in raise voice and yes even Whooping. But my only point is that the absense of this characteristic component does not mean that Black preaching has not taken place.

Understanding of Adventist Preaching

Dr. Reaves believes that one can be both authentically black and also teach Adventist doctrines. He notes that :

The choice is not between preaching Adventist doctrines and being authentically black in your preaching, but rather having a real sense of one’s self, and a real sense of the meaning of the gospel as it is interpreted through the Adventist tradition.

Dr. Reaves beleives that the “deliverance” aspect that is in black preaching is integral to the Adventist message. He concludes by saying, “We as Adventist preachers need to do…a better job of preaching the liberating aspects of our doctrines.”

I have saught to do some of this in the Sabbath work that you see on this blog, let us move forward in making the doctrines relevant by looking at them with an eye for what delivers God’s people and the world from the demonic.