A word from Tim about preaching at Smith Springs

Preaching is proclamation. Preaching the Word of God is proclaiming the Word of God.

The most important assumption about preaching is the authority God. This assumption is profoundly counter-cultural.

The prevailing cultural assumption about all forms of communication is that the audience is King. Whatever comes before the King to be heard must be communicated in a style most pleasing to the King. This includes the Word of God, which must be “refined” before it comes before the King. Thus, when preaching the Word of God, care must be given to strip whatever elements are displeasing to the King and to enhance whatever elements the King finds most pleasing.

In terms of style, this means preaching must be stripped of any gesture or tone that might give the impression the King’s authority is being questioned. No declarative statements. No confrontational questions. No appeals to Scripture in a way that pits its authority against that of the King. Further, since the King is known to be intensely visual, preaching needs to be intensely visual: the use of props, slides, and pictures will win a more devoted hearing. Since the King is known to be sympathetic to human interest stories, preaching needs to be packed with stories and testimonies. Since the King is known to make decisions based upon emotion, and particularly the emotions generated by the love of family and the thrill of victory, then it follows that preaching needs to be saturated with stories that appeal to family closeness and, also, stories appealing to glory of triumph against great odds.

In terms of substance, this means that preaching must be stripped of any word or claim that might provoke the King to wrath. If any of the King’s past decisions are to be questioned, such questioning must be, above all, always deferential to the King’s long-standing commitment to truth and honesty. Any unfortunate past decisions must be laid at the feet of acting upon bad information or the King’s unassailable right to make a decision arising from the emotion of any given moment. In these ways the King’s less worthy decisions of the past can be explained away, even forgiven. How? Because if the King had possessed the correct information or had the King not been over-whelmed with the passions of the times, then the true and honest King would have taken, certainly, the correct decision. Further, the substance of Biblical doctrine must be avoided because, well, the King gets bored and confused with it. If the doctrine can’t be quickly summarized in a page or two, or a moment or two, with a bullet point or two, then the King doesn’t need to hear it because the King has important things to do. After all, as the King often says, “Doing is much more important than knowing.”

Biblical preaching sets the authority of God above the authority of ‘King Audience’. Biblical preaching does not begin with what is heard; it begins with what is said. The Word of the Lord holds a prior claim of Sovereignty over the ear of the listener. God has graciously condescended to reveal Himself and it is, to put it mildly, presumptuous of the audience to disregard His revelation as inadequate or incomplete. God chose to reveal himself in Scripture. In that Scripture, God chose to use various styles: poetry, prose, prophecy, history, gospel (which is not mere biography), epistles (letters) and, yes, even in doctrine. God reveals Himself in nature, but Scripture explains that natural revelation. God revealed himself, ultimately, in Christ, but we know nothing of faithful certainty about Christ apart from what is revealed Scripture.

What this means at Smith Springs is that my preaching will arise from Scripture and, accordingly, will be counter-cultural both in style and substance. My sermons will be … sermons. They will not be dialogues, or monologues, or performances, or a series of extended conversations. I will attempt to be as plain as the substance of the text. I will try to compensate for my own intellectual short-comings and emotional weaknesses and allow the power, the tenderness, the joy and the passion of the text to flow unhindered from God’s Word to the mind and heart of the assembled congregation. I will labor, as God gives me grace and strength, to proclaim the text in its fullness, richness and, yes, even in its depth.

I labor under no illusions. There are other, more gifted, preachers than me in other congregations of His people whom God uses to His glory. God bless them all as they honor Him and I rejoice when God blesses their labors with spiritual and numeric growth within those congregations. But God has placed me here, to labor in this field among His people at Smith Springs. I am content with God’s wisdom. Further, I truly rejoice for the blessing of being called to preach His Word and being called to do it at Smith Springs.

Finally, let me share with you four passages which shape my approach to preaching.

From Jeremiah 1: 17 "Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. ¹⁸ Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. ¹⁹ They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. From 2 Corinthians 2 & 3: ^2.14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. ¹⁵For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? ¹⁷Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. ^3.1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? ²You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

⁴Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. ⁵Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. ⁶He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

From Colossians 1:

²⁴Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. ²⁵I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— ²⁶the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. ²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. ²⁹To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

From 2 Timothy 3 & 4

^3.14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

^4.1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ²Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. ³For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ⁵But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

These passages of Scripture shape my preaching in the following ways;

First, the Word of God is the source and authority for my preaching.

Second, the first and most important audience for my preaching is God, before Whom I stand to preach.

Third, the Word of God is sufficient and efficient, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to save people and conform them to Christ.

Fourth, preaching marries faithfulness to the passage of time. I am required to honor that marriage and trust God for the results.