{"id":4485,"date":"2019-02-28T08:53:53","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T14:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nafwb.org\/?p=4485"},"modified":"2019-02-28T08:53:53","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T14:53:53","slug":"the-view-from-the-pew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/the-view-from-the-pew\/","title":{"rendered":"The View From the Pew"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Phillip Hersey<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the pastor stands before the congregation on Sunday morning and prepares to give the sermon, what do you expect? This is a crucial question and may well determine what kind of pastor you have or the type of church you attend.\u00a0 There are different aspects of corporate worship\u2014singing hymns, prayers, giving gifts, words of individual testimony\u2014all centered around giving glory and honor to God.<\/p>\n

The primary focus should be when God speaks and we as believers listen, which is supposed to happen when the pastor gives the sermon.\u00a0 For me, as a layperson who sits in the pew on Sunday morning, this is vitally important.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 The more effectively and clearly the preacher is able to proclaim God\u2019s truth, the more my spiritual needs, as well as those in the congregation around me, will be met.<\/p>\n

I need expository preaching\u00a0<\/em>and I would passionately argue that you need it too.\u00a0 Anything else falls far short.<\/p>\n

Why it Matters<\/strong><\/p>\n

These are perhaps strong words, but\u00a0as Christians living in a country where\u00a0a glut of churches offer all manner of fare and label it worship, we need to start by asking ourselves why we do what we do on Sunday.\u00a0 If we truly believe the Bible is\u00a0God’s communication to man, faithfully\u00a0recorded, remarkably preserved and the\u00a0basis of truth upon which we as Christians\u00a0are to live our lives, then we are\u00a0making a very bold claim.<\/p>\n

We are saying that truth does\u00a0<\/em>exist and that God has\u00a0<\/em>spoken. If God is\u00a0speaking, this is serious business and\u00a0our worship should indicate it. Otherwise\u00a0we may be fooling ourselves in\u00a0calling what we do worship, when in\u00a0reality it is nothing more than dry, mechanical\u00a0ritual, something we do because\u00a0we’re supposed to and there’s\u00a0no intrinsic joy in it, like going to the\u00a0dentist or stopping at traffic lights.<\/p>\n

The other extreme is to put on an entertainment extravaganza\u2014something between a full-fledged opera production and a cheesy infomercial\u2014call it worship, and hope no one notices attending church has as much significance in our lives as eating at a gourmet restaurant, attending the symphony or just going fishing with the guys.<\/p>\n

Burning Bush Principle<\/strong><\/p>\n

How did Moses react when God spoke to him? Moses was out taking care\u00a0of animals in the field when he saw a\u00a0burning bush that wasn’t burning up,\u00a0and it understandably caught his attention.\u00a0He was going to get a closer look at\u00a0this phenomena when suddenly God\u00a0spoke and commanded him to stop\u00a0right there and take his sandals off because\u00a0he was standing on holy ground.<\/p>\n

The Exodus narrative rather understates\u00a0the whole incident and doesn’t\u00a0even directly tell us Moses obeyed\u2014it’s\u00a0almost as if the writer assumes\u00a0anyone in their right mind, who hears\u00a0God speaking to them out of a flaming\u00a0bush that doesn’t burn up, is going\u00a0to listen and obey. I know I would.\u00a0I would be terrified. All scripture says\u00a0is that Moses hid his face because he\u00a0was afraid to look at God.<\/p>\n

From subsequent events we know\u00a0Moses did<\/em>take this encounter with God\u00a0seriously, and it would set the pattern\u00a0that was to follow throughout the book\u00a0of Exodus as Moses led the Israelites\u00a0out of slavery to the Promised Land.\u00a0God would speak. Moses would obey.<\/p>\n

So when we as Christians gather at\u00a0the church on Sunday, this is serious\u00a0business. God is speaking. This is a serious\u00a0matter for the preacher who, like\u00a0the Old Testament prophet, is to carefully\u00a0proclaim God’s Word to the people.\u00a0It is also a serious matter for the\u00a0congregation of believers, who are to\u00a0humble themselves and open their\u00a0hearts to what God has to say.<\/p>\n

Would it make a difference in our\u00a0church if before the sermon the Bible\u00a0on the podium burst into flame and\u00a0the voice of God quietly said, “Hear\u00a0the words written in My Book?”<\/p>\n

Would the preacher regret he had not\u00a0spent more time in study preparation, or\u00a0be apprehensive that the sermon he had\u00a0ready was more his message than\u00a0God’s? Would the congregation be looking\u00a0at their watches thinking, “Only 27\u00a0minutes until noon, home to lunch,\u00a0ballgame at 1:00?” At the very least, the\u00a0preacher wouldn’t have to resort to\u00a0corny jokes to get everyone’s attention.<\/p>\n

Encounter with God <\/strong><\/p>\n

So even if the Bible on the podium\u00a0doesn’t burst into flame, how should I\u00a0as a believer sitting in the pew come\u00a0to worship on Sunday? The plaintive,\u00a0fervent cry of the psalmist is a good\u00a0place to start, “As the hart panteth after\u00a0the water brooks, so panteth my soul\u00a0after thee, O God.”<\/p>\n

Jacob, the inveterate trickster and\u00a0swindler, shows us what this means on\u00a0a more physical level when he literally\u00a0wrestled with God throughout the\u00a0night. His leg had been crippled in the\u00a0struggle and dawn was approaching.\u00a0Still, he would not relent until he had\u00a0received God’s blessing: “l will not let\u00a0thee go, except thou bless me.”<\/p>\n

Jacob’s unrelenting pursuit of God\u00a0changed his life. God blessed him and\u00a0even changed his name to Israel. From\u00a0that moment on, Jacob was no longer\u00a0known as a backstabbing schemer, but\u00a0as a man of great faith. So when I go to\u00a0church on Sunday my heart should\u00a0have both the longing of the psalmist\u00a0and the fierce tenacity of Jacob\u2014l\u00a0want to draw near to God and there is\u00a0nothing else that will satisfy.<\/p>\n

What I don’t want when I sit in my\u00a0pew on Sunday morning is to be entertained,\u00a0either by a scintillating musical\u00a0production or by a sermon laced with\u00a0slapstick comedy and gratuitous humor.\u00a0Neither do I wish to be browbeaten by\u00a0a preacher attempting to conform me to\u00a0his image rather than the image of Christ.<\/p>\n

I don’t want my worship to become\u00a0a perfunctory and burdensome ritual,\u00a0where I merely plod through some\u00a0dead “traditions of the elders” and return\u00a0home thinking I have in some way\u00a0fulfilled my obligation to God. I don’t\u00a0want to hear a sermon that has little or\u00a0no relation to the scripture texts used,\u00a0no matter how heartwarming, inspirational\u00a0or motivational the message.<\/p>\n

I long to hear the very words of God\u00a0Himself, spoken from the flaming\u00a0Book that doesn’t burn up and know\u00a0that I have been on holy ground. I want\u00a0to drink of that water Jesus offered the\u00a0despised Samaritan woman and have\u00a0within me “a well of water springing up\u00a0into everlasting life.” l need to hear God\u00a0speak. I need expository preaching<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Preacher’s Responsibility <\/strong><\/p>\n

So if it is the responsibility of the believer\u00a0to come to worship with an insatiable\u00a0hunger and thirst to draw near\u00a0to God, what is the responsibility of the\u00a0preacher? The preacher has a much\u00a0greater obligation and burden. He is to\u00a0speak, as it were, the very words of\u00a0God Himself.<\/p>\n

This is a solemn matter. It is what the\u00a0apostle Paul meant when he carefully\u00a0instructed the young pastor Timothy to\u00a0patiently “preach the word.” Unfortunately,\u00a0in the day in which we live, the\u00a0word “preach” is loosely used to describe\u00a0anything a man standing behind\u00a0the pulpit on Sunday morning says, and\u00a0the word has lost its meaning.<\/p>\n

This is why we must come up with\u00a0new terminology like “expository preaching.”\u00a0Randy Sawyer writes, “Perhaps\u00a0the most simplistic way of defining expository\u00a0preaching is to say that ‘the text\u00a0of scripture shapes the sermon.’ This\u00a0means that the text shapes the sermonic\u00a0structure, development and presentation,\u00a0allowing God to say what He wants\u00a0to say from a given passage.”<\/p>\n

All other forms of “preaching,” to\u00a0some extent, put what man has to say\u00a0as more important than what God has\u00a0to say. This is tragic because the Bible\u00a0has become merely a tool for what the\u00a0preacher wants to say, instead of the\u00a0preacher becoming the tool.<\/p>\n

The preacher or “expository preacher”\u00a0if we must use this term, is like the\u00a0Old Testament prophet who accurately\u00a0and faithfully transmits what God\u00a0wants to say to the people. Not a word\u00a0more, not a word less. He is careful to\u00a0follow Paul’s admonition to accurately\u00a0handle the word of truth and not\u00a0twist the words of scripture to say\u00a0what he wants to say, or use it as a\u00a0springboard to personal opinion.<\/p>\n

He doesn’t preach only on the elementary principles\u00a0of the faith, such as\u00a0the necessity of repentance from sin and\u00a0a personal salvation experience, but\u00a0utilizes the whole counsel of scripture,\u00a0the complete panorama of spiritual truth\u00a0unfolded from Genesis to Revelation.\u00a0As I sit in my pew, I need for my soul\u00a0to be fed. I don’t need pablum. I need\u00a0meat. I need expository preaching<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Peril of Pablum <\/strong><\/p>\n

For example, consider the book of\u00a0Romans. We are all familiar with the\u00a0verses in what has been called the “Romans\u00a0road” to salvation. If these few\u00a0verses are all<\/em>a pastor preaches on, neglecting\u00a0the rest of the great themes in\u00a0that book, this is pablum.<\/p>\n

The writer of Hebrews talks about\u00a0pablum. The reproof is directed at immature\u00a0Jewish believers who had a\u00a0difficult time understanding how\u00a0Christ, especially in His priestly capacity,\u00a0had fulfilled the requirements of the Old\u00a0Testament law and was in every way far\u00a0superior to the old way of doing things.<\/p>\n

“For when for the time ye ought to\u00a0be teachers, ye have need that one\u00a0teach you again which be the first\u00a0principles of the oracles of God; and\u00a0are become such as have need of\u00a0milk, and not of strong meat.” (Hebrews 5:12)<\/p>\n

Though this rebuke is directed at\u00a0the laity, it is a far more serious matter\u00a0when preachers neglect meat and only\u00a0give pablum. If the preacher only\u00a0preaches about a few verses from Romans,\u00a0and in a lifetime of preaching\u00a0ignore the rest of that book, the Bible\u00a0will never become a burning bush that\u00a0doesn’t burn up. It will never catch fire\u00a0and neither will the congregation.<\/p>\n

That is why pastors and teachers\u00a0have a higher standard of accountability\u00a0and why the apostle James warned they\u00a0will incur a stricter judgment.<\/p>\n

When the expository preacher opens\u00a0the book of Romans, he will, at one time\u00a0or another, preach on all the great\u00a0themes of that book. His preaching will\u00a0be meaty spiritual food because he is being\u00a0faithful to proclaim the complete\u00a0counsel of scripture and not just bits and\u00a0pieces. Though it is not always necessary,\u00a0most of the great expository\u00a0preachers simply preach through complete\u00a0books, or sections, of scripture.<\/p>\n

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the\u00a0greatest expository preachers of this\u00a0age, preached at Westminster Chapel\u00a0in London. His sermons through the\u00a0book of Romans\u2014section by section,\u00a0theme by theme, verse by verse\u2014have\u00a0been published and amount to some\u00a010 volumes. This is meat, not pablum.\u00a0When he preached on the three chapters\u00a0that comprise the Sermon on the\u00a0Mount (Matthew 5-7), it took him 60 sermons,\u00a0preached consecutively on Sunday\u00a0mornings during 1959-1960.<\/p>\n

So after all is said and done, when\u00a0we come to church on Sunday morning,\u00a0why do we do what we do? What\u00a0do we expect? I know that when I sit in\u00a0my pew and the Bible is opened and\u00a0the preacher proclaims God’s truth,\u00a0that I long to hear the voice of God\u00a0speaking directly to my heart from the\u00a0burning bush that doesn’t bum up. And\u00a0like Moses, I too will take off my shoes,\u00a0because I’m on holy ground.<\/p>\n

Article adapted from Contact <\/em>magazine, March 2003.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Phillip Hersey When the pastor stands before the congregation on Sunday morning and prepares to give the sermon, what do you expect? This is a crucial question and may well determine what kind of pastor you have or the type of church you attend.\u00a0 There are different aspects of corporate worship\u2014singing hymns, prayers, giving gifts, words of individual testimony\u2014all centered around giving glory and honor to God. The primary focus should be when God speaks and we as believers listen, which is supposed to happen when the pastor gives the sermon.\u00a0 For me, as a layperson who sits in the pew on Sunday morning, this is vitally important.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 The more effectively and clearly the preacher is able to proclaim God\u2019s truth, the more my spiritual needs, as well as those in the congregation around me, will be met. I need expository preaching\u00a0and I would passionately argue that you need it too.\u00a0 Anything else falls far short. Why it Matters These are perhaps strong words, but\u00a0as Christians living in a country where\u00a0a glut of churches offer all manner of fare and label it worship, we need to start by asking ourselves why we do what we do on Sunday.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4485"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4486,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4485\/revisions\/4486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}