Best Preachers Practice, Not Rehearse, Sermons

Not only do the best preachers deliver sermons and develop a point of view they also practice their sermons. This is something that every homiletic class (the fancy title for preaching class) in seminary teaches. Practicing sermons are vital to the delivery and to the development of the point of view. However, practicing sermons is not the same as rehearsing sermons.

One does not have to rehearse sermons, but they must be practiced. 

Practicing sermons, or "practice what you preach", is the idea that we need to do what we preach not just speak it. So if you are a preacher that preaches about the need for reconciliation, then your sermons will be made great if you practice reconciliation. If you are a God accepts all people sort of preacher, then you should practice that sermon. 

The beautiful part is that when you practice your sermons, then you will not have as much of a need to rehearse them. The sermon will come from your being and doing. The people can see your sermon each time you stand in the pulpit.

You can rehearse all you want, but the best preachers practice their sermons.

There is a great little story by Henri Nouwen (Time Enough to Minister, 1982) that speaks to the need to practice your sermons, even when you don't have time to rehearse them. It goes like this:

"Often we're not as pressed for time as much as we feel we're pressed for time. I remember several years ago becoming so pressed by demands of teaching at Yale that I took a prayer sabbatical to the Trappist monastery at Geneseo, New York. No teaching, lecturing, or counseling--just solitude and prayer.  

"The second day there, a group of students from Geneseo College walked in and asked, 'Henri, can you give us a retreat?'
""Of course at the monastery that was not my decision, but I said to the abbott, 'I came here from the university to get away from this type of thing. These students have asked for five meditations, an enormous amount of work and preparation. I don't want to do it.'

"The abbot said, 'You're going to do it.'
"'What do you mean? Why would I spend my sabbatical time preparing all those things?'

"'Prepare?' he replied. 'You've been a Christian for forty years and a priest for twenty, and a few high school students wan to have a retreat. Why do you have to prepare? What those boys and girls want is to be a part of your life in God for a few days. If you pray half an hour in the morning, sing in our choir for an hour, and do your spiritual reading, you will have so much to say you could give ten retreats.'

"The question, you see, is not to prepare but to live in a state of ongoing preparedness so that, when someone who is drowning in the world comes into your world, you are ready to reach out and help. It may be at four o'clock, six o'clock, or nine o'clock. One time you call it preaching, the next time teaching, then counseling, or later administration. But let them be a part of your life in God--that's ministering."

What Great Preachers Do

Great preachers not only tie together the head and the heart, but they also do two additional things that vault them to greatness. Most preachers have glimpses of Great, but very few can sustain Greatness for longer than a sermon or two. Great preaching is not elusive but Great preachers take the time to develop skills in two areas.

First, Great preachers do not give sermons -- they deliver them. The preacher who is giving a sermon is one who is prepared and well-spoken. The preacher who gives a sermon is one who even thinks about what the congregation needs to hear while prayerfully attuning to the work of the Holy Spirit. The difference in giving a sermon and delivering a sermon is all in how the preacher understands the sermon. Ask anyone who has ever delivered a baby into the world -- the baby is a living thing that has its own movements and actions that are outside the control of anyone else. Anyone who gives a sermon does not understand the sermon is alive and has breath. Delivering a sermon is being keenly aware and flexible enough to move with the sermon as it develops in the moment.

One of the most commonly known Great preachers was Martin Luther King. King knew that he was not giving a sermon but delivering one, which explains why he changed course in the sermon after hearing the voice of Mahalia Jackson shout out, "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" At that point, King's famous sermon began to live in the hearts of all who have heard it. It may be semantics, but there is a very real difference in delivering and giving a sermon, Great preachers know that.

The second thing that Great preachers do (that most of us do not take the time to develop) is something that every stand up comic or author has to have in order to "make it": a well-developed point-of-view (POV). Legendary comic Lenny Bruce had the "how far can we push the First Amendment" POV. The not-as-legendary-but still-okay comic Jeff Foxworthy has the "redneck" point of view. While the greatness of Maria Bamford has the "neurotic eccentric" POV down pat. 

Great preachers have a POV: Barbara Brown Taylor has the "sacred in the ordinary" POV. Adam Hamilton has the "speaking to new and nominal Christian group" POV. Fred Craddock has the "story-telling" POV, while MLK Jr. had the POV of "racial and economic justice." 

Being able to unite the head and the heart, and deliver sermons from a clear and consistent POV, is what moves good preachers into becoming great preachers. 

Teachers, Inspirers, and Great Preachers

Like any other person who has a craft they work to refine, I think a lot about the craft of preaching. I refuse to believe there are "bad" preachers. I believe that even the most difficult preacher to listen to has within them the Divine spark (because all humans do) and I can listen for that spark. 

While I do not think there are bad preachers, I do think there are three types of preachers which I label: Teachers, Inspirers, and Greats. 

Teachers are those preachers who are primarily interested in teaching. This style of preaching is gratifying because when you leave, you feel like you have expanded knowledge. Teachers include Seminary students and others who are learning new things they are excited about. Teachers also include those who find learning personally enriching. Teachers are good preachers. I am a teacher about half of the time. However, teachers can also be dry in content or, more often, operating under the Greek myth that knowledge leads to enlightenment. I learn a lot from watching the Food Network, but I am not any closer to being a chef. Knowledge of Jesus does not equate into being Christ-like. 

The Inspirers are preachers primarily interested in inspiring you to action. This style of preaching is gratifying because when you leave you feel pumped up or on a "spiritual high". Inspirers include those who are feel strongly that "faith without works is dead" and find being the hands of Christ personally enriching. Inspirers are good preachers. I am an Inspirer the other half of the time. However, Inspirers can be story-heavy and theologically light. Inspirers also can be overt with nostalgia or fear-mongering to manipulate action. Getting your "Jesus fix" each Sunday is often a nice way of being addicted to the evocative aspects of worship.

So of course the Great preachers interweave the head (Teacher) and the heart (Inspirer). This is more than obvious at this point. However Great preachers do two other things which are by far the most difficult things to do. The next post will expand on what the Great preachers do.