Sermon application and practical implementation

While God’s word was delivered to specific people at a specific time in a specific place, the quality of the Word is such that it lives on and can be applied to all people in every place in every time. The reason for this is that the Word of God is universal and carries a meaning that gets to the heart of what it means to be human and to be a child of God. To do the will of God is always Christ’s message. Whether that means that one must fight against temptation, or exercise more charity towards one’s neighbor, or to honor God by keeping His commandments, the message is there for everyone to receive and apply it in his or her daily life. The job of the preacher is to condense that message and make it fresh for the audience so that they feel it and feel the need to renew their commitment to God in their everyday lives. This paper will expound upon the application of the sermon as it relates to the daily lives of the congregation and show that in order to inspire the congregation, the preacher has a wide array of tools to use in his preaching.
As Duvall and Hays (2012) point out, “God worked through the various human authors, including their background, personality, cultural context, writing style, faith commitments, research, and so on, so that what they wrote was the inspired Word of God” (p. 25). Just as God worked through the Apostles so too does He also work through the preacher in his sermon. The Holy Spirit first and foremost is the ally of the preacher, inspiring the preacher’s thoughts and directing the preacher’s words, so long as the preacher remains open and faithful to the will of God. At the same time, the preacher must do his part and prepare accordingly. The Scriptures are filled with ideas that, if not understood properly, can be twisted into something they are not. This is why it is so important that the preacher understand the backgrounds of the Gospels and Epistles, their contextual relation to the Old Testament, the meanings of words and communication techniques that were used at the time, and how they can be interpreted today so that they resonate with one’s congregation. The more prepared the preacher is on his end, the more the Holy Spirit can work through the preacher to touch the hearts and minds of his hearers.
Thus a preacher must be able to apply the old lessons to today’s audience. The preacher must also be able to get the congregation to want to hear. And a number of factors play into inspiring this desire. The preacher must practice his tone, his clarity, his style of speech, the stories that he uses to support a point found in Scripture, and the illustrations that help to drove home the point. McDill (2006) notes that “as preachers we come in all varieties. Some have dynamism in personality that others do not. Some are more passionate, more caring, and fierier by nature. Some have clearer articulation by nature while others seem to mumble and stutter” (p. 6). For this reason, part of what a preacher does will depend on the type of person that preacher is. Every person has unique skills, gifts, and qualities that, for a preacher, will translate into how a sermon is delivered differently. Understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses as a speaker and a motivator is key to delivering a sermon that impacts the congregation in a meaningful way.
Christ also states that this is the case (Mt 25:14-30): so long as one does not bury his talents in the sand and never use them to win glory for God, one cannot be accused of not doing enough. The talents that each preacher possesses must be used in conjunction with the study and prayer life that the preacher engages in. The preacher must move in two directions at once—towards God and towards the people—and in this sense, the preacher keeps the two main commandments of Christ: 1) love God, and 2) love one’s neighbor (Mk 12:30-31).
Applying these talents in the sermon is the challenge that every preacher faces. McDill (2006) identifies a number of skills that the preacher should develop in order to become an effective sermonizer: first is the ability to conduct textual analysis. The preacher must recognize the significance of the text and understand its meaning. Second, the preacher must be able to construct the appropriate theological interpretation. This will aid in the third step, which is sermon development. The sermon should be planned and supported by the text, with natural analogies used to bring the sermon and the message of Scripture to life—just as Christ used parables to drive home His message to His audience at the time. Fourth, the preacher has to be able to design the sermon effectively so that the utility of the truth of the Word of God becomes evident for the congregation. The aim of the sermon should be to inspire movement in the congregation—movement that is oriented towards God, towards taking up the Cross and following Him.
The preacher can use a variety of tools to achieve these aims. Robinson (2014) explains that “expository sermons consist of ideas drawn from the Scriptures, but the ideas of Scripture must be related to life. To preach effectively, therefore, expositors must be involved in three different worlds: the world of the Bible, the modern world, and the particular world in which we are called to preach” (p. 73). In other words, the preacher must be mindful of how God sees things, how the modern world sees things, and how the congregation should see things. The preacher’s job is to bring the congregation out of the modern world, which typically sees things in a very different way from how God sees things, and usher them into closer contact and union with God. To do this, the preacher must be aware of the particular and unique challenges that the modern world poses for today’s congregation. It is no good to imagine that one’s congregation is rooted in the same issues that embattled people one hundred or even fifty years ago. Today’s generation has its own problems and these have to be understood by the preacher so that he can dive down into them to help the members of the congregation climb out of them. It is almost like being in a great lake: the ship of the modern world is adrift and/or gaining water and all the people aboard are looking for a way off—a way to safety. The preacher must have the tools to get to the people—the lifelines, the rafts, the boats, the ability to connect with them and pull them or guide them to shore. Without understanding the world in which they live, the preacher is unlikely to really connect with them and help them reach the other side.
One way to connect with the congregation is to first get their attention. This means that, in an environment like today’s environment where there is so much noise and distraction, the preacher must be able to pierce through all that so that the individual hears the message. Robinson (2014) recommends starting off with a bang by developing an introduction to a sermon that commands the congregation’s attention. At the same time, the preacher must be mindful of the conclusion and be developing it at the same time that he is developing the introduction. The two must line up and be in synch. If one’s conclusion is not harmonious with the beginning, it does little good to get the congregation’s attention if all you are going to do is meander and wander so that the congregation becomes bored or distracted by the sermon itself. The sermon must have purpose and direction to have utility.
How to open a sermon need not be complicated. An easy way to do it is to just be up front and frank: identify the problems that we all have. If one is in a burning building, it does not satisfy the needs of anyone in that building to begin talking about the weather. Rather it is better to identify the problem and then calmly and rationally guide those in the building to safety. The preacher’s job is no different. Recognizing the plight of people in the modern world, the preacher can identify that plight and then offer the congregation the means by which that struggle can be overcome. The congregation will listen because here is a person who evidently is aware of what is going on and is not living in some bubble, talking about God, pretending to care, yet having no clue about what real people are dealing with in the real world. People in the modern world need encouragement. They need support so that they can hold onto the faith they have received.
In conclusion, the preacher is in a unique position. He has particular skills and gifts that are special to him alone. He must be able to identify these and use them appropriately. He must be immersed in the Scriptures, understand them, and be able to communicate them to the modern person so that meaning can be interpreted correctly by them. The preacher must be near God but must also be near the world so that he can serve as the bridge from one to the other. The preacher is like the intermediary: the one who goes between the two realms and assists those in this world who are seeking to reach Heaven. Unless the preacher has a mind and heart that is trained to go between these two worlds, the sermon he delivers will lack the ability to save. If, however, the preacher is mindful of this role, he can reach those in the congregation and help get them to safety.

References
Duvall, J.S. & Hays, J.D. (2012). Grasping God’s word: A hands-on approach to reading,
interpreting, and applying the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
McDill, W. (2006). The 12 essential skills for great preaching (2nd ed.). Nashville, TN:
B&H Publishing Group.
Robinson, H.W. (2014). Biblical preaching: The development and delivery of expository
messages. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.