The density of sermons
By Dr. Mark Dever, Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C. The following is a transcript of part of a lecture he gave. The full lecture can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tL5C8IT0DM (From 25-45 mins)
We’re told today that sermons should be easier to understand than in the past, less abstract, more spontaneous, shorter, more personal experience stories, allowing for participation. At least that’s what I was told by George Bara at a conference a number of years ago. I’ve already commented on some of these: the stories of personal experience, the participation, etc. But the idea that they need to be shorter and more spontaneous and less abstract is taken by many preachers today for granted. Of course, those things are true, they say. And please don’t misunderstand. There is much to be said for Simplicity in preaching. Passion and boldness and daring and preaching when wed to truth are excellent. And strong content and a lot of it is excellent, too.
You know, it may be that not everybody will get every word in your sermon. But is that so bad? Who said everybody needs to understand everything you say? I don’t assume that. Friends, when novelists write novels or to go to the opposite extreme of the spectrum when the advertiser writes advertisements, do you think they write it assuming that you’re going to remember all of it? That you’re going to notice and remember everything about it? Even that you’ll notice all of it? You know, as preachers, we don’t have an interest in people becoming entranced by our sermon about God’s word but by the God
whose word it is that we preach.
I’m very aware that I may work very hard on (I don’t know how many sentences are in a sermon) a thousand sentences, and there may be one sentence which wasn’t even in my manuscript that somebody goes away and just meditates on for a week. You know I’m fine with that. I’m not trying to get them to stare at my art. I want them to by means of
this work stare at God’s word and at God himself. I assume that only 20% of adults will get some of the things that I say. But friends, that’s fine. Those 20% who that day have an appetite for more, I want to feed them.
People who are used to newscasters, magazines and teachers who know more than they do. Why shouldn’t preachers know more than their congregations do? As long as the gospel is clear to all, is it a problem to make people reach for some of the things taught them in the sermon? Does knowing more or preaching sermons more demanding of our listeners attention really make us remote and intimidating and unapproachable? Maybe it also helps people to have confidence in us. It gives the most mature among us something else to learn from the sermon. It attracts the kind of people to the congregation who show the maturity of valuing both love and knowledge. It actually brings adults to the congregation.
But what about the children? I can hear some say. Friends blessing parents will bless Children. Helping Mom and Dad to understand the gospel, to understand love, to think through what it means to be a good example, may all be concepts that are above some of the younger children there, but if those parents come to understand them, or even if their parents aren’t there, if some of their older friends come to understand them, then they can teach their friends. They can teach their children. And you’ll do the children no good by teaching the parents only things they could have understood when they were 10 years old.
I encourage you to preach sermons for adults. That does not mean that they should be complicated or difficult to understand. But they should be as serious and as weighty as life itself. Assume that everyone who ever hears you preach is very uneducated and very intelligent. Take the time to inform them. Don’t simply assume that they couldn’t understand or wouldn’t be interested. Such preaching will assume a serious level of interest in the sermons but that’s the kind of expectation you want to encourage by your preaching.
