WHERE IS THIS THING GOING?

"Be obscure clearly." - EB White

Most English majors have encountered the writing and counsel of E.B. White. White is brilliant and some of his brilliance comes through being facetious.  He wasn't advocating obscurity. He was becrying the absence of clarity.

There are times I think EB White should be teaching homiletics.

Because I am a local church pastor, I do more preaching than listening to preachers.  But when I have the opportunity to hear from my colleagues, I find myself troubled by how many sermons start out and then go nowhere, taking 20-30 minutes to arrive at their destination.

The result is people who are bored or confused or ignorant of the Word.  And the result is that people who need the milk of the Word get the truth even more watered down. And those who  need meat never find it in the fast food of shallow obscure messages.

The call to preach and the opportunity to preach are a tremendous privilege.  You get to stand in that "spotlight: as the spokesman of the Living God. Out of your mouth can comes the wonderful words of life.

Too bad when so much of it is garbled by sermons that leave you asking, "Where is this going?"

Can I offer you a seven-letter homiletics lesson?

P - R - E - P - A - R - E

Is that direct enough?

When we prepare, let us remember we are preparing the way for the Word of the Lord.  Winging it as a pattern for your pulpit is a sin.

P - R - E - P - A - R -E

Those of you who understand this, I'd love to hear what you have learned is involved in preparation.

(C) 2012 by Stephen L Dunn