What Did Jesus Do: What is a Christian Sermon
A week or so ago, I had the "privilege" of hearing a message from Rick Warren's "Forty Days of Community". This message was based on the cultivations of Christian Relationships. The message conveyed was basically a list of relationship poison and their antidotes. For instance one of the relationship poisons was selfishness, and the antidote was selflessness and humility. The antidote to the problem was based on Philippians 2:3-4.
I do not recall what the other three poisons and antidotes were, but they were similar in approach to that of selfishness and selflessness. To all of the Lutherans reading this, you see why this is unacceptable as a sermon. To many of you non-Lutherans, you may wonder why such a message should not be preached. The answer to this question of course is that Christ is not be preached in this message. Yes, Christ is the example in Philippians 2, but he was nowhere to be found in the message.
In fact, the message as a whole was not a Christian message. It did agree with Christian Morals, however it also agreed with the morals of many non-Christians. The antidotes to the relationship Poisons were more or less common sense in any case. Dr. Phil could have given the same message on his radio show, but without the occasional Bible quote used, and nobody would have argued with it, nor would they have considered it a Christian message. One does not need to be a Christian to believe such a message, whether the support comes from the Bible or not.
This is what makes a sermon Christian, it preaches Christ and him crucified. Christ should be an example to us, but he should primarily be our savior. Even those who do not believe in Christ as the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world can still look to his life as an example. They can still quote (or misquote) some of what he said. They can still lead as moral of a life as a Christian. Preaching Christ as an example does not save, it is not the Gospel, it is the Law. It condemns us by showing us what perfection is, showing us that to which we can never measure up.
In order to be a truly Christian sermon, it must present, as its focus, Christ crucified and risen to forgive our sins. We have the only religion in the world in which we are not expected to measure up to God's demands, but in which God is incarnated as a man who humbles himself to be under the same law that we are. Ours is the only religion in which God makes the sacrifices and we receive the benefits. This is the evangel, the Good News that we must share with the world at every opportunity. When we have the opportunity to preach this good news, why would we want to instead speak of relationship killers and how to deal with stress in a Christian manner. These things become irrelevant. We do good works because we have faith, not the other way around. Those who have faith in Christ have no choice but to do good works, it is what a living faith does. However, a living faith can only be nurtured through the means of Grace, in this case, the Word of Christ crucified. That is the message that needs to get out, that is what we have been charged to preach. That is what is in a Christian Sermon.
Having just finished Homiletics II (my second sermon writing class of at least four and maybe five) I appreciated Ryan's summary here of what makes Christian preaching truly Christian. It may seem obvious that Christian preaching must preach Christ crucified and risen to be Christian preaching. Unfortunately in my experience and I am sure in yours as well, this is not the case. The "Oprah"-style is much more prevalent. I can sympathize with those who resort to this practical, life-lesson, moralism sermonizing. It really is a lot easier. Preaching Christ in every sermon not only is challenging... its a downright struggle every time.
Why is this? Simple! We know the law, we live with the law every day, we struggle with it. It is our very existence and our very downfall. Those who try to live up to its standard are doomed to fail. Yet most of us keep trying, struggling. We kid ourselves if we think we can do it all though. In any case, the Law is what we know best. It truly is written on our hearts.
On the other hand, the Gospel of Christ Jesus crucified, dead, and resurrected is foreign to us. It makes no sense to the Law-driven man. Surely such an act was not needed? If only I had tried a little harder! Ah, c'mon, we've got the power! You can do it! Hmm... Back to the law, eh? Nah, the whole concept that we require something or someone "extra nos", external to us for the law to be completed is foreign. We deny it with our whole sinful being. We
need the Gospel given by God's Word in order to hear and believe the message of salvation.
So for the preacher to preach a message of salvation by the dead and risen Christ requires him to preach something he doesn't know, that doesn't come naturally, and that requires him to rely on the message, text, and language of Scripture. He has to wrestle with the text, not forcing it into his preconceptions of Law-based living but letting the redeeming message ring true on its own.
Thanks Ryan.
