Sermon

The adage is “There is no such thing as a bad, short sermon.” I choose to disagree. As a one-time District Superintendent, I will say that I’ve actually heard some bad short sermons. Actually, I’ve heard some bad sermons, and I found myself giving thanks to the good Lord that they were short. If one has to endure bad sermons, it is good when they’re short!

Why am I talking about short sermons? Well, as one who has been known to preach long sermons, I’m trying my hand at a short sermon this morning. Why a short sermon? Numerous reasons, but primarily because we’re having a potluck after worship this morning, and we have to flip our worship space into fellowship space. That, and the food will get cold. Oh, and I have to be in Dallas before 5:00 p.m., and I need to hit the road.

Yes, I know. Selfish reasons for preaching a short sermon, but it is what it is. The problem lies in the fact that my chosen passage (Luke 8: 26 – 39) is a long and difficult passage. How does one distill demon-possession, cemeteries and suicidal pigs into a 1,000 word manuscript? I’ll give it a try. My fear is the congregation will like it and they’re response will be, “Why can’t all your sermons be that short?”

So, here goes…

A Brief Introduction

I really should have entitled the sermon “Comfortable with Our Crazy,” because that’s what we find in the unfolding events of Luke 8: 26 – 39. I went, instead, with “A Disturbing Presence,” because as we read the passage, we are a bit disturbed by the entire scene.

I mean, really, demon possessed people, graveyards and suicidal pigs is enough to disturb anyone. Yet, as disturbing as those images tend to be, the most disturbing presence is Jesus, Himself. When Jesus comes to town, He tends to disturb everything.

Our natural tendency is to focus on the demon possessed man whom the community has sent to the cemetery. You know? That’s what we do with broken people. We send them to the margins. “That man is crazy! Let’s push him away. We can’t deal with his kind of crazy.”

If we were doing an in-depth bible study, we’d take time to look at this whole idea of demon possession because we are a bit disturbed by the whole idea. This is, however, a Sunday morning sermon and we’ve got food getting cold, so we’re not going to dive into that subject.

The Power of Jesus

This is, ultimately, not a story about demon possessed people. It’s a story about the power of Jesus to transform a broken life. It’s a story about the authority of Jesus, even over the darkest of powers. It’s a story about Jesus’ call to tell others about the goodness of God, so, let’s focus on Jesus this morning.

Let’s focus on the disturbance Jesus brings to the demons. This man lived among the tombs, isolated from society, stripped of dignity, and enslaved by spiritual oppression. Yet, Jesus does not avoid him; instead, He steps into his brokenness with authority and compassion.

This reminds us that Jesus is not intimidated by the darkness in our lives. He has the power to confront and overcome anything that binds us, whether it be sin, addiction, or fear (Luke 8:29-33). His authority over the supernatural demonstrates that He is Lord over all creation.

I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul told the Church at Philippi: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2: 10 – 11 NKJV).

The Inclusivity of the Gospel

Jesus not only disturbed the demons, but He also disturbed the pig-herders. I mean, seriously, he destroyed their livelihood. If we were doing that Bible study on this passage, we’d look at the significance of the pigs in the encounter, but since it’s a Sunday morning sermon and it is supposed to be short, we’re only going to mention that the fact there were pigs nearby indicates Jesus was in Gentile territory.

So, what do we learn about Jesus? The Gospel is for everyone! Jesus intentionally went to Gentile territory to spread the Good News. The Gospel is the most inclusive message in the world, but the very nature of the Gospel is it’s power to transform people. Jesus doesn’t intend to leave us the way he found us, either individually or corporately. His Gospel transforms people and entire communities.

The Real Disturbance

When we talk about communities, we can’t overlook how disturbing Jesus was to the townspeople. They had become comfortable with crazy, and when Jesus showed up to deal with the crazy, they preferred crazy to Christ.

What was their response when they saw the crazy, naked, homeless man clothed and sitting in his right mind? It wasn’t “Oh, how wonderful. Now we can invite him back into the community and to his family.” No. It was, “Hey, Jesus? Could you just leave and leave us alone?”

Jesus’ presence there on the seashore became a threat to the townsfolk’ own complacency. He upset their apple cart. And worse still, he cost them money. After all, 2,000 pigs cost a lot of money in the first century. Jesus took their known, comfortable circumstances (they had gotten used to the crazy man in the cemetery and knew how to handle that situation), and forced them to confront the unknown. They could cope with the known, even if the known was bad, but they were afraid of the unknown.

The most disturbing thing of all is the fact that the power of God was at work among the people and they failed to see it. Jesus’ presence forced the people to confront the evil that was around them, and that was a very uncomfortable position. We’d rather turn a blind eye to evil around us. Doing so allows us to turn a blind eye to the evil within us.

That is what is most disturbing. If Jesus can drive out someone else’s demons, He might be able to drive out mine. I’m rather comfortable with my own sins. “No, Jesus, could you just leave me alone? I don’t want to be disturbed?”

A Brief Conclusion

Jesus comes in power to transform us and our communities. As the old hymn says,

He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean;
his blood availed for me.

There are only two responses to the power of Jesus among us. One, is to follow Jesus’ command to the healed man—“Go tell others about the goodness of God,” or two, ask Jesus to leave us alone.

My friends, we are called to tell others about the goodness of God! That is the mission of the Church. Unfortunately, too many of us in the Church would rather be left alone. Which will you choose today?

So, you tell me–a good, short sermon? Eh! Maybe I should stick to longer ones.

Until next time, keep looking up…

I went to church last Sunday. I heard a good sermon from a good preacher. These former United Methodists, though, they are in uncharted waters. The preacher who was preaching was doing so “in view of a call” to be the church’s pastor. The congregation was handing out ballots so the people could vote. It just seemed all so Baptist to me, but we are living in a new world as former United Methodists, aren’t we?

A Critical Mind

I did what I usually do when I attend worship where I’m not preaching. I critiqued the sermon. Don’t judge me! I suspect it is what most preachers do when they attend worship. They’ll probably tell you otherwise, but only a few (those really holy few) really mean it.

What is there to critique? Well, there is first the choice of text. Unless the preacher is preaching from the Revised Common Lectionary, I wonder why the preacher chose the text he/she chose. Did the preacher spend time in deep prayer and devotion and was moved by the Spirit to preach this text? Or, did the preacher just pull out an old sermon, dust it off, freshen it up and preach it?

Next, I can usually find a reason to critique the points of the sermon. “Well, I don’t know if I would have included that in the message.” “Interesting direction he/she took with that point.” “That application doesn’t really work with that point.” “I think I could have found a better illustration for that point.” And on it could go…

Then, I can usually find a critique of the preacher’s exegesis. Exegesis is one of those three dollar theological words that simply means “read out of.” It is taking the biblical text and bringing out the meaning, rather than reading meaning into the text.

Let me see if I can say it another way: Reading into the text (called eisogesis) would be like saying, “This is what the text means to me.” Reading out of the text would be saying, “This is what the author meant when he wrote the text.” There is a world of difference between the two.

Finally, I can usually find a critique or two on the preacher’s delivery. The preacher’s dress code, the preacher’s cadence, the preacher’s inflection, the preacher’s diction. And, on it could go…

Not to worry, though. I know that when I preach to a congregation that has other preachers in it, I’m probably getting the same treatment. Nonetheless, we preach on in spite of the critique. And, seriously, the guy is a good preacher and he preached a good sermon. That’s what you do when you’re preaching in view of a call (it still sounds strange saying that as a Methodist).

A Thoughtful Mind

How do I know the sermon was a good sermon? Because it was thought-provoking. The notes I made from the message cover the worship folder from the service.

The scripture for the message was Matthew 14: 22 – 33–

²²Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

³²And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

So, here’s your opportunity to get a glimpse into how my mind works when I’m listening to someone else preach.

Thinking About Peter

The preacher’s message prompted me to look at the event from Peter’s perspective. My first thought was, “I wonder how many steps Peter took on the water?” Did he take one and then began to sink? Did he take ten before he began sinking? Even if he took one step, what a miracle that is because people don’t walk on water!

Also, Peter was actually willing to get out of the boat. What a risk of faith! Those who are willing to take the risk of faith generally reap the greatest rewards. Seems like there is a sermon in there to me. I’ll come back to this note another day. Yeah, I know, John Ortberg wrote an entire book about it. Nonetheless, I can put my own spin on it.

Peter, even in the midst of great faith, exhibited doubt and fear. No one is perfect…not even Peter…even as great as his faith was. Even the greatest among us can be overcome by doubt and fear…even in the midst of a miracle. Maybe it’s in the midst of a miracle that the devil shows up to do his most deceptive work?

Thinking About the other Disciples

I also think about the disciples who remained in the boat. I first got the impression that the disciples who remained in the boat are like most followers of Jesus. We are unwilling to take the risk of faith. The safest place is in the boat in the middle of the storm.

Interestingly, though, even disciples who aren’t willing to take the risk of faith still reap the benefit from those who do. They witnessed the miracle of Peter walking on water and of Jesus calming the storm. See how much difference one person’s faith can make? Yeah, probably a sermon in there, too. I’ll hold on to this note.

Thinking About Jesus

Of course, this is one of the Gospels, so what is most important is what do we learn about Jesus? First, Jesus is in the storm. That doesn’t mean Jesus causes the storm. It just means He’s there. Probably a sermon in there somewhere, too.

Not only is Jesus in the storm, sometimes He calls us into the storm. Yeah, I could do an entire sermon on our uniquely American name-it-and-claim-it prosperity gospel with this as an example of how we don’t need to avoid the “storms of life.” Jesus is there in the storm and He calls us to join Him there. It is where faith is built and miracles happen.

Jesus also gives us a powerful example of the spiritual disciplines of prayer and solitude. He went away alone (as was often His want) to pray. Jesus’s power was rooted in His relationship with His Father. I’m not so sure that this is not the most important point of the encounter. Jesus was sustained by this relationship, and all He accomplished He accomplished because of His connection to His Father. Exegesis (see above) proves this point well. Yeah, there’s a sermon in there.

One final thought I noted was the simple fact that Jesus is our salvation. Whether we are in the storm or in the boat, it is Jesus who saves us. Jesus saved Peter from the doubt and fear he experienced in the storm (while he was walking on water, I might add), and Jesus saved the other disciples when He calmed the storm once He got into the boat. Perhaps this is the most important point of the encounter–Jesus saves!

A Hopeful Mind

See? I told you it was a good sermon. No, the preacher didn’t make all these points in his sermon (it would be insufferably long if he did!). The sermon was good enough to get me to think all those things. So what if I might have gone a different direction? So what if the preacher’s diction wasn’t the greatest? So what if…? So what?

I left challenged to think more deeply about this event and its implications in my life and the life of the Church. I left asking more questions about Jesus and wanting to find the answers. That’s what good sermons do. I can only pray that my sermons are that good, too.

So now, you’ve had a brief glimpse into how the mind of a preacher works…or, at least how this preacher’s mind works. Please don’t judge me. I am, after all, not the perfect pastor.