The points of a sermon
0 ne Friday afternoon, I skipped a class in Mythol ogy and drove home from Chattanooga. I would not have to be back until Sunday at 6:00 pm to clock in at Kings Bakery for the night’s work. I was in my third year of study at Tennessee Temple College and the stress of working 35 hours a week on the night shift and carrying a full load of classes was a constant part of my life. I had hoped to have a leisurely weekend but it did not work out that way.
Somehow the pastor of my church found out I was home and insisted that I preach in his place Sunday morning. At the time I had not yet chosen a major area of class studies and was still trying to find my way in life. I would eventually respond to God’s call into Christian ministry, but that time had not yet arrived.
Reluctantly I agreed to speak as he requested. But I knew there went my Saturday of rest. I would have to spend the day in preparation of a sermon.
That in itself would be a challenge.
After preaching I would have to drive back to Chattanooga hurriedly. I would be tired when I clocked in for a night of work and then begin a new week of classes on Monday morning.
Sunday as we were on the way to church, younger brother Paul asked me what I was going to preach about. It was a legitimate question, one which I would ask myself more than once when I had committed myself to ministry. But it was not one I wanted to deal with at the moment. I was not really sure of how prepared I was. At that time, I had not taken any courses in preaching. They would come later when I was in seminary seeking a degree in biblical studies. In seminary, because I had majored in English with an emphasis on writing in college, I did learn how to structure a sermon which some of my peers seemed never to be able to do. I remember in one preaching class we had a spirited discussion among the students as to the number of points a sermon should have. Finally, one of the young preachers asked the teacher what he thought. I have never forgotten the answer of the grey-haired professor as he replied: “Young man, don’t you think it should have at least one salient truth from the passage you have chosen?” But on that long ago Sunday I still had much to learn. Brother Paul’s question was a legitimate one I would have to deal with later when I became a young pastor in my first church. At that time a Pastor had the responsibility, in addition to his other tasks, of preaching two new sermons each week plus a weekly bible study. I replied to Paul with an old quip, “about an hour and a half,” to which he responded, “you do and I will walk out on you and turn out the lights as I leave.” I wisely decided not to pursue that conversation any further.
Let me share a word with young ministers. Over the years I have learned that the value of a sermon is not always in its length or the number of points it has regardless of how important you may think they are. One can turn out the lights without ever touching the electrical switch. When the light goes out in the collective congregation you may as well salvage what you can and look for an exit ramp. “And there sat one in a window being fallen in a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep and fell down and was taken up dead.” Acts 20:9.
