So far we have discussed four of seven steps in preparing a sermon:
Step One: Choose the Passage
Step Two: Study the Passage
Step Three: Choose the Proposition or the main idea
Step Four: Construct the Sermon Outline or the Divisions
Step Five: Develop the sermon outline with the four rhetorical processes: Explanation, Argumenation of explanation, Illustration, Application (and argumentation of application).
I will begin with the first rhetorical process of explanation. This process could be identified with exegesis. Therefore, we need to give some definitions to distinguish hermeneutics, exegesis, and homiletics. I like the way Roy Zuck defines these terms.
Hermeneutics: The science (principles) by which the biblical text is interpreted
Exegesis: The application (art) of the principles of hermeneutics
Homiletics: The science and art of preaching the meaning of the biblical text
Zuck illustrates: “Hermeneutics is like a cookbook. Exegesis is the preparing and caking of the cake, and homiletics is serving the cake” (Roy Zuck. Basic Bible Interpretation, pages 20-22).
In a lecture on preaching, Dr. Mark Minnick said there are two mentalities of exegesis.
The first mentality asks, “What can I say about this passage?” With this mentality, the preacher is the creator and his tools are tools of addition: Books of illustrations, devotional commentaries, and quotation books.
The other and preferable mentality asks, “What does this passage say?” or “What has God said in this passage?” You have 1129 chapters in God’s Word to figure that out. With this mentality, the preacher is the interpreter and his tools are tools of extraction: Lexicons, concordances, word studies and exegetical commentaries.
Dr. Minnick, in his lecture, spoke of the methodology of exegesis.
The First Step is to find the eternal thematic truth of the passage (every passage is about one truth). Theologians call this authorial intent: The author’s one intent for his original audience.
For example, the one eternal thematic truth of 1 Cor 13 is _____________
The Book of Romans is ____________________________
John 1:1 is __________________
These thematic truths of the above examples will always be love, the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel, and the Word.
The Second Step is to find the fixed number of developmental statements in that passage
1. Every passage has a limited number of things it says about its theme
2. How many things does John 1:1 say about the Word? Three and only three.
1) The Word’s Existence in eternity “In the beginning was the Word”
2) The Word’s Relationship with the Father “And the Word was with God”
3) The Word’s Identification with Deity “And the Word was God”
There are Four Ways to Explain a passage. Using these four ways can add variety to this first rhetorical process.
1. By Positive Definition
What did Paul mean in 1 Timothy 2:12 when he instructed, “I permit not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over a man, but to learn in silence?” “In silence” comes from the same Greek word that is translated “held their peace” in Acts 11:18. In Acts 11, Peter is defending his actions to the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem concerning the Gentiles that Peter had won to Christ at Cornelius’ house. When Peter was through explaining what God had done, the convinced Jewish leaders “held their peace and glorified God.” They did not stop talking but they did stop verbally protesting Peter’s actions and leadership.
This positive definition helps us understand what Paul is telling the church to do when it meets for public worship (which is the context of 1 Timothy 2). Paul is not saying that women can’t talk or speak in church but he is insisting that woman cease verbally protesting male leadership in the roles of pastor (1 Timothy 3:1-7) and deacons (3:8-13).
2. By Contrast
You can help explain the meaning of Matthew 5:3 where Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for their’s is the kingdom of heaven” by constrasting the two different Greek words translated “poor.” The Greek word translated “poor” in Luke 21:2 means the person is so poor he has to work to eat or he has some resources. The other Greek word for poor in Luke 16:20 means the person is so poor he has to beg to eat and he has no resources. The second Greek word is used by Jesus in Matthew 5:3. To enter the kingdom of heaven requires a total poverty of spirit or complete humility. We cannot work nor merit the kingdom. It is totally by God’s grace.
3. By Comparison
In James 4:11, James admonishes believers to “speak not evil one of another.” The same Greek word is translated in the KJV “backbitings” in 2 Corinthians 12:20. This is an interesting comparison.
When I was only about 11 or 12, my grandfather bought me a Shetland pony which is one of the meanest animals God ever created. I was leading the pony from the pasture to the barn to saddle and ride. As I was leading him, he bit me in the center of my back and just held on. I was helpless and in great pain. I was at his mercy until he finally got tired and released me. Oftentimes when someone speaks evil or slanders you behind your back, you experience emotional pain and you also are at their mercy.
4. By Relationships
By relationships we mean the context in which the word is used. Roy Zuck mentions several important contexts.
The first important context is the immediate context. “Often the sentence in which a word is used clarifies the meaning. The use of the word pen by itself might mean fountain pen or pig pen, but most likely the sentence in which it is used would clarify which is meant.”
Zuck refers to Cotterell’s and Turner’s list of the seven different meanings of the Greek word kosmos or “world” according to the immediate context.
1. The whole created universe, including the earth, the heavens, heavenly bodies, etc.
2. “Earth” as opposed to heaven or the heavens.
3. “Mankind,” that is, the “world” of people.
4. The condition of mortal life; “life in the world”.
5. The beings (human and supernatural) in rebellion against God, together with the systems under their control, viewed as opposed to God.
6. The system of earthly and social structures (including its joys, possessions, and cares).
7. “Adornment” or “adorning”.
Match the following six verses with the these seven different uses. Immediate context will determine which usage is correct: John 3:16; 1 John 2:15-16; 1 Peter 3:3; John 17:5; 1 Cor 7:31; 1 Tim 6:7 (Zuck, 108, 109).
Another important context is the context of the paragraph or chapter. In Matthew 24-25, Jesus is describing the end time events of the seven-year Tribulation Period. In the midst of this detailed description, Jesus said, “he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved.” When this verse is lifted from its context, it is said to teach that a person must work to keep himself saved or he can lose his salvation. The context is not talking about spiritual salvation but physical deliverance. The persecuted believer in the Tribulation who is not martyred by the Anti-christ will physically be delivered from the Tribulation and enter alive into the Millennium.
Each of the four rhetorical processes answers a question, hopefully, your audience is asking while you are preaching. After you read the verses in your main point, Explanation will answer your listeners first question, “What do these verses mean?” There are at least four ways you can answer their quesiton with variety.
The next rhetorical process and method you develop in your divisions is Argumentation of explanation. I will develop Argumentation of Explanation in part 4 when I discuss Argumentation of Application. Argumentation of explanation is where you insert theology into your sermon. If you want to jump ahead to part 4 you can to learn about Argumentation of explanation. Next, I will talk about the rhetorical process called Illustration.
Extremely useful material! First of all, I pray that God will help me learn how to better understand and apply to my preaching the simple steps above. Second, I believe that I am typically an imaginative learner, not an analytic learner. Therefore following certain outlines and steps is often challenging to me. Furthermore, I appreciate the time you take to clarify the above seven steps to me. Thank You.
I like the tool idea at the beginning. These tools that we have need to be used to interpret and understand a passage. We cannot work on a car without a wrench and neither can we understand scripture without tools.
Using the four different ways to explain a passage will also add variety to preaching. We should use the kind that best answers the question, what does the verse mean? Perhaps more than one kind of explanation could be used at a time. Would this help insure more people understand the explanation or could it cause some to lose interest?
The end is great when it talks about the context. I feel like context is probably the first thing that should be used when it comes to a sermon though. This blog is full of one-liners as well. I love the quotes from guys who have been.
I believe context is very important. Many times as preachers we don’t look at the whole chapter or book theme. We try to make a point out of just one or a few verses without any background of the verses.
I appreciate the distinction between the two mentalities listed near the beginning (the difference between exegesis and eisegesis). Also, I love the point that there’s a difference between meaning (interpretation) and significance (application).
This post on explanation was helpful. I really liked the idea that we should see what the text has to say first. I believe we need to be careful not to read into the text our prior bias towards a certain position on the text, but prayerfully study and learn and then the Lord will help us explain.
At the time I didnt realize what positive definition was but I had to use it in a similar fashion of discussing women being silent in the church after someone misinterpreted its contents and started spreading out to others what they thought they knew.
by using these tools to add variety, it will keep the congregation interested and the pastor from falling in a rut of repetitive formats in his sermons. We have all sat through sermons where we knew everything the pastor was going to say before he said it, because he used the same preparation and delivery with every subject ZZZ…
Looks like a good understanding of the Greek language is key to most of the explanation.
Very practical post. I not only learned how to preach better, but you clarified the meaning of 1 Timothy 2:12; very helpful.- John Wiley
Especially when I am preparing a topical sermon as I am right now it is hard not to project what I want to say upon the passage sometimes. But being careful in hermeneutics is key to not only maintaining a reputation of honesty, but really preaching what God has in the Bible. Also, the explanation of the four ways to explain a passage was very helpful.
Great helpful points on how to explain a passage. Good information that will help me as I am constructing my sermon
Great post the greek interp is very important Col 1:10
We must most off all be able to explain the text