Sep
24
2009
"Land Right There"
Kevin DeYoung has an excellent post this morning on preaching, preachers and application. He cautions pastors against always ending sermons with application points in the form of imperatives. DeYoung argues if we do this, we may miss the vital point of the particular text being expounded for "many texts are not about oughts."
For example, DeYoung recounts his recent sermon on Mark 1:9-11:
Last week I was preaching on Mark 1:9-11, the story of Jesus’ baptism. I struggled with how to end the sermon. The point of the passage is pretty obvious. Mark wants us to see the unique identity of Jesus Christ. Having announced Jesus as the Son of God in verse 1, Mark then tries to demonstrate in the rest of the prologue why he is the Son of God and what this means. John the Baptist predicts a mightier one to come after him in verses 7-8. Then in the next scene we see Jesus’ baptism, with three attendant signs that point to his unique identity (the heavens opening, the Spirit descending, a voice commending). The point of verses 9-11 is straightforward: Jesus is the new revelation from God, the bringer of the Spirit, the Son of the Father.
Given the point of the passage, how would DeYoung suggest the conclusion go?
You could say “Look at the idols in your hearts. You need to love this Christ more.” Or, “This Jesus is worthy of all our obedience. Go live for him and keep his commandments.” Or, “Why don’t we share the good news about such a great Savior? Tell your neighbors this week about the Son of God.” All of those are fair points and it would not be wrong to connect the text to these thoughts at some point during the sermon. But if we land the plane on these points I fear we are missing the point of the passage. These three verses are here to give a glimpse of the glory of Christ. My fellow preachers and I should not hesitate to land right there. Are we so afraid of not being relevant or prophetic that we can’t end a sermon by exalting in the person of Christ? No application is needed to finish off this sermon. The last word ringing in people’s hears should be something along the lines of, “Behold your God!”
Read the whole post. And don't be afraid to "land right there."