Rev Bill

One of the best pieces I’ve read lately on the art of preaching is this one by John Ortberg.

He begins with a great illustration and point:

Garrison Keillor, on A Prairie Home Companion, tells about Uncle Cal, a deacon at the church in fictitious Lake Wobegon. Uncle Cal evaluates his pastor’s preaching this way: “It’s a lot of, ‘On the one hand this, on the other hand that.’ He never comes out straight with it. Many a Sunday I’ve walked away with no idea what he said. He never puts the hay down where the goats can get it.”

Yes, there are some preachers who have a lot of hay, vast amounts of exegetical information. They’re theologically aware. They like to study ancient languages. They have the hay, but they don’t know what the goats are talking about or thinking about. And what’s worse, they don’t know that they don’t know the goats. Often they don’t even like the goats. They would prefer not to be around goats. They forget that the first test of good teaching is not what the teacher has taught; it’s what the learner has learned. They have all this wonderful hay, but they forget that they are stewards of getting hay to goats.

But there are also preachers who know the goats, and who are very clever at being able to attract lots and lots of goats. They can hold the goats’ attention, but they have no hay. They have nothing of substance. It’s all superficial stuff. And what’s worse, they don’t know that they don’t have any hay.

As preachers and teachers, our job is to get the hay down where the goats can get it. That means immersing ourselves in Scripture and great writing and deep thoughts. But it also means becoming a student of the goats: learning what moves them, what their questions are, and what gives them hope.

Sermon preparation is a complex process. When I think about constructing a message, I use the metaphor of having a baby, because I believe the stages are quite similar. There’s the initial conception, which is often quite a lot of fun. Then there is gestation, which is increasingly difficult. Next, there’s the delivery, which can be a combination of euphoria and intense pain. And finally, there are some post-delivery details.

Go on — click here to find Ortberg’s suggestions on how to “put the hay where the goats can get it” — and how to plan, craft, deliver, then evaluate a sermon.

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