We are now fully engaged in homiletics, discovering elements and skills that will make what we have discovered in our text crystal-clear to those who hear our sermon. There is no excuse for incomprehensible preaching. Clarity is essential.
Paul preached an unknown message in a very understandable way to people far from his own culture and worldview. Preaching should be so clear that it can be accepted or rejected on its claims. If people can’t state clearly what the sermon they heard was about, there is no possible way the truth of God was heard. Haddon Robinson was heard to joke “If it’s a mist in the pulpit, it will be fog in the pews.”
Consider the following as you reflect on this week’s devotional:
- When you think of confusing, unclear, or incomprehensible sermons you have heard (or preached!), what do you think made them so?
- What pressures may a preacher be particularly susceptible in our day that would make his sermon unclear?
- To consider this from a more positive perspective, what do you think is indispensable to writing and preaching a clear sermon?
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