The excerpt was then taken with the permission of the book Da Parte de Deus na Presenca de Deus, by Sugel Michelén, by Editora Fiel.
I want to begin by saying that an explanatory sermon does not take a passage from the Bible and does not explain the meaning of each verse and every important word we find along the way, when this happens, the preacher ceases to be an exponent of the Word and becomes a kind of walking biblical commentary. Nor is it using the pulpit to give a dry and unproductive lesson of biblical interpretation that leaves listeners confused and irritated, trying to discern what God’s message is to them. that we extract from the scriptures through hard work and that we transmit through preaching, seeking the glory of God in Christ and the spiritual benefit of our listeners.
- So let’s go back to our original question: what is an explanatory sermon? Put simply and concisely.
- This is the type of sermon that helps listeners understand the meaning of the biblical text and what God wants us to do in light of what that text teaches.
- Mark Dever defines it as the type of preaching.
- In which the main point of the taught biblical text becomes the main point of the preached sermon.
- (author’s translation).
- British theologian J.
- I.
- Packer defines it with the following words: “Christian preaching is the activity in which God himself.
- Through a spokesman.
- Brings to the audience a message of instruction and guidance about Christ.
- Impacting their lives.
- And that is based on the scriptures? ” (translated by the author).
- My definition is as follows: an explanatory sermon is one that exposes and applies the true meaning of the biblical text.
- Taking into account its immediate context.
- As well as the larger context of the history of redemption.
- Which revolves around around the person.
- And the work of Christ.
- With the objective that the listener hears God’s voice through the exhibition and transforms it.
One of the documents of the Westminster Assembly (1645) states that “the preacher must be an instrument in relation to the text, open it and apply it as a Word of God to his listeners (?) For the text to speak (?) And be heard, drawing up every point of the text so that your audience can discern God’s voice?In other words, the preacher exposes; he doesn’t impose, as The Scottish theologian Sinclair Ferguson says, “The preacher creates the sermon, but does not create the message. Do you proclaim and explain the message you received? (translated by the author). Paul expresses it in 2 Corinthians 4: 1-2:
Therefore, having this ministry, according to the mercy that has been given to us, we do not faint; on the contrary, we reject things that shamelessly hide, walk cunningly, or alter the word of God; rather, we entrust ourselves to the conscience of every man, in the presence of God, by the manifestation of truth.
This expression, which Almeida Revista e Atualizada translates as “Manifestation of Truth”, is much more striking in the original. The idea it conveys is to make something known by carefully revealing it in every detail. For this reason, Australian Pastor Gary Millar says that “The key to preaching is to make the text message obvious. Help people see it (?) Feel it (?) Understand it ?. And, later, he adds, “I am totally convinced that the kind of preaching that changes people’s hearts is the one that allows the text to speak for itself” (author’s translation).
In this sense, any preaching must be explanatory; Otherwise, it’s no longer preaching. Whether it’s a series about a Book of the Bible, verse by verse, or a long or short passage from Scripture, what sets explanatory preaching apart is that it exposes and applies what the text actually says, not the text the preacher wants me to say. John Stott says:
Exposing the scriptures is extracting what’s in the text and leaving it in view. The exhibitor strives to expose what seemed hidden, clarifies what seemed confusing, undoes the knots and dismantles what seemed like a difficult subject. Exposure is a tax, that is, imposing something on the text that is not included. The text in question can be a verse, a grammatical sentence, or even a single word. Similarly, it can be a paragraph, chapter, or entire book. The size of the text does not matter, as long as it is taken from the Bible; What matters is what we’re going to do with it. Whether short or long, our responsibility as an exhibitor is to ensure that the text is displayed in such a way that it conveys a clear, simple, accurate, relevant text, without additions, subtractions. or forgeries.
Most people enjoy a good magic trick. One wonders how it is possible that the magician pulled a rabbit out of a seemingly empty hat. But the preacher is not a magician; He is an exhibitor who was called to pull a rabbit out of his hat (the biblical text) that was there before (the content of the text).
The text dictates and controls what we say, as John Stott correctly points out. It is an explanatory preaching or, to be more precise, it is a preaching! When it is less than that, it ceases to be predicated and becomes something else. It is not so much a method as a conviction. If we really believe this? Is all Scripture inspired by God and useful to teach, to rebuke, to correct, to educate in righteousness, so that the man of God is perfect and perfectly qualified for any good work? (2 Timothy 3: 16-17), why would we want to do more than faithfully expose the Bible? You may never become a popular preacher by doing this, but do you remember that? Ministerial is not measured by the number of views of your sermon on YouTube, or the number of lectures you preach, but by your faithfulness in delivering what God wants to tell us in Scripture. I hope that these words of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew 24. 45-46, help you to advance in your work, seeking only his approval, and not that of men 😕 Have you entrusted your fellow servants to keep them on time? Happy is the servant whom his master finds doing this when he comes?
In this book, the experienced Dominican preacher Sugel Michelén develops both theology and the practice of explanatory preaching of the Word of God, a book that brings the sensibility of a preacher from the Latin American Hispanic context, who has more than 35 years of ministerial experience. in the pulpit, and offers the reader practical advice on how to present the Word of God faithfully, blessing, and relevance to the good and building up of God’s people.
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