During my growing up years, Elder Bard Kreider was on the ministry team at my local church. I remember hearing him say, “If you want me to preach a long sermon, call me a week in advance, but if you want to me to preach a short sermon, call me a month in advance.” His point was that, if you’re going to preach a forty or fifty minute sermon, you’ll probably ramble on and on and not get to your point. But if you’re only given twenty minutes or so, you’ll work hard at making every word count!
I know that early in my ministry my sermons were longer than they are today. I took the counsel of someone who said to me, “If you don’t hit oil after twenty or twenty-five minutes, you ought to quit drilling!” And someone else told me, “The mind can only absorb what the seat can endure!”
Chuck Swindoll describes long-winded preachers who haven’t done their homework as, “High wind, big thunder, but no rain!” What some preachers lack in depth they make up for in length. They just keep talking, hoping they’ll think of something to say!
In his book, When God Whispers Your Name, author Max Lucado writes, “We learn brevity from Jesus! His greatest sermon can be read in eight minutes (The Sermon on the Mount/Matthew 5-7). His best known story can be read in ninety seconds (The parable of the prodigal son/Luke 15:11 32). He summarized prayer in five phrases (The Lord’s Prayer/Matthew 6:9-13). He silenced accusers with one sentence (“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’”/John 8:7). He rescued a soul with one sentence (“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise”/Luke 24:43). He summarized the Law in two verses (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself”/Mark 12:30-31). And he reduced all His teachings to one command (“Love each other as I have loved you”/John 15:12).
Then Max Lucado ends this particular paragraph thus, “He made his point and went home.” We preachers would do well to imitate. What’s that old line? “Our speaker today needs no introduction, but he could sure use a conclusion!”
January/February 2003