Learning to Preach from God s Crazy Preacher The following are true stories, and not just preacher stories! Complaint You don t use the same organization for your sermons, that confuses me Compliment You don t use the same organization for your sermons, that helps me. Complaint I don t like humor in your sermons. Compliment I really like that you put humor in your sermons. Complaint You used too many scriptures in your sermon. Compliment Everyone paid closer attention because you used so many scriptures. Complaint I don t like PowerPoint. Compliment I love the way you use PowerPoint. Just as no two people are the same, and no two congregations are the same, no two preachers are the same. My best friend, Eddie Pagan, and I are so different. We both got invited to be the two speakers at a lectureship/gospel meeting. The congregation did not invite us both knowing of our friendship. His style is very different from mine because, no two preachers are the same (as a side-note, I tried imitating another preacher; never do that!). Eddie is calm, collected, hardly ever raises his voice or even moves around much in the pulpit. In other words, nothing like me. Janet, my wife, said we made a real good one-twopunch. I would rile them up, and he would calm them down, then I would rile them up, and he would calm them down. Both styles have the place in the kingdom. One day we were talking and discovered we both were preaching on Ezekiel. Eddie has observed he and I often/always come from different directions in our preaching and thinking, but often end up close to the same place. That happened in our approach in preaching Ezekiel. The title of his sermon was, Ezekiel Master of Visual Aids. My title was, God s Crazy Preacher. I asked my friend if he acted out the visual aids. Nope, that s not his style. Of course he knew and expected that I would and did. The purpose of this lesson is to observe all the various ways Ezekiel preached, and how God used him as a preacher. Practical Application Spiritual: 1. Ezekiel was a prophet in exile, giving comfort and hope to a people in exile, by focusing on God s omnipresence and omnipotence. We Christians are living as spiritual refugees, exiled from the world, and need that same hope. Neither the Jews nor us are ever alone because God is with us and will take us home. 2. As preachers we need to accept the work or ministry that God gives us. Who would choose to preach in a foreign land as a captive, exiled from home? Not many. Thankfully many preachers do choose to go where they believe God is leading them, even if the work is hard, poor, small, or lacking in prestige. 3. Below we will focus more on Ezekiel s style and how people enjoyed his preaching. Before that, what is essential for us preachers (and our hearers), is understanding the power is not in the presentation. Even preaching the truth is not enough to convert. That doesn t mean the word of God is lacking it is the power of God to save (1
Corinthians 1:21; Romans 1:16-17). What it does mean is God is has given the hearer the power to accept or reject think of the Parable of the Sower, which some call The Parable of the Seed, or The Parable of the Soils. Should we as preachers be accomplished? Absolutely because God deserves our best. Another reason to work hard at our craft is to make sure our preaching doesn t become a stumbling block, that we don t get in the way of the message. I often pray that I won t get int the way of God s message. Practical Application - Physical: If Isaiah is lofty and Messianic; if Jeremiah is personal and human; then what is Ezekiel? It (the book) and he are vivid, exciting, apocalyptic, divinely personal and boring. While much of the focus is on God, naturally; my personal description of Ezekiel is God s crazy preacher. When we see some of the stunts he pulled while preaching, it fits! The boring part comes in describing the measurements of the temple (40ff). As preachers we can learn much from God s crazy preacher. And sometimes that includes preaching the details of God which for many might be boring (i.e. genealogies, the work and worship of the church, etc.). Ezekiel was one of the most entertaining, interesting preachers in the Bible. Visually he was captivating with all his stunts (not meant to be demeaning), visual aids, or object lessons. I would surmise a common thought concerning Ezekiel would have been, We never know what he s going to do next. Not only was he visually captivating, orally and aurally the people loved hearing him preach: Ezekiel 33:30-33 (NASB) 30) But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD. 31) They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. 32) Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. 33) So when it comes to pass as surely it will then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst. Methods: Visions Ezekiel is not the only prophet to receive visions; but his visions are so weird (pardon that word it is not disrespectful), people cite the vision of Ezekiel 1 as proof for UFO s! Visions (1-3; 8-11; 37; 40-48) Why the vision of Ezekiel 1ff? o Prove Yahweh more glorious than the temple. o Prove Yahweh separate from the temple (God no longer in Israel). o Prove Yahweh mobile from the temple (vision takes place in Babylon). o Prove Yahweh had not abandoned His people. Today we don t have visions, because they were inspired. What we can do though is something similar: tell stories. Is the Bible mostly rules with narratives; or narratives with
rules? Stories are verbally captivating. Learn to tell the narratives of the Bible in ways that draw people in. Methods: Visual Aids The brick with a map of Jerusalem (4:1-3), representing the coming siege of the city. The prophecy lying on his left side 390 days and on his right for 40 (vv.4-8), eating exiles rations (vv.9-17), representing the years of punishment for Israel and Judah, respectively (a day for a year, v.6), and the starvation diet Jerusalem will be forced to endure. Shaving his head with a sword, weighing and diving the hair (5:1:12) representing the smallness of the remnant that shall escape, and only through fire. Digging through the wall with an exile's baggage (12:1-12), so Ezekiel might tell the people of the coming exile. Marking the route for the sword of the king of Babylon (21:18-23 [MT 23-28), symbolizing the possible conclusions, either that he was led by false divination, or it was the doing of Yahweh. Before PowerPoint, I used to use a lot of visual aids (now PowerPoint is my most oft used visual aid). One day I received a letter in the mail, sent anonymous, claiming visual aids were unscriptural because Jesus never used visual aids. First, what a coward! Second, what an ignoramus! Jesus used visual aids called miracles; one example is cursing the fig tree (Mark 11:12-14, 20-26). Even after the miracle, the tree stood as an object lesson to the apostles. Going back to that anonymous letter; the sender never complained while part of the congregation of my many visual aids. He did complain about something else. That is another lesson for both congregations and preachers. Often what people complain about is not what people are really complaining about! During the Conference I will share my favorite visual aid I use in a sermon called, Common Sense Salvation. Methods: Proverbs 12:22-23; 14:8; 16:44; 18:2-3. None of the other Major Prophets speak in proverbs. What a proverb does is give people an easily remembered thought. I like to so this by playing with words. On our Facebook page I wrote: If you are looking for a church who looks up to Jesus, look us up. Proverbs are catchy! Methods: Parables Parables (17:2; 24:3). Living Parable (Eze.24:15-27). People remember stories more than they can quote scripture. Methods: Allegories:
The vine (ch.15), Yahweh's wife (16:1-43), eagles (17:1-21), lioness (19:1-9), vineyard (vv.10-14), sword (21:1-17), Oholah and Oholibah (23:1-35), caldron (24:1-14). Methods: Graphic Language (23) In reading a book about preaching, the author scolded another preacher for using a word he considered unfit for the pulpit belly. Instead, the author said, preachers should use more dignified language such as stomach. I find such advice contrary to just about everything I read in the greatest book about preaching, the Bible. We must be careful with this. Before I preach on delicate issues, I tell the parents, If your children are old enough to understand what I am about to say, then they need to hear it. If your children are not old enough, then there is nothing to worry about. I started off sharing some complaints and compliments I have received. Based on people s observations, and my own, I now end each sermon with the following: 1 Take Away Point This is to help people sum up my overall point. I should be able to condense everything down to a few sentences. Application and Assignment Here is again a true story and not a preacher story. A good friend said, If it were up to me, you would only do exegesis of text and wouldn t give any applications because I can figure that out on my own. And yet someone else said, I need lists, things to do, applications made for me. One advantage of ending this way is it emphasizes God s word is meant to be put into action. Where s the Gospel? Personally I became convicted I was not putting enough gospel into my preaching. Paul often spends the first half of his letters writing about the gospel (i.e., Colossians 1-2), and the second half making applications (Colossians 3-4). In preaching a series on Ephesians I often called chapters 1-3, The Gospel Lived By Jesus ; and chapters 4-6, The Gospel Lived By Us. Ending with the gospel also makes for a better, more coherent, sermon consistent, ever evolving invitation. 1 Take Away Point God uses different people in different ways. No preacher is better than another based on style. Serve God both spiritually and physically in the ways He blesses you. Application and Assignment Mix up your preaching. Learn from Ezekiel but don t try to be Ezekiel; learn from everyone but don t imitate anyone. No two preachers are alike. Phillip Brooks has famously defined preached as truth through personality. This is seen throughout God s prophets, apostles, and other leaders. Ezra was very different from Nehemiah in that Ezra tore out his own hair, while Nehemiah tore out the hair of others! So look at the
varieties just within Ezekiel. Don t get boring by getting in a rut! Try something new. Where s the Gospel? Ezekiel 6:9 (NASB) Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. hurt grieved (NIV); broken (ESV; KJV; ASV); crushed (CSB; HCSB; NET) Sin breaks not only the covenant we have in Christ with God; sin breaks God s heart. Heart is a frequent word within Ezekiel, used 31 times. In Ezekiel 6:9 God speaks of Israel s adulterous hearts which leads God to send them into exile. Other passages are more positive: Ezekiel 11:19-20 (NASB) 19) "And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20) that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. Looking forward to Jesus we see God s solution. Because His heart is broken by our sin, our hearts need to be broken and pricked because of our sin (Acts 2:37). Jesus on the cross, it has been pointed out, died of a broken heart literally (John 19:34). Our broken heart, Jesus blood, and the waters of baptism is why, how, and when we receive forgiveness of sins. Hell is an eternal exile. Heaven is an eternal return.