THS-04-4. The Structure of a Sermon

4. The Structure of a Sermon

We have been studying the value of an outline, and we should now be ready to study it in its complete form. Phelps’ book analyses a sermon as follows: The Text, Explanation, Introduction, Proposition, Division, Development, and Conclusion. Now, that seems very elaborate and formal, and it is. It is too cumbersome for us these modern days. But each part has value, and we shall be able to prepare sermons all the better if we have at the back of our minds a knowledge of the complete process. After the text which we have already considered we

Explanation. An explanation may or may not be necessary. If the words of your text are clear in meaning, no opening explanation is required. If a text is obscure in its terms, or if it has historical or biographical allusions, or is expressed in metaphor, it may be advantageous, even necessary, to make an explanation at the beginning. I have a harvest thanksgiving sermon in Isaiah 28:23-29 : "... the fitches are not threshed with a sharp threshing instrument, neither is a cartwheel turned about upon the cumin, but the fitches are beaten out with a staff and the cumin with a rod. Bread corn is ground, etc.," I call it A Parable in Agriculture, but I feel that an explanation is necessary before I begin to preach its message.

Introduction The introduction includes anything that is done to secure a natural approach to the subject. In this sense an explanation may be an introduction. It may, however, be necessary at times to prepare a congregation for the discussion you intend to present. You may need to quicken interest at the beginning in a subject that has no appeal in itself. You may need to awaken sympathy with your line of approach. An introduction to a sermon is similar to getting a point of contact with a Sunday school class for a lesson. Preachers do not always give as much attention to it as teachers are taught to do.

I asked my class--beginners in the art of sermon construction--to present an introduction to the sermon, The Meaning of Sin, which we outlined previously (Chapter III.). Here is one that was submitted:

• Sin is a reality and has existed since the time of Adam.

• Sin has persisted throughout the world’s history and has been punished by God--Noah.

• Sin has caused the downfall of nation after nation. Give examples of this.

• Sin in the world today is a real thing.

• What then is the meaning of sin?

It was not by any means the best introduction submitted nor necessarily the poorest. It bears the marks of inexperience, which often tends to sweep over all history in an introduction. It lacks definiteness. It certainly lacks interest. A congregation might easily go to sleep under an introduction like that, unless it became interested, as it often does, in the personality of a young preacher for his own sake. One of the introductions submitted was an interesting and pertinent illustration; it was a good introduction. Another was a striking quotation from one of Whittier’s poems, also very suitable, and it achieved its purpose. Most of the others were similar in conception and execution to the one quoted above--too general, indefinite and heavy to be good introductions. There may come a time when the nature of the subject or the occasion may require a lengthy and ponderous introduction. It will not often come. Hear, O Israel! The introduction to a sermon must be concise, definite and interesting.

Here are some general principles, then, governing the use of introductions. Recognize their importance, make them brief, and be sure they are well thought out. Your sermon may be made or marred by the introduction. Generally it should be prepared last, just as you would build a house first and the porch afterwards. The material of the introduction may be anything that will serve to introduce the subject to the congregation. It may, as we saw, be an explanation of the text; it may, if the text is taken from a narrative, be the story of which it is a part; it may be information about the author of the book from which the text is taken; it may be a description of the book itself. The reasons which led you to select the subject may make a good introduction, or it may be a suitable illustration. Do not let it be an apology.

Proposition The word that is used for proposition in more modern treatises is "Theme."

It is simply a definite statement of the subject to be discussed. Sometimes the text expresses the theme. If your text is "It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," the statement is definite enough to constitute the theme, and no other is needed. Were you preaching on the text we studied in Chapter III. on Matthew 13:44 concerning the kingdom of heaven, it would be a good thing to define your purpose in the sermon: "The gospel is of such value that it is worth the surrender of all we have to possess it." A text may sometimes express more than the subject you intend to discuss, and a title may be too limited, and for the sake of clarity you need to express in a proposition the specific subject you intend to work out in the sermon. There must be a clear, definite purpose in your own mind, if your sermon is to have the quality of grip. Dr. J. H. Jowett said that if an angel halted a preacher when he was entering the pulpit and asked him for his message he should be able to state it in one clear crystal sentence.

If you have such a clear sentence, and present it to your hearers, that becomes the expression of your theme.

Young preachers, in stating their themes, tend to become verbose and ponderous, and thus become guilty of the same fault we have criticized in the introductions. Think your subject through, and state your theme in crisp, clear definite words, avoiding as far as possible subordinate and qualifying clauses.

Frequently the proposition or theme is not a formal part of the sermon, but it should be in the preacher’s mind. It will sometimes happen that it is better not to state the purpose at the beginning. Interest may be maintained by holding the minds of the people in suspense. Where you have a vast subject, such as God, Immortality, etc., you must necessarily narrow your subject down to some definite point of view. Under Immortality, for instance, you may discuss the proof of immortality, or the power of immortality, and that particular definition becomes your theme.

Division and Development

Division refers to the principal sections into which the main part of the sermon is divided, and has been discussed in part already, and will be dealt with more fully later. Already, also, you have some definite ideas about the process of development--of amplifying, unfolding and enlarging upon the outline you have prepared. The outline is the skeleton; the development is the flesh which covers the bones. It is a creative process, and is often most difficult for the beginner. Granted a little knowledge (your aspiration to preach suggests that you have something in your mind and heart you long to tell), and a little imagination (you will never be a preacher without something of that quality of mind) and a willingness to work--WORK--and you will learn the secret. There are ways of doing it--definite lines to follow. Plan No. 1 (Chapter II.), for constructing outlines, is indispensable in developing your material too. Ask your subject questions--every aspect of it, especially what it means and how it applies to life today.

Another thing you may do is to take a sheet of paper and a pencil, and sit down to think and write. Put your subject at the head of the sheet, and put down everything that suggests itself to your mind that has relation to it. Do not worry about the order, or an outline at this stage. Think, and write, and continue to apply your mind diligently to the task in hand. I am trying to suggest to you a very strenuous process. You will not, in the middle of this operation, attend to a neglected telephone call, or answer a letter while you wait for thoughts to come. Earlier I spoke of sweat of soul; now I am thinking of sweat of mind. That may be a real experience. It is much easier to chop wood than to think your way through the development of a sermon. For a grim half an hour, an hour, you hold yourself to the task, concentrating, writing down ideas, illustrations, passages of scripture or other quotations, until you have a mass of uncoordinated material that will be useful the next day or the day after when you come to the subject again. It should be left for another day too, after this process of intense application is finished. You will not try to form this inchoate mass into an outline--not yet. When you come back to the subject later your mind will be fresh, but more than that, you will find that your unconscious mind has been at work, apparently without effort, on the material you had wrought out, and has prepared the way for a moderately easy passage to the completed sermon.

Conclusion This is the work of bringing your sermon to such an end as will satisfy the minds of your hearers and perhaps bring their hearts to decision. The conclusion is important, perhaps the most important part of the sermon. This is where you clinch your argument; this is where you determine your results. To fail here is to fail altogether. Yet it is often neglected, and left to take care of itself. Prepare your conclusion. The conclusion may be a summary of the discourse. This is a useful thing to do, to recapitulate the main parts of the sermon so that they may be impressed on the hearer’s mind. Generally it should be more than that. There should be an application. You are working for results; end on the personal note. A very effective conclusion may be helped by a well-conceived illustration. In gospel sermons, we have an excellent opportunity of concluding in a direct and personal way. Even when we are exhorting Christian people we should, as a rule, conclude in a manner that will leave an emotional sense in the soul of the people which will contribute to the high attainments to which we are calling them. A few pointed practical questions may make a good conclusion. You have been preaching about the Savior. "What will you do with Jesus? Does not your heart respond to His call? Does He not open the way to you for your highest achievements of character? Can you attain to your highest ideals without Him? Will you not yield your life to the control of the Master of men?

Quite often a simple pertinent heartfelt prayer is a good conclusion. Or it may be that a suitable word of Scripture will provide the conclusion you need. "He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

Reviewing now these factors in the make-up of a sermon you will notice that the first three things (or four, if we include the text) are all introductory, and the next two belong to the body of the sermon. Hence, we may say that a sermon consists of three parts: Introduction, development and conclusion. You will not, in your work, be likely to be very elaborate in the formal set-out of your sermons. Probably we all tend to become a little indifferent to form after a while. There is a great difference, however, between an inattention to forms that has a disciplined technique behind it, and one that springs from ignorance. At this stage you must be subject to forms, if some day you wish to be a master who can safely ignore them. For Review:

1. Find a suitable theme for the sermon on Moses outlined at the end of Chapter II.

2. Suggest a suitable introduction and conclusion to the sermon on The Meaning of Sin at the end of Chapter III.