03.03. III. Conserving Material For Sermonizing

III CONSERVING MATERIAL FOR SERMONIZING

SERMONIZING is not the whole business of the minister as we have shown in a previous discussion. We cannot go the length of Professor Phelps, insisting that all else be let alone, and one give himself wholly to the preparation and delivery of discourses; but we can agree that this is the main business of the minister. That being true, the gathering and the filing of material for sermonizing is of first moment. My long experience in this matter would lead me to suggest the following:—

FIND THE MATERIAL There are several fields that may be drawn upon in this matter. Your own experience is a fruitful field.—You range in ages from twenty to forty, possibly an average of above twenty-five. That is a considerable proportion of life, fully a third of the same for the most fortunate and favored of you. In that time you have had experience and made observation and mental notes of many incidents. That constitutes your accumulated fortune.

It is exactly as the laying aside of money for the day of need. The Saving’s bank account comes handy when there is a crisis, an unusual call. You will be surprised, as you go on in your ministry, to find how often you will draw on these past years, and how richly they will supply you with incident and illustration, born of experience and observation.

Taken all in all, for the first few years of your ministry, your own past will provide the most and best of your thoughts and illustrations. But as the man who constantly spends his accumulations must be adding to them or else come to poverty, so there will be additions that you must make or mental penury will overtake you. Your observations should constantly add.—Move through life with your eyes open. Here you have your Master’s example. His speech was like a lecture with a magic lantern,—scene after scene thrown upon the canvas. His illustrations He drew from observation. The cup, the platter, the lamp, the candle-stick, the mill stone; the sewing of a new piece of cloth into an old garment; the putting of new wine into old bottles. He pictured the hen gathering her chickens, the playing children in the streets; He painted the lilies of the field; He illustrated by the birds picking up the seed; building their nests in the branches of the trees; by the doves, the sparrow, the dogs, and the swine; by the fig tree, the bramble bush, the south wind, the red sky, the yellow grain, the sheep and the shepherd. He told the stories of the Pharisee and the Publican; the Priest and Levite and Samaritan; Dives and Lazarus; the unmerciful servant; the laborers in the vineyard; the Prodigal Son; the wicked husbandman; the marriage of the King’s son; the ten virgins; the talents; the two debtors; the barren fig tree; the great supper; the lost sheep; the lost piece of money; the unjust steward; the unjust judge; the unprofitable servants. Christ was the Master in illustrations drawn from observation. Your reading, however, is an inexhaustible source.— Here there is no limitation. Of making books there is no end; yea, of even good ones. The limitation of great books far exceeds the possible personal perusal.

Own the book that you read, and read it with a pencil in hand. Mark every thought that may at some time be needed; every illustration that appeals to you as having pith and point.

You say, “We are too poor to do that.” “No!” Better go without butter on your bread than without books. It is not the large number of books skimmed over that will prove profitable. It is the number read carefully and marked for future reference. The young man who skimps in body that he may supply the mind will shortly discover that the improved intellect can richly clothe and abundantly feed the body, and still have an ever increasing surplus.

Every newspaper that you read is liable to yield you a treasure. Every magazine into which you peer will also provide its reward. With all your reading entertain the double purpose of keeping abreast of the times, and preparing yourself against time to come.

CATALOGUE THE MATERIAL

You cannot retain it in memory!—The memory is but a pint cup, at best. It will hold a little bit, but not much; and if you trust it only you will find that you will faint and perish; you will be on the desert plains without supplies.

These remarks apply no matter how good a memory one may have. Some men have remarkably retentive memories and there are exceptional instances where the memory of others, under certain excitement, clearly recalls observations long since made or pages long since read; but as a source of supplies for sermonizing, the memory is wholly insufficient. Don’t discard it, but give it aid!

Conveniently locate your material.—Mark the word “conveniently.” There are men who clip from newspapers and put into envelopes and write on the back of the envelope its contents. That is not a “convenient” arrangement! It requires endless patience and valuable time to fish out contributions from such enclosures.

Other men have an endless series of boxes catalogued, in which they place clippings and references. Most of this stays there to gather dust, because it is too difficult to find it, maul over, and sort out.

You must have it “conveniently” located, that it will come at your call, and come quickly. The very best arrangement is the Index-Rerum.— This suggestion was arranged originally by a man named Todd, but there is no patent on it. Every man can provide his own,—simple in the last degree,—taking each letter of the alphabet and following it with the vowels in turn. Like—aa, ae, ai, ao, au; opposite page—aa, ea, ia, oa, ua; ba, be, bi, bo, bu, etc.—opposite page—ab, eb, ib, ob, ub, etc. And you can write up under this arrangement every conceivable subject; simply placing it under the word that involves the initial letter and the prominent vowel; and since words are impossible without vowels, there are no exceptions to the rule. For instance, Bible would come under Bi.; Christ under Ci.; Church under Cu.; etc.

UTILIZE THE MATERIAL This material then lies ready to respond to your call. Your outline should be original.—My uniform custom is to make my own outline, before I have done any other study whatever. One should take his text and study it in the light of the context, and when he has thoroughly comprehended what the text intends to teach, then state that first in the Main Divisions. After the Main Divisions are clear, study it a second time for subdivisions.

I have found the method of alliteration most suggestive in such divisions. You can do this as well as another can do it for you, and when you have done it yourself, rather than having borrowed the same from another, it will have taken a hold upon your mind that no borrowed idea could.

Then draw from your experience, observation and Scriptural knowledge.—Jot down these incidents, illustrations and texts in such a way that when you come to write or dictate, the words used will suggest the incident, observation, or Scriptural quotation.

Finally, resort to the Index-Rerum.—Sound reasoning ought to characterize the sermon. Thought should be your own, or at least it must have passed through the medium of your mind so as to become substantially your own. But cold reasoning, however logical, will not produce conviction, nor result in conversion. For this, illustrations are effective. They are like the point of an arrow, and without that point the arrow will not do its work. It is possible, of course, to preach sermons that are simply chains of illustrations, but it is not desirable.

It is practically impossible to preach an effective sermon without illustrations. Your Index-Rerum should receive its daily contribution from your reading and make its weekly contribution to your preparation. I have used Todd’s Index-Rerum for fifty consecutive years. I have never prepared a sermon without appeal to the same, and in the fifty years it has never disappointed me.

There are on the shelves of my library, in the form of clippings alone, seventy volumes that range in size from 100 to 300 pages. I could publish more illustrations today, if I desired to do it, than were contained in John Foster’s two volumes of 24,000.

I have been asked a great many times during my ministry how I secured such a wealth of illustrations. The answer is,—“Read; Mark Clip; Paste; Record in the Index-Rerum.”

OUTLINE OF CHAPTER THREE CONSERVING MATERIAL FOR SERMONIZING I. FIND THE MATERIAL a.One’s own experience is a fruitful field. b.One’s observation should constantly add. c.One’s reading is an inexhaustible source.

II. CATALOGUE THE MATERIAL a.You cannot retain it in memory. b.Conveniently locate the same. c.The very best arrangement is the Index-Rerum.

III. UTILIZE THE MATERIAL a.Your outline should be original. b.Draw from experience, observation and Scripture knowledge. c.For illustrations, resort to Index-Rerum.