Kaiser on Expository Preaching (Part 1)
2008 January 26
An expository sermon or lesson is one that…allows the biblical text to supply both the shape and the content of the message or lesson from that text itself. The reason for this limitation is important. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of pouring what we already know of the grace of God into the different containers made up of different verses of Scripture without seriously giving each text an opportunity to first teach us what it wants to say. Not only does such preaching become repetitive, but it severely handicaps the preacher’s opportunity to grow and stretch in new areas.
—Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament, pp. 49-50
That was a great quote! Thanks for the encouragement!
Yogi
Matt,
This has to be one of the best preaching books that Kaiser has written. I found almost every paragraph pregnant with insight.
This is a good reminder and very hard to practice at times. I read somewhere (maybe you) that we should look over our notes and see if the bulk of our “argument” comes from the text itself or from cross references.
The danger is allowing our theology to run into a text unchecked (first) by the exegesis of that text. To borrow a phrase, it may be the right doctrine but it could be from the wrong text.
In preaching the Gospel accounts, there is also the temptation to allow parallel accounts to overly influence one another. When this happens, we not only lose the flow of say Matthew’s argument but we also allow Luke’s argument to become Matthew’s, etc.
Thanks Matt for reminding us of this.
And therein lies the real “work” of expository preaching. Remembering and applying this principle keeps us form becoming lazy in our God-ordained task.
Thanks, Matt. I needed to hear this.