You’ve heard the old saying, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one.” We get it stuck in our minds what a sermon should be, where it should be delivered, and what manner it should be delivered.
This past Sunday was an all country music service. The advertisement stated what all was going to happen, and included the statement “No Sermon.” I get that. We are trying to get new people in the doors of the church and make it feel more accessible. We use a variety of music styles to make it feel less overwhelming. We live in a fast-paced world where many are accustomed to receiving multi-media presentations. Our attention spans aren’t necessarily geared for listening to and absorbing information in a 15-20 minute spoken format. Digital focus duration has dropped from 2.5 minutes in the early 2000’s, to roughly 47 seconds. Teens and adults attention span is between 12-20 minutes for focused attention before distraction sets in. Currently we are simply not wired for long discourse.
When we attempt to bring people into the church, one of the barriers is length of the service, and predictability. Most people are aware of what traditionally happens in church; prayer, preaching, singing, collecting an offering. There’s no mystery to it. A person’s time is a valuable commodity. People are going to evaluate if their time is well spent in whatever they are choosing to do. I doubt that church, and particularly a sermon, register high on the list.
If you ask the average person what is a sermon, you’re obviously going to get a variety of answers. Almost certainly those answers will include; reference or based on a holy text, some proscription concerning behavior, or promoting beneficial acts for the good of the person and society. Laudable things, to be sure.
The older I get, the more I’m drawn to seeing and professing the goodness of God. I want to talk about it. I want to share what I feel and what I’ve experienced. You become acutely aware of the time you have left and you want that time to be of benefit to others. So when I saw our advertisement of “No Sermon” for this past Sunday worship, it started me thinking. What is a sermon, how is it best delivered, and how can it best convey thoughts and experiences of the Divine?
What happened on Sunday was a sermon, for sure. There was no pulpit, there was not one person delivering a long discourse. There was lots of secular country music which told a variety of stories. The main theme though, was love. After the service, there was a huge BBQ dinner served on the grounds amidst our pumpkin patch. The children were entertained by ponies and petting different animals and a bounce house. Lots of visitors and others. The line for the meal was long and didn’t move quickly. Not one complaint was spoken. All were joyous and love was palpable in the air.
What I SAW was a sermon in complete form. Love was espoused in our worship, and love was enacted afterwards. I know I have colleagues and professors who would argue for the pulpit delivered sermon, and they will make valid points. My argument would be the Word is important, but the relevance of how its delivered is questionable. If we have the “correct” form, but no one hears, what good has it done? In 1 John 3:18 we read…”Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” And in Colossians we are told…”And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
I do my best at crafting sermons, but they fall way short of their desired and hoped for effect. It might be the delivery. It might be the thematic emphasis. It might be what I would call “connectability.”(does it address what people need in their lives). After all, they are words, and words only get us so far. When attention spans have grown short, when the time has grown long, the sermon is at its best when it connects those who receive it to the One who loves them the most.
I would encourage each of us to start seeing God in all that we are surrounded by; nature, each other, those in need, those who are lonely, those who are quick-tempered, those who are patient, those who are suffering and those who are rejoicing. Believe it or not, there’s a sermon in each and every circumstance.
Your companion on the Way,
Pastor Tom