By Dr. Jeff Mathis
In seminary, we called it Preaching 101. And many of us were reluctant to take it. A two-semester class, the preaching course was one-part exhilaration and one-part terror.
As we know well, the act of public speaking constitutes some people’s greatest fear. Some people are more afraid of giving a speech than they are of dying. So, when people say that “they’d rather die than give a speech,” believe them.
Oh indeed, most ministers love the opportunity to stand in the pulpit. But this is not universally true. Hence, the trepidation some seminarians have for taking a preaching class.
For me, what was most intimidating about Preaching 101 was what happened after I preached. As soon as I offered my final amen, I could expect to receive a healthy dose of critique from my classmates and professors. They asked questions about the text that I chose and quizzed me on my decision-making:
“Why did you include that anecdote?”
“How did you come to that conclusion about Jesus’s commandment.”
For most preachers, this is the only time they will receive such thorough, thoughtful, and qualified critique in their careers. While helpful, it can still be a scary process.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus receives feedback on his preaching, and ministers throughout church history nod in understanding and empathy.
“Why do you speak to them in parables,” his disciples ask him.
Why do you tell so many stories, Jesus? Why so many sermon illustrations? Why do you beat around the bush? Why don’t you just come out and say it? Why don’t you get to the point and save us all some time?
Recently, a mentor of mine encouraged me to spend some time brushing up on the heralded proclaimer, Fred Craddock, and his insight about preaching. “The goal of preaching,” he famously said, “is not to get something said but to get something heard.”
The process of preaching is just as important as the content of what’s preached.
Jesus replied, “The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’
With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
‘You will indeed listen, but never understand,
and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.’ (Matthew 13:13-15)
Jesus speaks in parables to open people’s eyes and ears and to help awaken a heart that “has grown dull.”
Jesus, the revelation of God or Logos, brings understanding and clarity. Jesus’s mission was to help people see what they had missed and hear what they hadn’t heard before.
Y’all know this to be true: We get things wrong. We see things that are not there. We hear things that are not said.
In my office, there is an old children’s Bible on the shelf across from my desk. The Bible used to live at my childhood home. For much of my life, I saw on the book jacket’s illustration what looked like a caricature of an oversized head on a man’s body. Upon closer examination, however, one can see that the cartoonish head is a camel! To this day, I cannot unsee a man’s large head even though I know for sure that it’s a camel.
Being a follower of Jesus means granting Jesus permission to change how we see and hear. Jesus knew this would challenge us as we are predisposed to locking ourselves into preconceived notions and ideas.
Honestly, when was the last time you looked at someone, or something, differently?
To be born again means that our old ways of seeing and hearing end, and a new way of experiencing the world begins. Jesus uses stories in his preaching to unlock new understanding and Christ-like, Godly insight. But when our hearts are dull and hardened, it becomes harder and harder for us to have breakthrough moments of genuine conversion and transformation.
When we look at the world with eyes to see and ears to hear God’s revelatory Good News, we begin to change. Until we consider that God wants us to see and hear differently, we will live with dull hearts and lifeless lives.
Who would have thought a story could have such an impact? Well, Jesus, for one.