The Rhetoric of the Pulpit, Second Edition: A Preacher’s Guide to Effective Sermons

By Jon Meyer Ericson

The Rhetoric of the Pulpit treats the sermon as the single most important factor in evangelism for a parish, and also the most important factor in the spiritual growth of both the congregation and the pastor. With emphasis on the Word as the foundation, the author adds music and liturgy to the sermon's structure to build a unified worship experience. Recognizing that the Word is truth, but that the truth needs to be made to seem true, the book offers sound, practical advice on sermon preparation based on both classical and contemporary communication theory.

Sermon preparation is viewed as a process that begins with downloading the Word, followed by productive meditation. The process then moves through the rhetorical steps, from a search for content to the sermon's delivery.

Throughout the book, the rhetorical principles are treated as a subordinate element to the Word, a means of giving effectiveness to the truth. The Rhetoric of the Pulpit aims to reflect the spirit of Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Paul, and Kenneth Burke.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Mar 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781532690778

Jon Meyer Ericson

Jon Meyer Ericson, dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts at California Polytechnic State University, has taught rhetoric and public address at Stanford University, Central Washington, and Pacific Lutheran. He has been active in campus ministry and has served on the Board of Trustees at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley. Dr. Ericson is now retired and lives with his wife, Amy, in Pacific Grove, California, where he directs his church's adult education program.

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The Rhetoric of the Pulpit, Second Edition

A Preacher’s Guide to Effective Sermons

Jon Meyer Ericson

The Rhetoric of the Pulpit, SECOND EDITION

A Preacher’s Guide to Effective Sermons

Copyright © 2020 Jon Meyer Ericson. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Wipf & Stock

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-9075-4

hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-9076-1

ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-9077-8

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

Portions of the Dana Martin sermon God in Three Persons and of Donald MacLeod’s Commitment are from Best Sermons 6, edited by James Cox and published by Harper, San Francisco, 1993. Used by permission.

Verses from hymns 387, 406, and 551 are from the Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978. Lines from hymn 532 are from the Evangelical Lutheran Worship, 2006. Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission.

Portions of Sam Wells’ sermon Turning All Into Alleluia, Duke University Chapel. First published in Faith and Leadership. www.faithandleadership.com. Used by permission.

Quotation from The Grace-full Use of the Means of Grace. North American Academy of Liturgy, 1994. Used by permission.

Verses from Marty Haugen’s Service of Light. GIA Publications, 1990. Used by permission.

Portion of Rabbi Alissa Wise’s sermon God Is In This Place. Israel/Palestine, Mission Network. Presbyterian Church, 2012. Used by permission.

Portion of Gerhard Frost’s poem Haunting Words from Blessed Is the Ordinary, Winston Press, 1980. Used by permission.

To Pastors Jana and Marcus,

and to every other pastor or priest

whose delivery of the Word is a

beacon of light for a troubled world.

All author’s royalties from the sale of this book are dedicated to seminary scholarships.

Acknowledgments

Thanks first to my dear wife, Amy, for all her patience through the long process of creating this book. And thanks to my former student Professor Don Boileau and to my friend Reverend David McMillan for their support and encouragement. Finally, a grateful author is thankful to Marcie McFall for putting the manuscript into a form the publisher could use.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Invention: The Search for Content

Chapter 2: Arrangement of the Content

Chapter 3: Style

Chapter 4: Effective Language Usage

Chapter 5: Delivery and Memory

Appendix A: Sample Sermons

Sample Sermon 1: Finding God at the Heart of Things

Sample Sermon 2: Laying Down Your Life

Sample Sermon 3: Devotion for the Resurrection

Sample Sermon 4: God Is In This Place

Sample Sermon 5: What Is to Prevent?

Sample Sermon 6: The Floodgate of Grace

Sample Sermon 7: God’s Easter Shout of Victory

Sample Sermon 8: The Outrage

Sample Sermon 9: Go Tell It On the Mountain

Appendix B: Preaching Thoughts re: the Holy Spirit

Appendix C: Sabbatical Leave Policy

Appendix D: Dialogue on Stewardship

Bibliography

Introduction

Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God.

1 Peter 4:11

In the beginning was the Word, and now the articulation of the Word is in your hands. Joseph Sittler put it so clearly and so well as he observed that the pastor has the stewardship of the mystery, is the teller of that story.¹

For most pastors, the sermon time is the most important fifteen or twenty minutes of the week, the time when the pastor is being pastor to the whole flock. It is also the time when newcomers and visitors are receiving an impression of who the pastor is. An underlying motivation for writing this book on the art of preaching is the belief that the Sunday sermon is the most important single factor in evangelism for a parish and also the most important factor in the spiritual growth of both the congregation and the pastor.

A second motivation is the conviction that rhetoric—the art of effective discourse—has much to offer the seminarian, and indeed, all who are entrusted with preaching the Word. An underlying assumption is that the preacher has had a good and thorough seminary preparation in the theological basis for sermon building, but probably has had little or no training in the rhetorical aspects. This lack of traditional rhetorical training in contemporary seminary curricula is a relatively new phenomenon, as we shall see as we review the historic relationship of rhetorical studies to preparation for the ministry, preparation for preaching.

The rhetorical aspects lead us to Greece and Italy, to Athens and Rome, the ground zero of classical rhetoric. Reference to the now ancient works of classical rhetoric is not made to provide an esoteric flavor to the text. Rather, the observation of the human phenomenon of communication made by Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian are indeed classic, timeless. St. Augustine, who has been identified as both the last of the great ancient rhetoricians and the Church’s foremost teacher in the classical art of Christian preaching² turned to the rhetorical tradition of Greece and Rome to undergird the message written into his De doctrina christiana (On Christian doctrine), that pagan rhetoric had much to offer the church in the service of the truth. That the first three books of Augustine’s enormously influential work focus on the meaning of Scripture and the fourth book on how to communicate the scriptural truths suggests another truth—that the Word, the spiritual aspects of preaching comes first. Rhetoric is always a means, always subordinate to the truth it serves.

As a personal note from one who has spent all of his adult life in the study of rhetoric, I want you to know that I see the subject not only as one of the oldest subjects of study in the world, but also one of the most interesting, intriguing, relevant, and challenging. Challenging because it is one of the most interdisciplinary, with close ties to logic, philosophy, history, sociology, psychology, and linguistics. It is no wonder that for nearly two hundred years Harvard, founded in 1638, devoted a full day a week to the study of rhetoric. The Boylston Chair of Rhetoric and Oratory was established at Harvard in 1806, with John Quincy Adams the first appointee. In contrast to the intensive study of rhetoric from the founding days of American universities, the study of English literature came 238 years later with Harvard’s first appointment of a professor of English literature in 1876.

In short, the study of rhetoric and oratory has a long history and its strong companionship with preaching dates back at least as far as St. Augustine. Most recently, the relationship of rhetorical studies to Christian rhetoric is examined in the award-winning book Mapping Christian Rhetorics, a collection of scholarly research which demonstrates the importance of the Christian influence to rhetorical studies in general. Of interest to many would be their chapter titled, ‘Heaven-Touched Lips and Pent-Up Voices’: The Rhetoric of American Female Preaching Apologia, 1820–1930.³

Rhetoric, old and new, has always been a practical study, one that addresses the realities and circumstances of current issues and concerns as best they can be perceived. Rhetorical studies, knowledge of the communication process, is never more needed than now as we live in an information age threatening to drown us in a sea of words. While seeking certainties, we live in a rhetorical world of probabilities.

The traditional five divisions of rhetoric—Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, and Delivery—reflect a natural sequence of activity as one prepares a speech. First one must find the content, then organize it, then settle on the best words to express one’s ideas, then actually deliver the content. The whole task of achieving effectiveness in the end product was the same for Demosthenes as it is for you. In sum, rhetorical theory, old and new, can be a useful guide to effective communication, effective sermons.

Accordingly, the aim here is to clarify and simplify the task of sermon preparation by presenting practical suggestions grounded in classical rhetorical theory as well as contemporary theories of communication. Clarifying and simplifying the preacher’s task while providing a solid foundation should make the preacher comfortable and confident and profoundly influence the sermon’s effectiveness.

To anyone who has listened to sermons over the decades, it is clear that there are many points of view on what the sermon should be. These range from the scholastic model with esoteric attention to the precise meaning of the words of the text to the stand-up entertainer who may leave the Word behind.

Most preachers will not be caught up in either of these extremes, but it is likely there will be uncertainty about the nature of the sermon and both tension and discomfort stemming from the difference between what the preacher thinks should be done and what he/she would actually like to do.

There are numerous wrong ideas about preaching. These include:

1.The pastor needs to come up with a great sermon every Sunday.

A great sermon is not possible each week, nor should it even be a goal. Do you even know what you mean by a great sermon? Do you set a standard for yourself based on the best preaching you have heard? While it is good to have models from which to learn, it is unwise and overly stressful to judge yourself in comparison to others. You have gifts which differ from others. Your sermon is your sermon. Gerhard Frost makes the point so well in his poem Haunting Words: Yes, when you believe, and try to say what you believe, knowledge weds wisdom and heart language is born. Little words, feeling words, sturdy, simple words, strong-backed servants emerge to do Truth’s bidding.⁴

A sermon is, first of all, a person speaking. The great sermon notion almost certainly places a wrong focus on the substance of the sermon, as if the product of the intellect were all that is involved in the communication process. The content is, indeed, an important and vital part of the rhetorical act we call the sermon, but it is just a part. The whole rhetorical act involves a person speaking, the speech, and an audience listening. The listeners are not expecting greatness, but they are expecting intimacy with both the Word and the pastor’s response to the Word, and with the pastor’s application of the Word to the listeners.

In sum, rather than seeking to present a great sermon, present your sermon. You are a particular person addressing a particular group of listeners on a particular text. Your listeners, your congregation, want to hear the explication of the Word from their pastor, to know his/her understanding, belief, feeling, and your application of the Word to them. So, trust yourself. Be yourself. Make the sermon your own.

2.Effective preaching requires a high degree of fluency in delivery.

While fluency is a positive aspect of delivery, it should not be overvalued. One can be too fluent so as to suggest slickness rather than thoughtfulness. Speakers who put too much stock in fluency may become overly dependent on extensive notes with whole sentences written out, or even become dependent on a manuscript. Either one is likely to become an obstacle to effective communication. As it is with the sermon as a whole . . . have the delivery be you, your sermon. Be yourself. The athlete, it is often said, is most effective when he/she plays within himself. So, for the preacher: Be yourself. That is who the listeners want to hear.

3.Effective preaching requires more preparation time than the parish pastor can devote to the task.

Indeed, in his statement on what he expects of preachers, Pope Francis asks that they devote significant time to sermon preparation.⁵ With the admonition to spend significant time in mind, I expect it will still come as a shock to you that the weekly preparation time recommended here is fifty-eight to sixty-two hours. That projection of hours spent in preparation is reasonable only if one acknowledges that the pastor is an especially endowed part of the creation with a brain which functions