Sermon Central
Ask a panel of preachers for their vote on the greatest sermon in history, and I’m guessing you’ll get a fairly uniform response. The vast majority will point to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Some might vote for Paul’s address on Mars Hill. A few could lobby for Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” A handful of modern aficionados might suggest M.L. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. But if I had a ballot, I’d cast it for a lesser-known sermon; it doesn’t even have a title.
My nomination for the greatest sermon in history goes to Jonah’s message to the Ninevites in Jonah 3:4. Sure, no one would print it in a book of “best sermons.” They couldn’t. Or if they did, they’d have to use 72 point font with a lot of surrounding graphics, because the entire speech is only five words in Hebrew, eight words in English: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”
How can that be a great sermon? There’s no introduction, no need raised, no forecast, no points, no poems, no illustrations, no conclusion. The sermon has one verb, and it’s in the passive voice. The little sermon doesn’t just break all the rules of homiletics; it shatters them. Try delivering this in Preaching 101 and watch the professor mark not an “F,” but a complete zero for your grade. How could anyone vote this “The Greatest Sermon in History”?
Easy. I grade it on results. This little eight-word sermon had an unprecedented effect on its hearers and sparked a revival that spanned all social classes from peasants to kings. It may have impacted the largest number of people in the shortest time in history; the sermon caused somewhere between 120,000 and 600,000 people to radically repent in under 40 days. It saved an entire civilization from extinction. On a word-for-word basis, in comparison to any other speech, it is the most economical. Fewer words, greater results. It’s the greatest sermon in history.
The most remarkable thing about the speech isn’t the preacher but his disposition. All the laws of great preaching say that the preacher must prepare through deep prayer and diligent study. Jonah did neither. He thumbed his nose at God and ran in the opposite direction. When compelled to preach, he did so reluctantly, hoping that no one would respond. When they did, he was so distraught, he climbed a hillside and contemplated suicide. This is one pathetic prophet.
What’s there to be learned from such an anomalous messenger with such an amazing message? I spent the winter studying Jonah. His little book has changed my perspective on sermons and sermon preparation.
The first thing I discovered was that the book of Jonah isn’t actually about Jonah. It’s about God. God’s greatness and grace are found in every chapter, scene, verse, and sentence. God, in His grace, wants the Ninevites to turn to Him. In His grace, He calls Jonah to preach to them. To make sure this happens, God summons wind, waves, sailors, lots, and a big fish to do His bidding. He gives Jonah a second chance to obey and the Ninevites and a renewed chance to live for Him. After their response, He supplies Jonah with a vine, a worm, and a wind to personally demonstrate His grace. God is the star of the book; Jonah’s only the supporting actor (and not a very good actor, at that).
How did this change my approach to sermon-making? I’m aware in a new way that a sermon, and people’s response to it, isn’t about me or my teaching gifts.
I still believe that deep prayer and diligent study are essential for every good sermon. But that’s only the beginning. The real power for any sermon comes from God, and the depth of people’s response is triggered by God. Jonah 3:4 was the greatest sermon in history because God prepared the people to hear it, spoke to their hearts while they heard it, and directed their response when it was over. This doesn’t mean I can ease off on my preparation and trust God to speak in spite of me. On the contrary, I want to prepare all the more diligently, because the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those preachers whose preparation is fully committed to Him.
If I prepare well with the awareness that it is all about Him, God might--just might--choose to use my words like He did Jonah’s. If that happens, the message will change people in supernatural, radical, inexplicable ways. And who knows? There could be repentance that restores a civilization.
As I was completing my study of Jonah, one thing really bothered me. The book of Jonah doesn’t end; it just stops. God asks the question, “Should I not be concerned about this great city?”(Jonah 4:11) and waits for Jonah’s response. There are no more words written, so it seems Jonah doesn’t respond at all. Why would a book close this way?
Maybe God wanted the book to remain unfinished for two reasons. The obvious one is so that we can complete the story for ourselves. We get to imagine Jonah’s response to God’s fresh round of grace. The lack of ending spurs our meditation, forcing us to think about the possibilities and therefore to ponder God’s greatness and grace all the more.
The less obvious response is that Jonah actually did complete the story himself. Scholars believe that Jonah wrote the book that bears his name. After all, he was the only one present for all the events recorded, so the material is either biographical or autobiographical. Yet this little book paints him in the worst possible light. He’s a rebellious prophet who runs from God, then is practically forced by God to preach; when he does, he runs from God again, if not literally then figuratively. In his own words, Jonah rejects God’s work and refuses to rejoice at the repentance of the Ninevites.
The first time Jonah ran, God pursued and restored him. The result was this greatest sermon in history. The second time Jonah ran, God in His grace pursued him again. As the book stops, the question is, “But did God restore him again? Did Jonah repent and do God’s bidding once more?” If that were the case, we might expect to see a second message from Jonah, a message that changed a massive number of lives, just like the first.
Jonah’s second message is the book of Jonah. Why else would Jonah write such a humiliating story, boldly showing us his shame and rebellion? If the book of Jonah is Jonah’s second message, then it too has to be judged as a pretty fair sermon. After all, how many lives have been changed over the past 2,700 years by reading this little book?
If the book of Jonah is Jonah’s second message, it confirms that the fine art of communicating really is all about God and not about the communicator. This second message is about a messed-up preacher being used by a great and gracious God. And that gives me hope and incentive to do all I can to let God speak to me every time I prepare, and through me every time I preach.
