Lesson Goal
The purpose of this lesson is to help us always make our sermons relevant for daily use and our congregations doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22).
Lesson Intro
There is nothing worse than hearing a pie in the sky, unrealistic sermon from a young preacher who has no idea what real life is all about, or a wizened old preacher who has never lived a life away from his theology books and seems to have never had any real trials or heartaches. Don't give me some namby-pamby book worm who has no idea what it means to have a family member die, lose a house, or a job, or have a teenager go off the rails.
I say give me a preacher with some scars on his chest, who has really been through the wars and has been bruised by the battles that average men and women go through out there in the real world. Give me a sermon from a man who has prayed his way through many a spiritual battle and come out the other end, weather-beaten and wounded, but alive and full of faith. That's who I want to listen to.
When that kind of preacher speaks we all tend to listen, because we know that he will not just offer up airy fairy theories, but the life of someone who has lived what Jesus commands and can tell us a thousand real stories about how to survive this life and endure to the very end. Real life examples are what make the Scriptures live.
Lesson Plan
This lesson will teach you the importance of application, how to find good applications, one major danger to avoid and an example.
Why Application
Application teaches the listener to respond to the Bible, not just be a hearer only. It also reaches the whole person, their lives, not just their minds. Application also encourages listeners to be like Christ. It also allows people to know that the Bible is relevant and contemporary, rather than some dusty out of date book.
How Prepare
The best preparation is life. The second best preparation is getting to know real people, especially the coolest people on the planet, old people. They have stories to tell about wars, farm life, business failures, adventures, and marriage successes and failures, children, and life's battles. They are a living treasure trove and any preacher is worth his salt who spends time with the elderly and gets them to tell their tales. Another source is to read widely. A preacher who does not like to read, either needs to learn to like to read, or get another job.
Qualities of a Good Application
How many times have you heard a person read a text of Scripture and then give an application that has absolutely no support in the text? It happens so often, it's scary. I've even heard many people blame the Holy Spirit for their wacky applications. Not good! A good application is one which follows some simple guidelines adapted from an article by Hershael W. York and Scott A. Blue:
It matches the biblical truths
It matches the biblical author’s intended purpose
It clarifies the relevance of biblical truths
It is a practical example of the biblical truths today
It persuades people that obedience to Christ works and disobedience doesn't
This means that application cannot come until after proper exegesis. The hermeneutical process means that we must first understand what the text meant 2,000 years ago or more before we can explain what it means today. The preacher's job is to take the message of God to peoples who rode donkeys and drank from a wineskin, analyze it, interpret it and then bring it home to people who drive cars and drink from a screw top bottle, encouraging them not to be just hearers only, but to live it today. The sermon is empty theory until it is delivered to the street through relevant examples that the congregation can put into effect today.
Observations on Application
James Durham's Commentary on the Book of Revelation was published some time after his death in 1659. The following adapts and summarizes many excellent comments he made on application in preaching. Use applications that:
the congregation is familiar with
threaten the stubborn and comfort the weak
prick the conscience
vary widely, not always football or fishing
don't damage people or dig up old dirt
produce repentance
are plain and obvious
lead people to Christ
show the error of heresies
press the message home
Danger, Danger, Danger!
Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter was famous for saying, "Dainjah! Dainjah! Dainjah!" Yet that did not stop the expert herpetologist from handling deadly reptiles. So too, you the preacher are handling dangerous material. Abusing illustrations can ruin lives and turn churches into Pharisaic institutions imprisoned by the traditions of men and poisoned by heresy.
Haddon Robinson has been called one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century by some. What little I heard of his sermons certainly fits the description. He once said that more heresy is preached in application than in Bible exegesis. He is right. Application can be very dangerous!
Application is the time when you can easily add your list of Pharisaic do's and don'ts. It is probably where the legalistic rules about tee totaling, dancing, card-playing, rock and roll music and a host of other silly additions came from, that are nowhere commanded by Christ or his apostles. When illustrating something from Scripture, let's make sure that we are not making up a new Talmud of do's and don'ts. Let's just illustrate, not make rules. Leave personal decisions about non-essentials to the individual.
How in the world do you avoid that appalling mistake? Tell stories! Tell stories that illustrate the rules that Jesus taught not the rules that men make up. Tell about people of faith, missionaries, real life examples of hope and love. Tell stories of people overcoming against all odds, of ordinary people on the street and good deeds.
Example Sermon
Title: "Dispute over a Food Program"
Goal
To teach the church to be creative in handling disputes.
Intro
A dispute broke out between two different language groups in the early church. Greek-speaking widows complained that they were being discriminated against in the church's food distribution program. How did the church handle the dispute? Who made what decisions? Is this a rule for all church disputes?
Plan
Let's look at Acts 6 and discuss how the church handled this dispute, who decided what, what was organized to solve the problem, and what was the result.
Body
1. Decisions by the Apostles
The apostles decided that seven Greek-speaking men should take charge of the food distribution. This may have rankled the Hebrew speaking people, but they already had the apostles, so it was wise to now choose someone from the other language group.
Application
What decisions have leaders in your local church made that blessed everyone?
2. Decisions by the Church
The apostles then asked the church to decide who was to make up this group of seven. They, not the apostles made that decision. Then the apostles appointed the group that the church had decided upon.
Application
What decisions have lay members made which were a great benefit to all?
3. Formula or Example?
Is this now a formula as to how to make deacons? No. First of all, there is nothing saying that this group was given an official title like deacons. The most we can say on that issue is that they formed a group which probably later gave rise to the office of deacon. They were perhaps pre-deacons, or a forerunner to that office. Secondly, we need to understand the difference between description and prescription. When an account includes a "thus says the Lord" or some other command, such as "from now on this is how all such matters are to be handled" then that is a prescribed rule. However, this is just a case study, a description of how one of many disputes was handled, one of many reasons for a special task force to be created.
Application
Are we peacemakers or rule makers?
4. Principles
From a description we can certainly take principles which may or may not help us in a similar situation, depending on the details. It is not a prescribed set of rules as to how every similar situation is to be handled. Sometimes it may be good for the elders to make a decision among themselves. Sometimes it may be appropriate to hand the decision to the congregation. There will always be those who believe a particular decision should have been done this or that other way. There is no hard and fast rule, just the need to be guided by the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of heaven, and for us all to decide that peace is more important than method.
Application
There are no hard and fast rules covering all disputes, just principles and wisdom. Each must be handled on its own merits.
Outro
This case study teaches us that we need wisdom and creativity to handle disputes. We have experts in various areas who can advise us. We have the guidance of God when we ask for it in prayer. Disputes are inevitable. We will never in this life solve them completely nor perfectly, but they can be resolved amicably among people of good will.
Suggested Assignment
Analyze a text, using good exegesis and hermeneutics, finding stories which may be useful to illustrate the text, but avoiding examples which would tend to create silly new church rules.
Lesson Outro
Application is an excellent tool for bringing the text of Holy Scripture alive today, for making doers not just hearers of the Word. Used wisely you will encourage people to obey Christ.
