Lesson Goal
Learn how to preach a sermon that attacks an evil or other inadequacy.
Lesson Intro
Stephen the martyr's sermon was a fight. It was an attack on stubborn and disobedient religion that resists the Holy Spirit. It cost him his life.
Lesson Plan
We are going to examine the sermon of Stephen the martyr and see what we can learn from it as an example of a fight, an attack sermon. We will also briefly discuss other methods of attack and give an example.
Lesson Body
Choosing a Subject
There are many subjects that deserve a proper response of anger today, such as the holocaust suffered by defenseless unborn children, the lax attitude that Søren Kirkegaard noticed among churches of his day and still exists in our time, religion that emphasizes form yet denies the power of God, and a host of other issues. Righteous anger is without sin, and is an attribute of God himself.
If you are a relatively young or inexperienced preacher, stick with a topic that your audience can easily be righteously angry about as well. Only if you are a very brave and seasoned preacher could you dare tackle a topic that chastises the hearers directly. One way to present such a blunt and potentially offensive topic, however, is to use inclusive "us/we" terminology, that lets the audience know that, "We'd better listen to God, because we're in this sin together."
Begin with Common Ground (Acts 7:1-38)
Notice Stephen's wisdom in beginning with common ground. I don't know if he knew ahead of time that his attack would result in martyrdom, and I don't wish to evaluate the wisdom of the timing of his attack. However, his beginning with common ground was very wise. When we are going to say something that we know people will disagree with or be offended by, it is good at least to start on the right foot, so they will at least listen.
Have you ever noticed how a lion will stalk its prey for a long time before beginning the final attack? Jesus is sometimes described as like a lion. Notice too, the length of time Stephen used to build common ground. He did not just say a few words, but spent most of his entire message building a bridge to his audience. This too is important, especially when we know, that this is all preparation for a fight. Stephen was a master fighter who lulled his target into a sense of security before launching the attack.
The Principle of Distraction (Acts 7:39-50)
In basketball this is called the fake, not that a Christian would want to be deceptive. Think of it more as a distraction. A basketball player makes a quick move in one direction, so as to throw his opponent off, and then just as quickly makes his move in another direction entirely. Stephen then begins by distracting his audience, who were his ultimate target, by highlighting the sins of their common ancestors, who were disobedient to God.
This is also similar to a principle of Judo, which I studied to some small extent when I was young. The idea was to pull or push on your opponent slightly so that they countered your force. Then, when you were ready for your move, you suddenly switched direction 180° so that the opponent actually aided you with some of their own inertia in the direction of your attack. It was actually fun for me, a rather light guy compared to some of my sparring partners, to flip a heavier guy over my head and shoulders onto the soft mats.
The principle of distraction is to prepare for your final move so that when you are ready for the attack the audience is already going with you to some extent, or focused on something else. I imagine that some members of Stephen's audience were reluctantly agreeing with him that yes, some of their ancestors were disobedient to God, but they certainly weren't, were they?
Take the Attack Home (Acts 7:51-56)
Stephen then takes the attack home. In this case it was his audience who needed to realize that they were just like their ancestors, stubborn, resisting the Holy Spirit, and disobedient. The preparation for this attack was extensive, almost 50 verses long. His specific attack was only a few verses, yet he hit his target head on, without shame or equivocation.
Most of the people you and I will preach to are different. They have not denied Jesus. They are a softer target, and so our attack will not have to be so direct and blunt. Most of the time, it will be concepts not people that we will attack. Only rarely will even a seasoned preacher attack his audience personally like this. Most of the time, when there is a need for righteous anger in our sermons, it will be false ideas that we attack, not people. When we attack people, wise preachers will include themselves among the sinners, and allow God (through the Bible) to do the talking.
Other Attack Methods
Of course, Stephen's method of attack here is not the only method. There are many different types of military strategy for instance, which can be modeled for an attack sermon. Examples are the surprise attack, guerrilla warfare, blitzkrieg, fortification, siege, attrition, etc.
Example Sermon
Title: "Biblical Purpose"
Goal
Discover God's real purposes for the church.
Intro
I get rather tired of preachers who make merchandise of the brethren and instead of pointing them to God, point people to themselves and their supposedly "wonderful" ideas. Rather than pointing people to the Bible, they point people to their ideas, which often distort scripture.
Plan
Let's look at 5 purposes for the church and see what the Bible actually says.
Body
1. Who do we Listen To?
We are people who give the Bible priority in our lives. We believe that it is not just a book, and not even just the best book ever written by human beings, but that God breathed into the pens of more than 40 authors over 40 generations, his own words. We give priority to the words of the Bible as the most important words we will ever read or say in our lifetimes. Yet, somehow we get off track, being often more impressed with the words of a mere man than the Word of God. One such example is the idea of rewording the purposes of the church in terms that water down the Bible.
2. The Great Commandments (Luke 10:27)
When we reword the Bible into modern language, we need to be careful that we don't water it down and make it less effective than it is. Rewording the two Great Commandments of love God and love neighbor into two new points worship and service or the m's of magnify and ministry does just that. Loving God is far greater than worship and loving neighbor is far greater than mere service.
Worship can be redefined I suppose to mean love, but that is not what the original word was. The original word is love, so when we think about the Great Commandments, let's not water them down with gimmicks. Let's go to THE book and see what loving God includes. Loving God includes worship, but it also includes obedience, trust, thanksgiving and a whole host of other things. I am satisfied with the original commandment. We don't need to change it or twist it into something else.
Loving our neighbor certainly includes service, but it also includes a whole host of other things, such as not lusting after his wife or her husband, not spreading malicious gossip around about our neighbor, and taking care of those less fortunate than ourselves. I am satisfied with the original commandment. We don't need to change it or twist it into something else.
3. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20)
The Great Commission can be seen as three or four points, depending on how it strikes you. Rewording it into the m's of mission, membership and maturity or evangelism, fellowship and discipleship may seem okay to some extent, but I somehow prefer not straying too far from the original wording of Jesus. It's almost as if someone is saying that Jesus' words are not good enough. We have to improve on Jesus.
Go and make disciples could be seen as two points, and some make it such. It certainly gives the impression that the idea of a couch potato Christian is an oxymoron. It also gives the idea that we must make something happen, i.e. that we have to exert some personal effort. I am satisfied with the original commandment. We don't need to change it or twist it into something else.
Baptism is more than a mere initiation rite for membership or fellowship; it is participation in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am satisfied with the original commandment. We don't need to change it or twist it into something else.
Teaching disciples what Jesus taught is more than a mere exercise in maturity and discipleship; it is the essence of what a church service is to be all about. Some people today redefine worship to mean wafting off into a trance during the musical part of a church service. That can be worship, but it is only a very small part of it. Worship is a 24/7 lifestyle of offering our bodies as living sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1).
What is essential when the church comes together is teaching what Christ taught. That can be done in a number of ways, by including Christ's teachings in the liturgy of music, prayers, and readings as well as in the sermon. If a church service excludes Bible teaching from the music and prayers and the sermon is something pulled from thin air with little or no Bible content in it at all, then that church is disobeying one of Jesus' most important commands. I am satisfied with the original commandment. We don't need to change it or twist it into something else.
Outro
Today, we looked at 5 purposes for the church and saw what the Bible actually says. These are not the only purposes for the church, and yet they are important principles, too important to be drastically reworded from what God has actually given us in the pages of the Bible. 5 of the most important reasons for the church are to love God and neighbor, to go and make disciples, baptize and teach them what Jesus has commanded.
Suggested Assignment
Pick a topic to attack. Be careful not to make the subject or the people you attack out to be martyrs and thus you become the enemy. Rather, fight the good fight against evil.
Lesson Outro
We examined the sermon of Stephen the martyr and saw some of what we can learn from it as an example of a fight, an attack sermon. We also briefly discussed other methods of attack and gave an example. As soldiers of Christ and the cross, it behooves us to be able in battle and learn some preaching strategies for the spiritual warfare we are engaged in.
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