“I had such a sweet time in my devotions this week that I decided not to prepare a sermon and share with you what I learned in my devotions,” one pastor said (click to open). [1] I rejoice with this pastor. However, can not the pastor have the same sweet time in his sermon preparation? Let me restate this question: Should not the pastor have the same sweet time in his sermon preparation?
Haddon W. Robinson was the guru of preaching for decades. In his book Biblical Sermons: How Twelve Preachers Apply the Principles of Biblical Preaching [click to open], Robinson presents twelve sermons by twelve well-known preachers and pastors like Erwin Lutzer. Then Robinson gives his commentary on those twelve sermons. Lastly, Robinson interviews these pastors.
The practice of some pastors
The pastor I want to focus on is James O. Rose. In the interview, Robinson asked Rose, “How long does it usually take you to prepare a message?” Rose answered:
The genesis of a message starts a year before I preach it. I put together a sermon calendar for that year (I take a week off and put this together, including sermon titles, big ideas, and the chunk of Scripture for each sermon). Then I center my devotions on what I’ll be preaching on a year from that date. At the most, I put in two hours per chapter then. A week and a half before I give the actual message, I pull out what I’ve done. I keep all of the material that I’ve been collecting for that sermon in a file. I usually spend an hour just looking over this material. The week of the message I put in seventeen to twenty-two hours on a sermon.[2]
The example of Ezra
I think Pastor James Rose is following Ezra’s example in Ezra 7:10. Ezra is described as a skilled scribe or teacher in Ezra 7:6. The text also adds that God’s hand was on him “because Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to do it [apply it to his life], and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel” (7:10). Rose studies the text. He then in what we call “devotions” applies what he learned to his life. Finally, he preaches and applies to others what he first applied to his own life.
Obviously, there are differences of opinion on this subject. Sam Rainer wrote a blog post entitled “Why Sermon Preparation is Not Devotional Time [click to open].” Rainer contends, “Sermon preparation is not—and should not—be used as devotion time.” Again, if pastors have devotions separate from sermon preparation, that is their choice, and it is a good choice. I agree, however, more with the three pastors who responded to Rainer’s post and had a different perspective.
One of Rainer’s arguments for keeping devotions separate from sermon preparation is that sermon preparation is for the public and devotional times are private: “The purposes are different. Sermons are public. Devotional times are personal. The purpose of a sermon is to reveal the mysteries of God to the bride of Christ at a given moment. The purpose of devotional time is to spur individual growth over time.” One of the pastors who responded to Rainer’s view wrote: “We shouldn’t separate things that don’t need to be separated. Both sermon prep and preaching the sermon are acts of devotion. The former is done privately, the latter publicly. The private is for the public. Devotional times are done in private but prepare us for public times. If the preparation of sermons does not stoke one’s fire devotionally, the sermon is not going to help people or the preacher.[3]
The advice of some pastors
The pastor writing for The Rephidim Project [click to open] declared that to separate devotions from sermon preparation “is a false dichotomy. Our exegesis must always be devotional, and our devotions must always be exegetical.” He also gave a needed warning that “sermon prep that is not soul prep is hypocrisy. Sermon preparation could just be a professional sermon that leads to shallow preaching.” The preacher who is preaching professional sermons is preaching only to draw a paycheck. The author of The Rephidim Project then added, “I nourish my soul as I prepare to preach, or else I am merely a salesman selling a product. The best way to preach soul-nourishing sermons is to study the Bible to nourish my soul. Prayer is the key. J. Kent Edwards calls it ‘closet work’ (Deep Preaching: Creating Sermons That Go Beyond the Superficial). Closet work is essential for preaching and prayer is essential for closet work. As I am doing my exegesis, I am praying for the Lord to teach me from His Word. I should never read the Word of God professionally. The sermon is not for others until it is for me first! My sermon prep is soul prep.”[4]
One of my colleagues, Dr. Jerry Hullinger, and I have discussed this topic. He shared with me what he also has shared with his students, that when he was a pastor he never had devotions apart from his sermon preparation. Because his sermon preparation was his devotions.
A pastor friend of mine wisely stated: “I have read commands to read the Bible and study the Bible ... not a single one about a devotional time ... ever. Pastors need to read and study and pray. And so do the congregants.” Can a pastor choose to have separate devotions from what he is preaching? Of course! But so can a pastor feed on God’s Word from the Scripture he is preparing to preach just as his church members feed on the passages for their devotions. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching” (2 Timothy 3:16).
[1] The Rephidim Project, “Sermon Prep as Soul Prep, (rephidimproject.org/sermon-prep-soul-prep) January 25, 2018 (click to open).
2] Haddon Robinson, Biblical Sermons: How Twelve Preachers Apply the Principles of Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989), 65.
[3] Sam Rainer,“Why Sermon Preparation is Not Devotional Time” (samrainer.com). November 10, 2021.
4] The Rephidim Project, “Sermon Prep as Soul Prep,” (rephidimproject.org/sermon-prep-soul-prep) January 25, 2018.