Gospel Prism

Our Leadership Team was having a discussion on sermon length in our church and one brother made a great point about sermons. He noted that it is literally the only time that some people get to hear God’s Word at all throughout the week (presupposing that the sermon is Bible-centered). And since we can’t assume that those in the church are spending time reading the Bible throughout the week, why is it that people think sermons are “too long”? Considering that a person will readily sit in front of a TV for two hours, sometimes flipping through channels without finding even a good show, 1 hour for a sermon God-forbid, doesn’t seem that long at all.

And yet, breaking the 50 minute barrier in a sermon is like breaking the $4.00/gallon barrier at the gas pump. Michael McKinley at the Church Matters blog has this to say about long, boring sermons:

But something much greater and more important is happening in a sermon. We are holding up Christ from all the Scriptures, we are exploring the ways that he is beautiful, we are feeding on him by faith and celebrating his works together.

In a sense, I’m hoping that experience has a seven day shelf life. I look out over this flock and see people who are hurting terribly, marriages in shambles, people whose faith is tottering, other people who are hungry for God, some people who are knowing God’s grace freshly… and I pray, “God, graciously use this sermon to get them through until next Sunday. Then we’ll do it all over again.”

I am not saying that you can only have this experience in a sermon. Other people have made a good case for the centrality of preaching, so I won’t rehearse them here. But I am suspicious of arguments that make the rate of information retention the deciding factor in how we teach the church.

There was a time I fit in the camp of unending restlessness in such a sermon. But the more I look at my life, the time I have remaining, and the life I have after this life, the more I will see that my life will be about worshiping the living God eternally. I don’t want to miss any opportunity to prepare my heart for heaven, as J. C. Ryle so aptly states in his book Holiness.

On Sunday, I would rather listen to a long sermon that reflects on God, His majesty, and His great salvation than watch the Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Not that I can’t watch the Giants beat the Patriots, but may my heart long for more of what God has created me to be, a lover of God.