For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
~ 2 Corinthians 4:5

Where do you start? Well, you don’t start on Sunday morning at 6 AM, but otherwise a sermon must start with the Bible. You must start with the text of Scripture. You must start with knowing what the passage says and what the passage means. This means you have to do the hard work of interpreting the Bible. How can you explain the meaning of Scripture if you don’t know what it means?

Whatever you’re going to say must come from, and be faithful to the Bible, or else you’re not preaching the Bible. Sunday morning sermons typically reveal three different ways of approaching biblical interpretation.

Exegesis

Exegesis comes from a Greek word that literally means to guide, or lead out of. It refers to interpreting or explaining something such as a text. Exegesis considers the context of a passage and the grammar, syntax, and word usage. Exegesis also involves knowledge of the genre of the writing, as this indicates the form or way truth is communicated. Poetry communicates one way, while historical narrative communicates another way, etc. Exegesis is concerned with original author, audience, and setting of the passage, since a passage cannot mean now what it didn’t mean when it was written.

Exegesis refers to the technical work of getting out of a passage what is actually there in the passage. This work must be done before you preach a sermon and it’s not work you can do on Sunday morning, or from the front pew during the song service.

Eisegesis

Eisegesis isn’t actually a word, but has been made by prefixing the preposition eis, which means into, to the word ago, which means to lead or guide. It’s a play on the word exegesis and is used to mean to read into the text rather than out of the text. Reading into the text refers to reading something into the text that is not in the text originally. We might talk about reading between the lines or reading from the white spaces.

Eisegesis refers to mishandling Scripture so as to make a passage say what the preacher wants it to say, rather than what it actually says. Even if this is done in order to support true doctrine, it’s still erroneous and mishandling God’s word. Eisegesis involves bringing into a text thoughts, theories, speculations, imaginations, extrapolations, musings, and traditional dogmas that aren’t actually in the text. A text means what it means, which is what it has always meant since originally written, and cannot be used any way a preacher sees fit, whether for his comfort or convenience. If there’s a bright side here, eisegesis can be used on Sunday morning, or even off the cuff from the pulpit. It happens more than you think.

Narcigesis

Narcigesis is not a word either and I’m not sure of the origin, but I have heard it used. It’s a created word blending narcissism, or narcissistic, and eisegesis, so it essentially means reading yourself into the text. This approach to biblical interpretation sees every passage being about you or your tribe. In this system, every text provides opportunity for the preacher to promote himself and pat his group on the back. Every passage brings to light how the preacher’s tribe is the greatest in heaven and on earth, superior to all others. Narcigesis is also the popular tool of prosperity preachers and feel-good therapy preachers.

6 AM Sunday is no problem for narcigesis. In fact, with narcigesis you don’t need to prepare to preach, because it’s already in you. You don’t even need a Bible to make people feel good about themselves. I suppose this system is great news for egomaniacs who are also lazy.

Conclusion

When you get up to preach, you’re going to be guiding the people in some way. People don’t need guidance to think highly of themselves, but they will still be eager to hear some narcigesis and applaud you for it. What are you leading with and leading to? Eisegesis works well to confirm in people what they already think, and people are eager for that as well. If preachers are to be faithful guides, then biblically accurate exegesis is the way for preachers of God’s word. The only message preachers have has already been given in the sixty-six books of the closed canon of written Scripture and preachers must work hard to ensure they’re bringing out of the text only what the Spirit put in the text originally.

I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. ~ Jeremiah 23:21

Frequently Asked Questions

Question:
Why can’t God give preachers a message to preach?

Answer:
First, the question is not one of what God can or cannot do as in a question of God’s ability. He’s God. He not only can do but does do everything he is pleased to do. The question is rather one of what God has told us he will do.

Second, If a preacher has received a message from God, then that is a message outside the closed canon of written Scripture. He paints himself a prophet or apostle, who is adding to revelation.

Question:
What if a preacher says God gave him a message and all he means by that is he has had the message persistently on his mind and thinks, or hopes, that God has providentially guided him to this message for this moment?

Answer:
Then he ought to say that instead of leading people to believe he has received direct revelation from God in some form.

Question:
Why are there so many bad sermons?

Answer:
Because there are so many bad preachers.

Question:
Why is God calling so many bad preachers to preach?

Answer:
You need to go home, pour yourself a strong cup of coffee, find a nice comfortable chair in a quiet corner, and think about what you just said.

Question:
What is a call to preach?

Answer:
A call to preach is not an extraordinary experience. It is a God given desire and ability to preach joined with a thirst for knowledge, personal holiness, and humble heart of service attested among the congregation the man is joined to and is known by.

Question:
What is a bad preacher?

Answer:
How long you have? There are all sorts of bad preachers. For instance, charlatans and teachers of false doctrine are bad preachers. Hypocrites pursuing money and fame are bad preachers. These kinds of preachers are bad preachers the way wolves are bad shepherds. These are what might be called morally bad preachers and that has nothing to do with their abilities in front of a crowd, and usually those types have pretty good abilities in front of a crowd.

If we narrow this down to bad preachers relevant to bad sermons being preached, I can think of a few ways a man might be a bad preacher, but the primary reason is incompetence. A man is a bad preacher if he doesn’t know what preaching is or how to do it. A bad preacher doesn’t know the Bible, or how it works. He doesn’t know how to exegete a passage in its original contextual setting, connect it to the big picture of biblical theology, and explain and apply that passage to a congregation. He doesn’t know how to communicate clearly and have a point to the sermon.

I need to make an important distinction here. In some cases, the above incompetence is due to the fact that the man simply doesn’t have the necessary gifting to preach despite the numerous good qualities he may have. He’s a bad preacher but it’s not his fault and he shouldn’t be in pulpit ministry. In other cases, the incompetence is due to inexperience and ignorance. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and doesn’t know what he needs to know. He probably showed some gifting early and was shoved up front before his inexperience and ignorance could be remediated. He needs training that all preachers are supposed to receive, but far too few do.

Question:
What should a preacher do if he lacks knowledge?

Answer:
Not try to compensate for it by yelling. He should give himself fully to praying, studying, teaching, and preaching God’s word.

Question:
Shouldn’t we just accept if a man says he’s called to preach and not comment on how well or how poorly he does it?

Answer:
(Stares exegetically)

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
~ 2 Timothy 4:2

Sermon Introduction

I opened this sermon quoting one of the most famous opening lines in English literature, which is the opening line of Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice. In the novel, Mrs. Bennett is the harried mother of five single daughters who frantically spends her days in trying to secure rich husbands for them in order to save their family from ruin upon the loss of their estate when Mr. Bennett dies. Some see Naomi this way in this part of Ruth, so I connected the two and hoped to show that Naomi was not a Mrs. Bennett.

I recapped the resolution of the previous scene and drew attention to the revelations that moved the story forward. I also reminded how that scene marked the first sign of upward arc change for Naomi. Though the third scene marked a positive value shift in the story, they main tension of the story is still unresolved because they haven’t yet found rest.

I introduced the fourth scene and how Naomi was awakened to the possibility of finding rest through redemption by the kinsman, Boaz. The scene comes at the midpoint of the book where the unifying theme of finding rest is stated and the theme of covenant faithfulness is highlighted. While Naomi’s actions are risky, they are presented in the narrative as actions of faith.

Verses 1-2 Naomi Recognizes Their State

At the end of the harvest season, Naomi acknowledges the blessings they had received, but also recognizes they are still without rest, that settled dwelling in peace and safety with abundant provision. It is not bleak though, because their current state also includes an opportunity because of Boaz their kinsman.

Verses 3-5 Naomi Lays Out a Plan

Naomi instructs Ruth what to do to request redemption from Boaz. The plan is odd to us because we are not familiar with the ancient customs, but we need not read into it anything untoward. Ruth has been presented and maintained as a wisdom character of the virtuous woman. Naomi’s plan and her actions do not conflict with that. When compared with Proverbs, we can note contrasts between Ruth and the strange woman.

Most likely, Ruth had maintained wearing her widow’s garments to this point, which would have marked her as unavailable. Naomi’s instructions to her seem odd on the surface, but she’s probably instructing her to put off her widow’s garments and present herself first and only to Boaz. Ruth responds faithfully and does as instructed.

Sermon Conclusion

Naomi’s actions are seen as faithful because she is responding to the recognition of God’s providence working for their relief. By the end of chapter 1, Naomi was without hope, but this passage in the middle of the book marks the return to hope for Naomi. I concluded by making practical application for our congregation about how we tend to withdraw when we lose hope, and yet faith and hope moves us out of the safety shadow.

Links

You can listen to the eighth sermon here.

Up Next

Next we will look at the ninth sermon in the series