The nations are not united in one single language again. Instead, they are being united in the common words and message of the Gospel.
Seasonal preaching can sometimes become functionally topical preaching. The weight of the liturgical setting and the expectations of the day drive away any thoughts of delving deep into one specific text. Rather than resist this urge, I want to propose that topical preaching can be a thoughtful and measured approach to unpacking what all three assigned texts have in common.
Our text is for the Day of Pentecost, so there are some things we want to ask ourselves to consider what the topical sermon will be about. What are we going to say about the feast of Pentecost? What goals are we trying to achieve if the day has events like Confirmation or baptisms associated with it?
As we look at all three texts assigned for the day (Genesis 11:1-9, Acts 2:1-21, and John 14:23-31) there are some things we can do to arrive at the topic for the sermon. Try to articulate the central thought of these texts and use that central thought as the basis for the topic. In this case, the scattering of language (Genesis 11: 8) is reversed in the Pentecost event (Acts 2:6 and 2:11). However, they are not united in one single language again. Instead, they are being united in the common words and message of the Gospel. This gospel is what the Holy Spirit uses to create faith in the crucified and resurrected Jesus (John 14:26). Here is the central thought or focus which then becomes the dominant idea or thrust of the texts expressed in one clear and concise statement. It really grows out of something called the “Function Statement” of the sermon.
The “Function Statement” is the way of stating the desired outcome of the sermon for the hearers. Ask questions like: What do I intend the sermon to do? How do I want my hearers to respond? What precisely do I want to have happen to them as a result of this sermon? These are answered by the central thought or focus of your topical sermon.
Another way to arrive at a topic for the sermon is to list out the major ideas of the texts (in order) and then combine these ideas into a unifying topic. When all the major ideas have been listed, one of them may appear to encompass the text more fully than others, and that broader idea will serve best as the thing which unites the experience of the sermon. In this case, the common thing uniting these texts is language. Now we can develop the idea of what God made language to be used for to create a whole sermon on what the language of the Gospel does in the lives of our hearers.
However, they are not united in one single language again. Instead, they are being united in the common words and message of the Gospel.
One thing that can go wrong in this type of sermon development is you can end up picking something which is textual but not centered in the Gospel. This leads to a law-based lecture, that may be interesting but not technically Christian preaching. You must develop the topic that is clearly gospel focused so your law development may serve the gospel proclamation you seek to hold forth from these texts. Critical to this type of preaching is combining your understanding of the texts together with a sensitivity to the people you are preaching to. You cannot sacrifice one for or over the other. The real hard work is to hold these two things together as equally important. This will usually bear out in how you develop each part of your sermon.
Finally, a topical sermon must be textual without dullness. Our liturgical setting can make people think they have “heard it all” on this topic before you even open your mouth. The real joy then comes from unpacking something which is familiar, and yet pleasant to hear again. Like an old song on the radio, you just want to turn it up a little bit because it has been a while.
A last note of caution though, topical preaching is not the same as expository preaching. Expository preaching focuses on a verse or group of verses you unpack to create an experience of the sermon. Topical preaching focuses on the reason why we are gathered (Feast of Pentecost) and what we hope to learn from these texts of scripture (God has united all peoples scattered across the world with the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ spoken in every language through the power of the Holy Spirit).
There are two structures for this kind of sermon. One is Deductive and the other is Inductive.
Deductive Approach
- Intro to Topic
- Say what day of the liturgical year we are celebrating.
- Definition
- What it is and what it is not.
- This helps to create a helpful limit to the sermon.
- Questions
- Items you may want to ask to get things going.
- You could also use an “Image” or a “Metaphor” here.
- Texts
- Handle Genesis 11 as Law and Acts 2 as Gospel, centered in John 14.
- Practice
- This is where you move from the Gospel back in to the Law.
- This move might seem strange, but it admits that the gospel is what we should be doing. However, this is a trap because our own efforts at self-justification or self-righteousness are easy traps for the Christian to fall into. Examples: I do speak the gospel to other people therefore I am a good Christian, or I speak another language, so I am better equipped to do this kind of work, meaning, aren’t you all so glad I am here. Or we will not be a true church until we have a Pentecostal moment here (Yikes).
- Normal Pattern/Passages for Proof
- To drive the final (3rd) use of the Law home again, we demonstrate through multiple cited scriptures that these kinds of moves are the normal pattern of Christian life.
- GOSPEL
- Now we simply restate the gospel of the sermon to turn us back to gospel.
- Jesus is the practitioner
- Here we proclaim that Christ is the best and only practitioner of the normal pattern of the Christian life (cited above) and that all these scriptures speak concerning Him; reinforcing the truth of John 14.
- Conclusion
Inductive Approach (Very similar to the moves above, so use it as a reference)
- Introduce the story of texts (Like above when we introduced the topic but as a story)
- Which then leads to Questions (Why did this happen? What does this mean? etc.)
- Definition (What the Feast of Pentecost is and is not)
- Practice (Gospel back into 3rd use of the Law moves like above)
- Normal Practice of the Christian person (Citations of multiple verses)
- Gospel (Jesus alone does what we are incapable of doing)
- Conclusion
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Genesis 11:1-9.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Genesis 11:1-9.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaeching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
