For nearly twenty years, one of the disciplines around which my life has revolved has been the discipline of preaching. Someone once told me that preachers, if they are going to make it for the long haul, must pause every now and then and remind themselves of the primary purpose of preaching, lest they be tempted to make their preaching about something other than that primary purpose.
So, allow me to do that for a moment.
If you were to ask me what the primary purpose of preaching is, this would be my heartfelt response: The purpose of preaching, as I see it, is to pour out the biblical Word in a way that will help the congregation to recognize its desperate need for “hydration” and in a way that will inspire the listeners both to pour themselves INTO the life of following Christ and to pour themselves OUT for the world that Christ came to save.
The purpose of the preaching, in other words, is not to entertain (although, occasionally, a preacher will inspire laughter over life’s absurdities). The purpose of the preaching is not to foster emotionalism (although, occasionally, a preacher will inspire tears with stories of faith). The purpose of preaching is not to browbeat or to politicize or to placate a congregation by telling it what it only what it wants to hear. Rather the purpose of preaching, in the opinion of this humble preacher, is to offer an authentic outpouring of the Word, which, when accompanied by the Holy Spirit, can inspire an equally authentic outpouring of self.
I utilize the image of pouring here only because that imagery is used so starkly in Second Timothy 4:6, where we find these words, ascribed to the Apostle Paul: “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come.” The words “to pour out” (in Greek, “spendo”) is what one would do to a beverage. In this moment of Scripture, however, it is a reference to the pouring out of a drink offering made to a deity.
In the Old Testament, God commands the people to make a drink offering of wine to him, along with an offering of their first fruits, as a tangible sign of the people’s willingness consecrate or set apart for God their very best—the very best of their produce, and the very best of their wine. Therefore, when Paul describes himself as a poured out libation, he is making the point that his very life has become an offering to God, and he is pouring out that offering into a passionately devoted discipleship to Jesus Christ. Paul’s desire is for the world to understand that a life outpoured for the cause of Jesus Christ is the most joyful and meaningful life that there is to live.
In his sermon on the mount, Jesus taught that “blessed are the poor.” But in Second Timothy, Scripture puts it a bit differently: “Blessed are the POURED,” is the paraphrased proclamation of Second Timothy 4:6—which is to say, blessed are those who resist the temptation to give to God nothing more than a few convenient drops from their spiritual reservoir, and who instead pour the very best of themselves into the kind of life that honors and glorifies Jesus Christ.
Today, I am thinking of the discipline of preaching as an outpouring of sorts. I am also thinking about the life of discipleship that way. As I journey more deeply into the Lenten season, my prayer is that my preaching and living will both become an outpoured libation, offered wholly to the One who poured himself out so graciously for me and for the entire world.
Amen Brother. I love the way you preach, you helped make me the way I am today, and I thank God for you everyday.
Giving our first fruits to God. That’s got to mean giving God our BEST, right? I wonder how many pastors can’t always give God their best efforts in preaching because they are so bogged down in busywork, paperwork, workywork, and work of far less significance and far less importance to the Kingdom? I’ll bet the numbers are staggering. It takes a lot of TRUST to delegate responsibility when it’s literally a life or death situation. Our pastors need to have the resources to equip others in their ministry to take some of the load off their shoulders so they can have more than a few good drops left to pour out at the end of the week…
As one who was away from the church for many years, it was your preaching that kept me coming back each Saturday night. Your way of explaining the scriptures got me interested in reading the bible cover to cover - something I had never done before. Each week I look forward to church so I can take in God’s word and use this to become a better person to myself and to others. For this, I thank you!