Preach the Whole Sermon

The expository sermon has gained popularity in recent decades. Since Reformed theology seized the convictions of energetic young’uns, a high view of Scripture has saturated the waters of evangelicalism with “big God,” Calvinistic soteriology. And when you’re swimming in the doctrines of grace, expository preaching just makes sense. Even for churches that are not Reformed with a capital “R,” it is increasingly common to move through whole books of the Bible in sequence and preach messages that proclaim the main point of the passage.

But in our commitment to methodical exposition, we must clock a danger of veering too far. Whereas passionate pleas often run throughout a topical sermon, expository preachers sometimes limit their exultation and application until the very end. Perhaps the thinking goes like this: if I am preaching the text, and I need to prove my interpretation of the text, then my sermon should sound like this:

1. Read the text.
2. Introduce the sermon.
3. Exegete the text verse by verse.
4. Argue for the main point from your exegesis.
5. Conclude with praise (exultation) or application.

Admittedly, some of us are still clutching our seminary diplomas where we learned to exegete first and exult second. We feel the need to really prove that what we are saying is true from the text itself.

However, we need to be aware lest we fall into a homiletical ditch—one where we don’t really start preaching until we get near the conclusion. Yes, a sermon should be all about the main point of the passage. But if people were to walk out halfway through your sermon—perhaps a mom needs to nurse her infant, or a father must deal with a disciplinary issue—would they be right to exclaim, “Oh, I’m so sad I had to leave before he really started preaching!”?

Too often in expository circles, our sermons are like dumped out toolboxes: “Here’s what everything in the passage means!” In better, but still not ideal, cases, our sermons are like nails: all that matters is getting that main point in, and it is an all-or-nothing affair; if our audience has not heard and been convinced of the main point, then our sermon has utterly failed.

Yet I propose a better way: Conceptualize and preach your expositional sermon like it is a screw, not a nail.

A screw has a single main point, but it also has an edge all the way around. This ridge, sharp as it is, is not to be avoided in favor of the point; rather, it is the means of getting to the main point.

If all you have is a main point, your sermon will be a nail, and your preaching a hammer. Either you will get the sermon into your people’s heads or you will not; it depends on how hard you hit. But if your sermon is a screw, there is power in the whole process of the preaching, and whether your sermon makes it all the way into their heads or some of the way, each congregant will get a little of the passage’s bite. For those who can engage from start to finish, they will realize they were getting the main point all along.

A screw really has one thread that leads to one point, and yet if you were to pinch it on both sides, with your thumb on one end and pointer finger on the other, and look at it from the side, your eyes might tell you there are many points. This is how a congregation will feel about a well-crafted sermon. They will think the preacher made many points. They may, in fact, mistake a sub-point, a point-along-the-way, for being the main point. Or they may not even reach for a main takeaway; they will simply be content to dwell on a ridge that cuts their heart halfway through. But we preachers will be happy if they pick up on any edge of the sermon, because we know it really all ought to be leading to one main point.

We should preach application and speak (e)vocatively to our congregation throughout the message. We should preach to our people the whole time we are preaching, and not only after we have walked through the text or proven our case of what the main point is. If you’d like a biblical example, look at the book of Hebrews. Notice how the preacher weaves exegesis of Old Testament texts with biblical-theological ideas and then back to applications, exhortations, and warnings (Heb. 2:1–4; 3:1–2; 4:1–2, 11, 14–16; 6:1–3; 6:19–20; 10:19–25), all to prove to his audience the main point that Jesus is better than anything the Old Covenant could offer. He really preached the whole sermon! If a nursing mom had to take her infant out at the end of chapter 11, of course, she would be missing something, but she would not be missing everything. In fact, she would probably still be able to say she heard the “main point,” even though she missed the last bit.

So let’s preach sermons, not just syllogisms (and definitely not just commentaries). Let’s preach the whole time, weaving in and out of explanation, exultation, exhortation, and application (as is appropriate).