Proclaimer Blog
Speed affects what you see
It won't come as any surprise to be reminded that there are different speeds you can preach through a book. I'm nervous about saying there are any right or wrong approaches, though I do feel the extremes (very, very slowly or very, very fast) should normally be avoided. There's probably a place for variation. I'm seeing that at the moment as I prepare 1 Samuel. Here's a book where there's a tendency to go at a pretty speedy pace. It's a long book and will take a while to get through. Moreover, some of the stories, whilst long, are clearly single units. That is the case, for example, in chapters 9 and 10, where Saul is appointed king (though, and here's an interesting fact, he is never actually called that…).
A preacher might well think, there's a unit. And, at one level, he would be right. But there is so much detail here – and theological foundation – that a slower approach yields excellent teaching points. And maybe, just maybe, it's our pace which sometimes robs our congregations of seeing more of the depth of our faith and the knowledge of our God. Let me explain.
The big thing going on in this chapter is the rejection of God as King and the appointment of Saul. There's lots to say and teach about that – not least looking forward to the time when God will be King once again in his incarnate Son. If you've got 30 minutes on this passage you're not going to be able to focus on a lot more than that. But I also saw (helped by excellent David Firth) that the last few verses (1 Sam 10.17-26) introduce a key theological idea:
"There is a profound tension between what Yahweh desires to do and what Yahweh agrees to do…. although kingship was within his purposes, the model sought by the people was not."
Here is something important to say about the two wills in God – tough stuff that many Christians will not understand and be poorer for missing out. A slower pace would allow that to be developed and we might have more robust congregations as a result.