Proclaimer Blog
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers #12
Chapter 12. Illustrations, Eloquence, Humour
MLJ is opposed (unsurprisingly) to reading out a manuscript in the pulpit. But (more interestingly) he’s also against memorising the sermon. The reason: if you’ve memorised it, you end up ‘declaiming’ it to people and you’re focused on remembering what comes next. That makes you focus on the mechanics of what you’re doing, which destroys the essence of preaching.
Then the regular theme of ‘freedom’ recurs: put your faith in the Spirit and not in your sermon, he says.
Then follow comments on different aspects:
Illustrations. Use them ‘sparsely and carefully’, so they don’t become an end in themselves. Too many of them lessens the ‘tension’ inherent in the gospel message.
Imagination. MLJ admits that his nationality makes him susceptible to over-imagination in the pulpit(!)
Eloquence. Be like Paul: don’t strive to be eloquent, but let it happen when it comes to you.
Humour. Since the preacher stands between God and man, humour is only proper if it arises very naturally. Using humour to ‘warm the audience up’ in evangelistic preaching is especially abhorrent.
Reflections
Lines such as ‘put your faith in the Spirit and not in the sermon’ have all the pros and cons of a half-truth, I think. It’s a good corrective to the preacher who sees himself simply as delivering something that’s already finished (‘here’s one I made earlier!’), and fails to be sensitive to the work of the Spirit in the actual act of delivery. But it can lead the preacher astray in not seeing the fruits of all his preparation as equally done (he trusts) under the influence of the Spirit. Thus, the preacher isn’t faced with trusting in either his sermon or the Spirit; he’s faced with trusting in the Spirit’s work both in his preparation and in the act of delivery. I can’t see that MLJ would deny this, but it’s not his natural way of expressing it.