Proclaimer Blog
Wedding sermons
I’ve had the delight this week of preaching at my daughter’s wedding. Song of Songs, thanks for asking. It’s not an easy preaching gig, a wedding, though it is, of course, a delight. Part of the complexity comes from trying to do lots of things at the same time.
First, I’m wanting to bring a specific word to the couple in question. Second, I want to encourage other believers, whether married or not (if married, perhaps about their own marriages, if not, then about how they can support and pray for married couples). Third, I want to speak a word to unbelievers. And all of this in about a third of the time I would normally preach for and with a need to provide more “breathing space” than a regular sermon.
As I say, a tough gig, made more difficult by the fact that there are a lot of distractions. Most people are thinking about the happy couple and you’re just a blip on the landscape until the reception. It’s one of the reasons that I pass onto grooms some advice I first heard from the man Johnny Prime up at Enfield. He tells grooms that the talk their guests will really listen to is his, not the preachers. And so, although the preacher prepares assuming people will listen, it’s the groom’s speech where the gospel work can really be done.
I love this advice and use it liberally myself. But of course we still preach all out. And my 20 minute sermon (“at most,” says Mrs R) needs to do all I’ve described above whilst still being – at heart – a rigorous exposition. That means that prep time is about the same as for a longer more complex passage. It means more illustrations than usual. It means drawing sharp and clear lines of application, even more so than normal. It is a sermon on steroids in other words.