19. Imagination and Biographical Preaching

19. Imagination and Biographical Preaching

Chapter Nineteen

Imagination and Biographical Preaching

According to Harry Farra, the biographical sermon rates highest in effectiveness on the “homiletical grid,” combining the strengths of both biblical exposition and “life-situation” preaching.[1] People like to hear about people, including “Bible people”; and sometimes they’re shocked to discover that Bible people are very much like people today. When you preach about Bible characters, you have the opportunity of making abstract truth concrete and universal principles very personal.[2] The Word becomes flesh and blood, here and now.

The Bible tells the stories of heroes and heroines of the faith who, in spite of their blemishes and blunders, got something done for God. We live in a world in which real heroes are scarce and we have to settle for substitute heroes, such as overrated movie stars and overpaid athletes and rock singers, people who are famous only for being famous and, of course, for being rich.[3] Even some of our favorite heroes of history have been reclassified by revisionist historians so that their achievements don’t shine as gloriously as they once did. So, whether you’re reading a history textbook, a new biography, or Time, you’re probably finding it more and more difficult to discover somebody worthy of admiration, somebody you can call a hero or a heroine.[4]

“Great men make small men aware of their smallness,” writes historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., in a perceptive essay originally published in The Saturday Evening Post. He quotes Emerson’s statement, “We feed on genius. Great men exist that there may be greater men.”[5] In this essay, Schlesinger laments the decline of the hero in society; and he explains why he thinks there’s a scarcity of heroes.

It’s important that preachers hold before their people the unvarnished lives of Bible heroes and heroines and challenge the church to emulate the best that these men and women have to offer. By preaching Bible biography, we have the opportunity of teaching theology, history, and practical godly living all at one time, with the Bible as the textbook. As these ancient characters come alive in each message, our people can learn about themselves, the Bible, and the Lord; and perhaps this will encourage them to take some important steps of faith that will help to make them heroes or heroines in their own personal world.

What are some of the essentials for successful biographical preaching?

Honesty. Too many of us have a tendency to categorize Bible characters as “godly” and “ungodly” and leave it at that. We forget that most of the “godly” people occasionally acted like sinners and that some of the “ungodly” accomplished some good things, although the Lord certainly didn’t agree with their sins.[6] The first essential for effective biographical preaching is to set aside our pious prejudices and homiletical halos, without abandoning our spiritual perceptivity, and to try to see the actors and actresses in the biblical drama as real people. At least, let’s be as honest about them as the Bible is.[7]

Of course, when we examine Bible personalities, we really end up examining ourselves. Perhaps our hesitation at being honest about them suggests that we may not want to be honest about ourselves.[8] Biographical preaching involves both the biography of the preacher’s subject and the autobiography of the subject’s preacher. Columnist Russell Baker wrote, “The biographer’s problem is that he never knows enough. The autobiographer’s problem is that he knows much too much.”[9] When you prepare biographical sermons, you’re looking back at the record of somebody’s life and looking within at your own heart; and this might be a painful experience for some of us.

What we need is the right “spiritual mind-set” as we study the biblical accounts of God’s people. After all, we’re not investigative reporters, looking for some new scandal to expose; nor are we revisionist historians, debunking the past and promoting our novelties. We’re ambassadors of the King, walking through His inspired picture gallery and getting to know some of His choicest subjects, people whose sandals we’re not worthy to carry. We want to get to know these people because they knew God and can teach us a great deal about Him.

Thorough investigation. In her delightful book Biography: The Craft and the Calling, Catherine Drinker Bowen suggests that as researchers do their investigating, they maintain a special file folder labeled “What the reader must know” to remind themselves that what may be clear to the researcher might well be a mystery to others. Into this folder go those extra facts that must be included if the reader (or listener) is to understand what’s going on.[10] In this day of biblical as well as historical illiteracy, the suggestion is a good one. No longer can we assume that everybody in the congregation understands that Abraham came before Moses, or why the Jewish kingdom divided into Israel and Judah, or how Paul got from Jerusalem to Rome.

The need, then, is for thorough investigation so that we not only know the person’s career, as outhned in Scripture, but we also know the historical, political, and cultural context of that career. Of course, we first exhaust the biblical data;[11] but we don’t stop there. Preachers of effective biographical sermons read widely, because they never know what discoveries they will make that will shed new light on an old subject. It isn’t enough just to gather “devotional thoughts” as we study, as important as every spiritual truth might be to our sermon. We must have the facts at our command so that we’re preaching about real people in a real world.

One of the handiest tools for biographical preaching is the copying machine. Some years ago, before preparing a series of radio messages on John the Baptist, I copied out of a harmony of the Gospels all the passages that related to my subject. I then arranged them in chronological order and put them in a binder, with blank pages interleaved. (It would be difficult to do this for every Bible character—Moses or Paul, for instance—but most of the Bible personalities we preach about don’t take up that much space.) This collection of texts was a helpful tool and a great time-saver as I did my research.

What facts are we looking for as we study the life of a Bible personality? Here’s a checklist that might prove helpful.

Suggested Study Guide for Biographical Sermons

As you develop your skills in biographical preaching, you will no doubt add other items to the list; but this will at least get you started.

Insight. Biographical preaching is not the mere recitation of historical facts, with a few “practical applications” dropped in along the way.[12] As we’ve noted before, information must lead to interpretation and illumination. The sanctified imagination looks for relationships among the facts, because relationships reveal patterns; and new patterns help us to discover new truths.

While preparing a series of messages on the life of King Saul, I was struck with the fact that Saul’s spear was often mentioned in the text (1 Sam. 18:10; 19:9-10; 20:33; 22:6; 26:7, 11-12, 16, 22; 2 Sam. 1:6). Apparently he used his spear as his royal scepter; it was a reminder to those around him that Saul was in charge. But the spear didn’t offer him much protection—on at least two occasions, David and his men could have killed the king. Saul couldn’t kill David with the spear; and in the end, it was that same spear that killed Saul! God asks each of us, as He asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?” (Ex. 4:2) All David had was a sling and a stone in his hand when he faced the giant. Shamgar had only an oxgoad (Jud. 3:31), and Gideon and his men had only pitchers and torches; but God gave all of them great victories. It’s not the weapon in your hand, but the integrity of your heart that God honors and uses.[13]

I noticed something else about Saul: his career as king began in the morning, at the dawning of a new day (1 Sam. 9:25—10:1), but it gradually moved into the darkness, both spiritually and literally. Before his death on the battlefield, Saul visited the home of a witch at night and sought for help from the spirit world. I thought of Proverbs 4:18-19—“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.”

As you study the factual data, ask the Lord to give you insight into the spiritual truths that lie behind the facts. One area that is especially important in biographical studies has to do with names. Pay close attention to the meaning of names, the changing of names, or the giving of a nickname.[14] Not every name in the Bible is significant, but many of them carry meanings that are very important.

The name “Judas” comes from “Judah,” which means “praise.” Jesus nicknamed him “the son of perdition” (John 17:12, KJV), and the word translated “perdition” (apoleia) means “waste.” Compare this with Matthew 26:8, where Judas and the other disciples ask, “Why this waste?” It was Judas, not Mary, who was the waster. Judas wasted every spiritual opportunity Jesus gave him, and he defiled everything he touched, including his name. Who today would name a son Judas?

The name Samson means “sunny” or “little sun,” and yet he too ended up in the darkness because spiritually he “walked” in the darkness. For that matter, Judas also ended up in the dark: “As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night” (John 13:30). Saul, Samson, and Judas: three men who ended up in the dark. Is there a pattern here? Nicodemus is identified as “the man who came to Jesus by night” (John 3:2; 7:50), but he ended up at Calvary, identifying himself with Jesus in broad daylight! Is there a lesson here? (John 3:20-21)

We all know that Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, Sarai’s to Sarah, and Simon’s to Peter, or Cephas, “a rock” (John 1:42). But rabbi Saul’s name became Paul, from the Latin paulus meaning “little, small.” The Old Testament Saul stood head and shoulders above his peers, but the New Testament Saul/Paul wasn’t that imposing a figure (2 Cor. 10:10). King Saul ended up a defeated suicide, and the Apostle Paul, a victorious martyr.

Ben-Oni (“son of my sorrow”) was wisely changed by Jacob into Benjamin (“son of my right hand”—Gen. 35:16-18). Esau became Edom (“red”), and Jesus nicknamed James and John “the sons of thunder.” Joses received the nickname “Barnabas, the encourager.” What’s in a name? It all depends on whose name it is!

The interpreter must be on the alert for even the smallest clue that might help open up a rich vein of spiritual wealth. It might be an object (Saul’s spear), or a name (“Barnabas—the encourager”), or the time of day (“And it was night”), or a statement (“Why this waste?”), or an action (Peter pulling out his sword in the garden). Put yourself in the actor’s place and ask, “Would I have said that or done that? If so, why? If not, why not? Why did he/she do it or say it?”

It’s also valuable to trace growth and decline in a person’s life. King Saul started out a humble man, refusing to speak to his family about his kingship and spurning the suggestion that his opponents in Israel be slain. But then he changed, and pride began to rule his life. Pride is the number one sin on God’s hate list (Prov. 6:16-19), and that list describes the sins that are spawned by pride, all of which occurred in Saul’s career. Instead of following heavenly wisdom, Saul listened to the wisdom of this world (James 3:13–4:10).

The references to Proverbs and James that I cited above remind us that a person’s life can sometimes be summarized in a key passage of Scripture. Proverbs 28:13 certainly applies to certain aspects of David’s life: “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” We must be careful, however, not to make human nature so simple that we think we can summarize a person’s whole life in sixteen words or less. The eminent American historian Charles A. Beard refused to write any biographies. “I cannot be sure enough about human character and human motives to write the life of anyone,” he said.[15]

Focus. We must remind ourselves that we’re preaching the biographical sermon in order to help our people personally, not just to better acquaint them with some Bible character. The message isn’t a Bible lecture with the emphasis on content; it’s a word from the Lord with the emphasis on intent. There’s a point we want to get across, and we’ve decided that the best way to do it is to preach about a person. But through whose eyes do we look at this person?

Do we look at Judas from our Lord’s point of view and list all the things Jesus said and did, even up to the Last Supper, to try to rescue him?[16] Or do we look at Judas from Satan’s point of view and watch the man’s moral and spiritual decline? In Matthew 10:4, Judas is paired up with Simon the Zealot; and we assume they went out and ministered together. How would Simon tell the story of Judas?[17] Perhaps we should take the “If-I-had-been-there” point of view and interpret his life from our own perspective. This is an important decision, because it determines the way we select and fashion the material.

The sermon must be focused not only in viewpoint but also in theme. Is Judas a warning against covetousness, or hypocrisy? Do we refer the people to 1 Timothy 6:10, and trace the roots and fruits of Judas’ love of money; or do we quote Matthew 7:21-23 and point out how close hypocrites can come to the kingdom and still be shut out?[18] Perhaps there’s too much territory for us to cover in one message and we should do a brief series of two or three sermons and deal with several aspects of the person’s life. This leads to a fourth essential.

Time. Serious biographers invest years of hard work researching their subjects. They read letters, journals, and books, interview all kinds of people, listen to tapes, watch videos, visit sites important to the subject, and gather as much information as they can from every source available. Obviously, we can’t devote that much time and energy to every biographical sermon, but we do need to give ourselves adequate time for preparation.

For one thing, we have to get to know the people we’re preaching about; and that takes time. I thought I knew John the Baptist until I started working on that series of sermons, and I discovered I didn’t even know what I thought I knew!

Isaiah compared John to a roadbuilder and a herald of the king (Isa. 40:1-5). The Angel Gabriel said that John’s ministry would be like that of Elijah the prophet (Luke 1:11-17). Zechariah saw his son as an evangelist who would rescue sinners and bring to Israel the dawning of a new day (Luke 1:76-79).

But in the life of John the Baptist, the focus is always on the Lord and not on John. Jesus is the bridegroom; John was but the best man at the wedding (John 3:29). Jesus is the Light, but John was only a lamp (John 5:33-35) and a witness to the Light (John 1:6-9). Jesus is the Word, but John was a voice proclaiming God’s message (John 1:23).

Joy seems to be a recurring theme in John’s life. The angel promised that John would bring joy to many, starting with his parents (Luke 1:14). The unborn prophet leaped for joy when he heard Mary’s voice (Luke 1:39-45); and during his adult ministry, John’s greatest joy was to magnify Christ (John 3:27-31).

It takes time to assimilate all this material and to penetrate to the heart of it. It also takes time to discover how it applies to life today. What does John’s birth have to say about answered prayer? What does the infant John say about babies in general and parents in particular? Does God still send us people who live “in the wilderness” and emerge to deliver apocalyptic messages? How would society today respond to a John the Baptist? In what ways do preachers today build roads and prepare the way of the Lord? We need time, not only to find the right answers, but even more, to discover the right questions.

Participation. We dare not make ourselves spectators who merely watch the biblical drama from a distance. As much as possible, we need to enter into the narrative as participants, using our imagination and all our senses to seek to understand what happened. This means feeling the joys and the pains, sensing the confusion, being aware of the conflicts, perceiving the motives, and responding to the decisions. Suppose this plot were occurring today? Who do we know that would be in it? Why would they be in it? If our family or church were involved in a situation like this, what would they do? What would I do? What would God want us to do?[19]

Again, we must be careful not to simply “tell a story” and leave it at that. Granted, there is a way of telling a story that could carry more power than the preaching of a sermon; but some of us don’t have the story-telling gifts of Garrison Keillor, Frederick Buechner, Robert Fulghum, or Walter Wangerin, Jr.[20] It is important that we see the plot in the narrative and deal with it accordingly.

Is the plot a tragedy, in which the good becomes evil? Or is it a comedy, in which failure turns into success?[21] Are the bad people punished and the good people rewarded, or do the good people suffer because of the bad? Do any bad people become good? Are there any heroes in the plot? Do they triumph or are they defeated? All of these questions and more help us understand narrative literature and its message.

Simple narrative is the reporting of an event and is usually chronological, while narrative with a plot is more complex because it involves causes and people with motives and personal aims. Novelist E.M. Forster said that “The king died and the queen died” is a story, but “The king died and then the queen died of grief” is a plot.[22]

Bible people are involved in “life stories” that include other people with desires, motives, and good or bad purposes they want to fulfill. Some Bible people seem to be in control of what’s happening, while others must “roll with the punches” and adjust as well as they can to their circumstances. And above all these people and events, in complete control, sits Almighty God on His throne, working out purposes that the actors in the drama may know nothing about. Even when they rebel against Him, the actors and actresses in the biblical drama still end up playing by the script, whether they realize it or not. What a challenge to the preacher’s imagination! Following is a checklist helpful for narrative and biographical sermon preparation.

A Suggested Guide for Narrative Bible Study

“Even the most unlearned of men knows that the truly important matters of life are those for which we have no words.”

—Chaim Potok

“True creativity often starts where language ends.”

—Arthur Koestler

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”

—Henry David Thoreau

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