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What shape should a sermon from an Old Testament narrative take? Homiletician Sidney Greidanus says, " The most appropriate form for a sermon on a narrative text is, not surprisingly, the narrative form. " However, like ice skating, shaping a sermon according to its story line is not as easy as it looks.

This sermon clinic evaluates the form of the narrative sermon " No Selective Obedience, " on 1 Samuel 15:1-35. Discussing what the preacher did or did not do will expose the elements of an effective form for a sermon from an Old Testament narrative.

Strengths

1. Follows the flow of the story.
While this seems like a given, many sermons on Old Testament narrative texts do not take their shape from the contours of the story line. Good story sermon form tracks not only the sequence of events but, more importantly, the crisis-resolution flow of the events. This sermon develops the crisisSaul's disobedienceand then the resolutionGod's rejection of Saul. Peachers who fall prey to the list-of-principles approach might be tempted to structure the sermon around " four marks of disobedience " or " three causes of disobedience. " To its credit, this sermon does not obscure the crisis-resolution development of the story with this tactic. While it does more than retell the story, it does not do less than that.

2. Avoids creating an artificial outline.
It may seem strange to give this sermon points for what it does not do, but too many sermons on Old Testament narratives stifle the flow of the sermon by opting for a captioned survey (analytical outline) approach.

For example, a preacher might present the following main points for a sermon on 1 Samuel 15:1-35:

I. The Fact of Saul's Disobedience
II. The Cause of Saul's Disobedience
III. The Results of Saul's Disobedience

These points actually reflect the flow of content in the 1 Samuel 15 story, but they dissect the story into pieces and drain away its energy. This sermon wisely refrains from such an approach.

3. Uses questions to transition into the ideas developed in the story.
Questions are your friends. By raising a key question, you can point your listener towards an idea in the text without compromising the subtlety that makes stories appealing. Stories by nature communicate their ideas indirectly rather than directly. Raising a question will point the listener in the right direction without saying, " Now in case you missed what this story is saying, let me state the point for you. "

This sermon moves into the text by asking, " What is the responsibility of someone who is on a mission from God? " The text will show us that God rates obedience higher than religious ritual. Later, after reading verse 25, the preacher asks, " If anything short of full obedience is disobedience and rebellion, what do we do? At some point we have all rejected God. What do we do? " Now, I'm not convinced this is the best question to introduce the final episode in the story. I think the question should be " What happens when we reject God? " Still, the preacher's instincts are right here. Ask a question to guide the listener through the events to the idea.

Suggestions for Improvement

1. Reflect a clearer flow of the story's ideas that lead up to the big idea.
Many stories, including this one, communicate their big ideas inductively rather than deductively. In an inductive approach, the preacher takes the listeners on a journey towards an unknown destination (idea). In a deductive approach, the preacher announces the destination (idea) up front. While this makes for clarity, it lowers the interest level. This sermon on 1 Samuel 15 develops inductively, yet it seems to lose momentum at the end because its big idea does not emerge clearly.

To make the sermon clearer, I would outline it as follows:

I. God rates obedience to his voice higher than religious ritual (1 Samuel 15:1-23)
II. The reason we struggle with obedience is our tendency to listen to other voices (1 Samuel 15:24)
III. (Big Idea) The result of rejecting God's voice is God's rejection of you (1 Samuel 15:25-35)

You do not have to state these points verbatim. You certainly do not want to say, " All right, point number one is... " Rather, these ideas should emerge after working through the events in these sections of the story.

Again, using questions to transition into these sections of the story will point your listeners to these points. You could set up verses 1-23 by asking, " What is God asking you to do? That is, what does he want from you when he sends you on a mission? " Then, to transition into verse 24, you could say: " Even though we know that obedience is more important to God than religious ritual, we have this tendency to disobey. Why don't we obey God? If it's so obvious that God wants obedience, then why don't we do it? " Finally, to introduce the idea in verses 25-35, you might ask, " What happens when we don't obey God? What is the consequence for rejecting God's voice? "

This sermon also needs transitions to weave together the preacher's comments and the reading of the story. As it now stands, the move from comment to the reading of another section of the story is too abrupt. The preacher needs to do more than announce, " Verse 13. " Otherwise the sermon sounds like a running commentary on the text.

2. Play up the tension points.
Tension is another friend of storytellers. Keeping listeners in suspense keeps them listening. So plan to play up tension rather than downplaying it. This is the purpose of the questions just listed. They serve to keep the listener thinking in the right direction while maintaining the tension that holds the listener's interest.

However, creating tension requires more than a single question. Let's return to the initial question in the sermon. The preacher asked, " What is the responsibility of someone who is on a mission from God? How should we respond? " To play up the tension inherent in these questions, the preacher might expand the transition like this: " What is the responsibility of someone who is on a mission from God? Whenever you have to answer to somebody, you want to know exactly what he or she expects from you. You want to know what the bottom line really is. Players want this from coaches. Students want this from teachers. Children want this from parents. And you want it from God. What's really most important to God about the way you live your life? What does God really expect of you?

3. Clearly deliver the promised list.
After all I've said about indirection and subtlety, there is a time for stating your material in a direct fashioneven to the point of enumerating your points! The time is whenever you promise a list.

Before moving into the dialogue between Samuel and Saul, the sermon promises that the listener " will see several of the characteristics that got Saul in trouble. " I picked a few of these out as I read the sermon: seeking his own honor, rationalization, and fearing the people. However, I'm not sure if I got them all. This also happens at the end of the sermon when the preacher says, " This story intersects with our lives in two primary ways. " However, I had trouble picking out the two separate items.

Whenever you promise a list of characteristics, reasons, obstacles, or whatever, make sure you deliver them directly.

Steve Mathewson is senior pastor of CrossLife Evangelical Free Church in Libertyville, lllinois. He is also director of the doctor of ministry program at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon.