“Wa-a-a-a-a-eow-oul!” 

A loud cry outside the room pierced the assembled silence midway through my sermon introduction.

I was flustered, but somehow managed to gather myself and pressed on with the rest of the sermon.

Yes, the sermon wasn’t a “real” one. It was delivered to classmates and an instructor in a preaching practicum. But it was still one of the very first times I had preached. Nothing in my previous experience or reading had prepared me for this situation: Loud caterwauling from a cat in heat.

This happened more than two decades ago, but I remember it vividly. In recent years, I have reflected on it not so much as an amusing story (or sermon illustration?), but as a parable for certain dynamics in the act of preaching.

It seems to me that preaching is mysteriously contingent. I can study and practice to prepare myself to preach, but there are other factors at play for preaching to work. 

What preaching is supposed to do

Allow me to use the description of preaching by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a renowned preacher from the last century, to make some observations about these “other factors”:

“Any true definition of preaching must say that that man is there to deliver the message of God, a message from God to those people. If you prefer the language of Paul, he is ‘an ambassador for Christ’.

“That is what he is. He has been sent, he is a commissioned person, and he is standing there as the mouthpiece of God and of Christ to address these people.

“In other words he is not there merely to talk to them, he is not there to entertain them. He is there – and I want to emphasise this – to do something to those people; he is there to produce results of various kinds, he is there to influence people. He is not merely to influence a part of them; he is not only to influence their minds, not only their emotions, or merely to bring pressure to bear upon their wills and to induce them to some kind of activity. He is there to deal with the whole person; and his preaching is meant to affect the whole person at the very centre of life.

“Preaching should make such a difference to a man who is listening that he is never the same again. Preaching, in other words, is a transaction between the preacher and the listener. It does something for the soul of man, for the whole of the person, the entire man; it deals with him in a vital and radical manner.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers.

“Preaching should make such a difference to a man who is listening that he is never the same again,” wrote Martin Lloyd-Jones.

Two points from Lloyd-Jones stand out:  

1. Preaching is not just between the preacher and the congregation; it also involves God.

God is speaking to his people, and the preacher is there as a spokesperson for him. What this implies is that the preacher does not speak for himself or herself, and that preaching is indeed a spiritual encounter with God.

So, while sound exegesis (Scripture), mature reflection on the teaching of the church (tradition), and a certain pastoral sensitivity to our present life (human condition, culture and society) are irreducible pre-requisites, preaching is still more than that.

There is the living God who speaks through his Word by his Spirit, and that is a personal encounter. This personal encounter with God is one of these “other factors at play” in preaching. 

2. Preaching is not just information, but influence; it doesn’t just affect the mind, but the whole of the person.

Preaching is not less than providing information, and preaching can sometimes be entertaining, but preaching is not primarily or merely for increasing knowledge. The final goal of that knowledge is to make a difference in the listeners’ entire lives.

Much of seminary education for preaching is directed towards the cognitive aspects, such as how to handle Scripture and theology responsibly, and how to read the inner life and surrounding culture accurately. Or it is directed towards good technique, like crafting a logical flow and outline, the effective use of rhetoric such as internal dialogue or humour or surprise or memorable aphorisms or stories. All these are helpful. Good preaching cannot do without them.

But over the years it seems to me that the life and conviction of a person is one of the best ways to influence another person. Philips Brooks, another preacher from an earlier era, speaks of preaching as “the communication of truth through personality.”

That rings true for me. I find myself drawn to listen certain other preachers because I can see and hear that the Gospel of Jesus Christ excites them, and that it is the most important thing in the world to them. This personal encounter with one another’s lives is another one of these “other factors at play” in preaching.

This implies that, for the growth of a preacher, what is needed in addition to study and practice, are other good preachers to follow – preachers who we can clearly see and hear are excited for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and are so filled with God’s Spirit they speak with God’s authority and love. And then we follow them as they follow Christ, to use language the language of Paul (1 Cor 11:1). We learn from them.  

I now realise that two decades ago, I was doing this, even if I could not describe as such at the time. In those pre-Internet days, I was among a group of friends who, for a season, sat around a cassette player listening to recorded sermons of Dr Lloyd-Jones.

Some of us even imitated his speech mannerisms in our own sermons (“The text to which I wish to draw your attention to this morning, is taken from …”). But that’s another (embarrassing) story and I’m glad to report that we stopped copying slavishly in that way. God wants to work through your personality in your preaching, not someone else’s.

How do deal with inconvenient cats (and other distractions)

And what about the class that I took, with the inconvenient cat? My instructor that day was Pastor Edmund Chan, now Founder and Leadership Mentor of the Global Alliance of Intentional Disciple Making Churches. After my sermon, Ps Ed took the whole class through some helpful advice on what he would do if he encountered a situation like mine.

To remain steadfast and undistracted during preaching requires the preacher to have studied the Word and internalised his message, notes the author.

Here I am paraphrasing from memory after decades: 

“The sound is there, everybody has heard it, there’s no point ignoring it or pretending it’s not there. Otherwise, there’s a sense of pretence or unreality over the whole situation. So, acknowledge it. But be mindful if you show anger or annoyance, for what truth is then being communicated through your personality? Find a way to use the interruption to point back to the sermon.”

This, of course, implies that the preacher has inhabited the Scripture text and every part of the sermon, to such an extent that the preacher is utterly in tune with what God is saying through him or her at this particular point. 

I initially thought I’d taken this class to learn the mechanics of preaching, the “tricks of the trade”, so to speak. I did learn some of that.

But I then realised that more than that, I was there because I had seen and heard Ps Ed preach, and I could sense from him that deep study and fervent prayer had taken place, and that the Gospel was the most important thing in the world.

I can’t remember what grade I got from Ps Ed, but that’s not really the point, is it? 

BGST will be organising a one-day Preaching Masterclass conducted by Rev Edmund Chan on July 5, 2025.  Rev Edmund will unpack how we can help others get into the Word with effective preaching. Register with BGST at bg.st/PMC.  Early bird pricing ends May 30, 2025.

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