An Exercise in Narrative Preaching

Reaching a contemporary audience is an increasingly difficult challenge. We are forced to find ways to make our preaching relevant and engaging. One of the interesting contemporary preaching models is called narrative preaching.  Narrative preaching has different traits than expository or propositional preaching.  They include:

•  The preacher taking an imaginative stance before the text
• The thesis of the sermon being delayed until the middle or the end
• Moments of strategic confusion leading to the resolve at the end

Some preachers might struggle in preaching a narrative sermon because it doesn't have a formulaic skeleton. Narrative preaching doesn't have an opening illustration, three points, and a conclusion.  In fact, the illustrations become the points themselves and the listener is left to fill in the blanks and take away their message without being told what to take away.

Narrative texts are prime candidates for narrative preaching. The story of Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus is a good example. John 3 is a wonderful story that doesn't really have an immediate resolve.  We don't know if Nicodemus accepted the words of Jesus and changed his life, or if he is back to his old ways until we reach the end of John's Gospel (19:39-40).  The story found in John 3 invites us into the conversation, coming to our own personal conclusions to the story. What follows is an example of approaching this text in a narrative way.

The Simple Story of the Gospel

This story starts with an older man who is incredibly intelligent.  He has seen and heard just all that a man in his position can see and hear, and he has great respect with his community.  His life and mind seep with knowledge of spiritual things, so much so that he feels he is above reproach.  Knowledge can do that to a person. He has taught in the same community for so many years he has lost count.  He loves his life, his job, what he stands for. He even loves his name, Nicodemus.

Nicodemus loves to stand in the classroom and teach, but it's a different kind of teaching.  His teaching involves more than knowledge being spoken and the kids taking a test at the end of the semester.  His teaching involves the fine art of keeping people guilty.  Nicodemus knows that in his line of work, the more you can keep people guilty, the more they operate out of fear.  Because of this the Pharisee University and its faculty can stand above their people spiritually and feel better about them.  His group loved to show their holiness by using big words and teaching terms that were confusing and hard to understand.  They didn't do much to clarify their meanings; they would just pile more guilt on the listeners for not understanding.  They were not simple in their teaching; they were complicated and prided themselves on these obscure concepts.

In his free time, he has been reading the papers and surfing the internet reading about a new guy in town.  This guy also has great teaching ability, excessive knowledge about spiritual things, and has created quite a buzz among the locals.  His latest community experience was a scientific miracle.  He changed water into wine on his way to a wedding.  That news spread like wildfire in a dry land and now it was causing this older man and his friends to take notice.

One night, while watching the news, they see that their person of interest has just cleaned out the temple in an unorthodox way.  Since Nicodemus and his friends are all about appearance and external holiness, they smile thinking that maybe this man who comes in the name of the Lord has lost a little bit of creditability with the community.  This is exactly what they were hoping for, even if his actions did have a point. 

The next day in the teacher's lounge, Nicodemus and his friends laugh at the pundits and their commentary about this man who has made his way into their community and tried to make an impact that should remain rightfully theirs.  They encourage one another that this man, named Jesus, has dug his own grave and should no longer be allowed to speak or do any more things in the name of the Lord.  Who does Jesus think he is?  It doesn't matter anyway, because after this episode the people of the community won't let him back into their hearts anyway.

They all breathe a little easier, smile again, and begin to move on with their days.  Jesus was a minor, temporary distraction, but not for much longer. They won't admit that his presence was uncomfortable, but they disclose it in the insecurity of their jokes and impressions of Jesus' temple-clearing rant.  They revealed their uneasiness without really expressing it.

It's late on a cool evening and Nicodemus is out for a stroll.  He is whistling a song that is stuck in his head while his mind is occupied with thoughts from the previous days.  He smiles at the thought of someone else trying to invade their community and be a religious influence.  He laughs through his nose, shakes his head back and forth, and glances up to the lights on a rooftop of the local house.  There, he sees Jesus. 

He slows his walk to a standing crawl, stands next to the house and starts to think about the crazy possibility.  Could he go and talk to Jesus?  Should he?  Oh my goodness, what would people think if they saw him?  "Well, it is dark" he thought.  His thought continued, "Maybe I will go up and introduce myself and act like I am interested in what he says.  That will be an awesome story for the guys tomorrow!"  Motivated more by the story that he would have after the end of the night than the conversation that would take place, Nicodemus heads up to meet Jesus.

His heart was in his throat and his hands were sweaty, but confident in the abilities that had carried him through nerve-wracking times before.  Adrenaline guided his steps to the Savior that night.  He reached his hand out, shook the hand of Jesus and gave him a warm greeting in the form of a question.  "Rabbi," he said, "we know you are a teacher who has come from God.  For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."  Nicodemus heard his opening words leave his mouth, travel through the air, and enter into the mind of Jesus.  It was not the opening question that he would have chosen had he had time to prepare, so he went with the first thing on his mind.  He anticipated Jesus answer not knowing how to respond after.  Should he debate with Jesus, or should he try to play dumb?  After all, out of the faculty there at Pharisee University, Nicodemus was usually the one that made the witty funny comments in meetings.  He has the gift of humor.

Responding to Nicodemus' question, Jesus uses the term "born again."  He is speaking the language that Nicodemus would be familiar with.  Nicodemus hears Jesus say "born again" and feels pressure in his heart and his eyes begin to deepen into his head.  What should he say in response to Jesus' answer?  Choosing to look surprised, he reaches into his humor bag and pulls out a sarcastic remark.  "How can a man be born when he is old?"  Nicodemus asked.  "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"  He was expecting a chuckle out of Jesus, but to no avail.  Jesus continues with his explanation to a sarcastic, smirking Nicodemus who understands his words, yet doesn't want to let on for fear that that might be perceived as submission. 

Jesus sees through the sarcasm as one point and calls him out.  "You are Israel's teacher, and you do not understand these things?"  Its like Jesus is saying, "Who is your boss and how can I get a hold of him?"  Jesus starts to go into his explanation about Moses, his experience in the desert, holding up the snake so that the Son of Man could be lifted up and the result would be eternal life for all who believed.

It is hard to imagine what the look on Nicodemus' face was at this point.  Jesus was not playing his game of rhetoric, nor was he playing to his sarcasm.  Jesus was using an enormous amount of energy, talking with his hands, trying to make it simple for a guy whose life was all about complication and guilt towards others.  The reader can't help but think that Jesus is tired at this point, Nicodemus is frustrated and wondering how he is going to get out of this conversation with Jesus without being affected by His words.

Just then, there is a pause.  Both take a second to breath deep, recollect their composure and start a new stanza of conversation.  Just then, Jesus makes it simple for Nicodemus.  He has to.  Jesus knows that this man's main purpose is to make lives harder to live for God.  So, to the man who lives to complicate, Jesus makes it uncomplicated.  He says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." The gospel...simple. 

The gospel message is a beautiful message. Unfortunately it is Christians who sometimes make it ugly.  We do this in a variety of ways. We refuse to be transparent, or we use big "christianese" words that turn off listeners.  Sometimes, we bury people under guilt to make ourselves feel better, or try to legislate morality while our opportunity to love walks out the door.  An unbelieving world can't latch on to a church (community of people) who are not what they say they are.  The gospel is simple, and we complicate it by our words, actions, and Pharisee attitudes.

As we journey with Christ, we can't forget the simple truth that saved us and still saves the seeker today.  The gospel is simple but often buried in religious rights and attitudes of entitlement.  We lose sight of this over years of service to the Kingdom.  We go from agreeing with Jesus' words about eternal life to having a Nicodemus heart. God is calling us back to the simple grace that saved you and me; the grace and truth of His one and only Son giving us eternal life if we just believe.  It can't get more simple that that.

Principles of Narrative Preaching

Narrative preaching is not just a simple story that we would tell over a lunch meeting. To be effective it must be carefully designed and effectively developed. Here are a some elements in writing a narrative sermon.

Start with the end in mind.

As the preacher, you can't know where to start if you don't know where you are going.  The ending should be the most memorable part of the whole sermon.  Lead people to it in a strategic way that builds until they get to the point of resolve.  This takes time, practice, and a level of trust from your congregation.  If you have tried to deliver a narrative sermon in the past and made it too long, didn't get to the resolve quick enough, arrived at it too fast, or destroyed the ending with tons of words, then you might want to take some time to work on it outside of the pulpit.  You can practice on a day when no one else is in the office or when you have the day alone at home.  There is no need to hide it, all preachers practice.  We have too or else our congregation gets a sloppy presentation.

Have you ever arrived to the end of a sermon and had no idea what to say to close?  Start with the end in mind.

1.  The preacher is the storyteller, but the characters can speak for themselves.

In the example from John 3, Nicodemus' attitude is seen through not only the description of his life and work, but also his words to Jesus and the background of his life.  One word can give it away for Nicodemus...Pharisee.  There are layers of meaning, history, and theology underneath that one word.  Find specifics and include them, but also let the character speak through his actions and reactions.

2.  Use a callback as the resolve. 

A callback is a term used in writing and stand-up comedy that refers to a previous bit or topic that was part of the story and is brought in to the resolve.  A call back can help the script, routine, or sermon come full circle and also bring some closure to the presentation.  For the call back in John 3, Nicodemus was a man who loved to play the guilt card as well as teach above people's heads.  As long as he could keep people guilty, he would be happy and feel better about himself.  What Jesus says to him was a simple message that could carry no works or effort on our part, just belief.  This complicated dilemma was made simple in the grace and plan of an Almighty God.

Narrative preaching isn't the only way to preach effectively. But it is a potentially valuable resource for the contemporary preacher. One style won't reach everyone. And, as Paul said, "By all means - save some."