Over the course of my years in ministry, I have had the privilege and blessing to help teach others in formal and informal settings about how to write and deliver sermons. Whenever I do so, I am careful to note that I am by no means an expert or a master at it. Rather, I am simply one who has spent time thinking and learning about it myself through my personal experiences doing it and the various resources (e.g., books, classes, podcasts, articles) that I have been able to explore over the years; most of the ideas I pass along to others are the preacher that I want to be, not necessarily the preacher that I am today.
I’m not sure, however, how often I have sought to help others think through how to listen to a sermon. That is somewhat ironic in that there are more people each week listening to sermons than there are delivering sermons and that every Christian – including those of us who preach on a regular basis – will listen to many sermons in their lifetime. I suspect most of us have been taught certain skills to become better listeners in everyday conversations, and I am sure that many of those same skills will help you listen to a preacher as well. However, there may also be some distinctive or maybe even unique traits we should have to be good listeners to sermons.
There is a passage in Scripture in which we read about people listening to a sermon that I think can help us think through how we should listen to a sermon. That passage is Nehemiah 8, when we see the people of God gather together after the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusaelm to hear Ezra and others read the law of God and then “translate” it and “give meaning” to it so that “people could understand what was read.” (8:8). While it doesn’t say that they preached sermons, it does sound a lot like what happens in a sermon! As I reflected on this passage, I found three qualities that I think we should have when we are listening to sermons.
Eagerness
The first quality that I saw in this text that I think we too should have is that of eagerness. The chapter begins by noting that the people asked Ezra to bring the book of the law and then he read from it – from daybreak to noon! (8:1-2). It does not appear that Ezra was the instigator of this reading but rather it was the people; they wanted to hear God’s Word read. Part of this might have been that they would not have been able to read it on their own like we can, but I think it also shows the fact that the people want to hear what God has to say. The preacher shouldn’t need to beg for the people’s attention but rather the people of God should be looking forward to the reading and preaching of God’s Word. This eagerness should be not only to listen but also to apply to our lives as well. A related idea to this concept of eagerness is that of expectancy, that we anticipate that there will be something important and useful for us to hear whenever God’s Word is read and taught.
Reverence
We also see in this account that the people stood as the book of the law was read (8:5), something that I think points to the reverence that they had for God’s Word. There are many times in our world in which we are invited to stand in honor – for the national anthem at sporting events, out of respect for the judge in the courtroom, for the bride on her special day, etc. Therefore, a custom in many churches over the years is to stand when the Bible is read in a worship service before the pastor gives a sermon on it. I think this is a helpful and useful practice but not a direct command of God (there is no “thou shalt stand” passage). Regardless of whether one physically stands, I think this reveals a posture of seeing the reading and preaching of God’s Word as a special moment, a holy moment. This moment is different from a lecture that we might hear from an expert or classroom teacher and thus we come not only with a desire to listen to the words but also a respect for the One who gave them to us.
Submission
A little later in Nehemiah 8, we see that the people said, “Amen, Amen!” and then “knelt low and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground” (8:6). This response shows that hearing God’s Word should be an act of worship and not just an intellectual exercise; we do not have worship and then a sermon but rather worship through song and worship through the Scripture! Related to this is the fact that the sermon should lead us to think about and respond to God and not the person; they did not say, “how great a speaker Ezra is” but rather “how great God is.” Not only were they in awe of God as they bowed their heads, they showed that they were in agreement with what God was saying, as “Amen” essentially means “I agree” and “that is true.”
I need to be careful here to note that I am not saying that everything a given preacher says is always correct and helpful. We are human messengers and everything that we say should be checked back to make sure it matches and reflects what is found in Scripture (with the Beresas providing a great model of this in Acts 17:11 when the Apostle Paul preached to them). However, I think this is a great reminder that the sermon should be able to call into question our previous ideas, thoughts, and opinions; if we come into an idea that we do not like or might disagree with, we need to go back to Scripture to see if our ideas and thoughts might be out of alignment with God’s Word. If a preacher is never saying anything that you find challenging, we should be a little surprised as God’s Word is given to correct and rebuke us. The lack of challenge may be a sign that we are practicing “selective hearing” of the message or have placed ourselves in an echo chamber in which we are only around people who agree with us about everything – or if the preacher is caving into the danger of speaking about what people want to hear rather than what is true.
Final Thoughts
These three traits are by no means the only ones that someone needs to have when listening to a sermon. However, I suspect that these three traits are essential ones when it comes to listening to a sermon well and that possessing them will enable you to benefit from a sermon even when it is not well-prepared or well-delivered. Furthermore, you could listen to a sermon that is well-crafted and well-communicated and take tons of notes, but if you don’t have these traits of eagerness, reverence, and submission, I am not sure if you have really listened well to the sermon you have heard.
Similar to the thoughts I give to preachers, the thoughts I give here may be more aspirational than actual in my life at the moment, as I confess that at times I listen to sermons in the spirit of professional development – trying to glean new insights about preaching or the Bible – or in the spirit of a teacher – evaluating it through a mental rubric – rather than with eagerness to hear from God, reverence at the power and graciousness of His Word, and in submission to what I hear. At times my mind wonders when I listen (especially if I am listening to a podcast while doing something else). But I found these traits and this passage a great reminder of what it takes to be a good sermon listener. Let us all not just hear the sermon with our ears, but listen to it with our heart and soul.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Bible translations are from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers.
