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Question On Reusing Sermons

 

George L. Faull

 

Dear Brother Faull,

 

My preacher sometimes uses his sermons again. Do you think that is right? I heard him preach a sermon a second time that I had heard him give years ago. He was shocked when I told him I had heard it before. He said, "Lady, you have a good memory," and was embarrassed. I think he is lazy.

 

Dear Sister,

 

I have several thoughts on this subject:

 

1.             He should have been as embarrassed as you would be to serve a frozen meal that you had served weeks before. Would you be embarrassed? Does saving a meal in the freezer imply you are lazy or incapable of preparing a new meal?

 

2.             A simple survey of the Gospels will show Jesus often gave the same sermons (compare The Sermon on the Mount to The Sermon on the Plain) and the same illustrations. We know from the context they were different occasions and were heard even by the same disciples. If the Lord, the Master Teacher, did it, I think your preacher is in good company.

 

3.             I know I often do it and I am not embarrassed by it at all. Here is why I do it:

A.            I think if a sermon is worth preaching and hearing once it is worth preaching and hearing again. Some sermons do not need more "fire." They need to be in the fire. But, some are worthy of repeating.

 

B.            Sometimes I am requested to preach a certain sermon over again by members. I get constant requests for "Joe Brown's Funeral" as well as others.

 

C.            Sometimes I need to preach on the very subject of a past sermon due to the needs of the congregation. I preach the same sermon I preached years ago because "If it is not broken, don't fix it." If it was well received and helpful teaching before, then it may be just the tool that is needed now.

 

D.            Having a tape ministry I often preach the same sermon in order to have a new master or a clearer copy of a much requested recording.

 

E.             Sometimes I preach a sermon over with more current illustrations so that the sermon will be relevant to the listener. I have taped sermons where I speak of President Reagan. This "dates" the sermon. People like current material. The truth of the message is there, but needs fresher illustrations from current events.

 

F.             Sometimes time is a factor which requires that an old sermon be used due to funerals, weddings, or hospitalization of Church members coming unexpectedly. You cannot schedule deaths or sicknesses, so you go to the old sermon barrel for Sunday's sermon.

 

G.            Common sense enters into it as well. Why should a sermon barrel with 2,000 sermons in it set unused when the sermons are useful and pertinent? The Gospel is ageless, and the truth of Bible principles does not change. It is ludicrous to labor on new sermons on a subject when you have 5 sermons in the barrel on the same subject that will say what is needed. I just studied a congregation that , in 4 years, lost 60 past members and has 60 new attenders. Churches change so much that sermons do not need to be destroyed.

 

So sister, in my judgment, your criticism is unfounded. I, for one, love to prepare sermons. I've been very blessed because sermons preparation is so easy for me. Some men say they take 15-20 hours to prepare a sermon. I do not ever recall spending that length of time for a sermon. The sermon I preached Sunday evening took me no more than an hour and a half to prepare last week, and it was very well received. A sermon is not good because it is new or old, or how long it took to prepare or how quickly it was prepared, or whether it was an original or a borrowed one. A sermon is good when it is helpful to those who listen. I would not flatter myself to think people would recognize a sermon from years ago, so I repeat it with confidence that it needs to be heard. It is harder, however, to do as good a job the second time but many times you correct mistakes you made the first time. Remember, some of the Proverbs are repeated more than once, as were some of the Psalms and Prophecies. I suggest you not be so critical of your preacher. One does not learn from a preacher of whom they are critical and suspicious. Good audiences make a good preacher , rather than the other way around.