A Resource for Biblical Preaching
Updated November 2023
After forty-four years as a pastor, I preached well over two thousand sermons (Sundays, Holy Days, weddings, funerals, etc.). Occasionally I have preached what I call an expository sermon. In such a sermon, line by line, I've tried to unpack the meaning of the verses in the day’s text, and sometimes the words in the verses. More than once after preaching such a sermon I was told by someone, “I love it when you preach the Bible.” I would politely smile, but if given the chance, I would reply, “I am not called to preach the Bible; I am called to preach Biblically.”
One of my models for such preaching is Peter in Acts chapter two. Peter did cite many Bible stories in that famous sermon. But one reason that his sermon “cut to the heart” of his hearers is that he allowed himself to be a conduit for God. One of my teachers in seminary once described preaching as “truth passed through personality.” That is one of my goals as a preacher - to get out of the way so that God can meet the hearer and “comfort the afflicted, or afflict the comfortable,” or do whatever needs to be done.
I am also convinced that, notwithstanding persecution, it is more difficult to be a Christian in an English speaking culture, especially the American one, than in any other of which I know.
First of all, as we all know, in addition to being the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave,’ we are a nation that has a history of celebrating the rugged individual. Part of the American dream is that someone can arrive on our shores with two pennies in their pocket and, if they work hard, they can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and make something of themselves. I’m not an enemy of hard work, but it is difficult to connect this to a Gospel that describes the best we can be and the best we can have as a gift called grace.
Add to this difficulty: our language. English is the only language I know in which the second person pronoun is the same in the singular as it is in the plural. In German: du and sie; in French: tu and vous, etc. But in English: you and you or your and your. So it is possible to read passages in the Bible where the speaker or writer used the plural and take it as if it were addressed to me personally. And I believe many people do this on a regular basis.
My favorite example of this is 1st Corinthians 10:13, where Paul says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” I have had more than one person in my office over the years suggesting that God has forgotten the promise made to them, because they were indeed facing more trouble than they had the strength to endure. I tried not to confuse counseling with teaching, but looked for a way to remind them that in that passage, Paul was speaking to a community. The yous in that passage are plural. Paul begs us to be in community, to be connected to others.
A little excursus: Years ago I was at Holden Village and heard Dan Erlander speak about “think withs.” A think with is something you don’t have to think about, you think with it. Here is an example I always use: when reading a novel, you don’t stress over the fact that you’ve gotten to page three in the book and the main character has yet to take a breath. The author assumes you understand she is breathing - you ‘think with’ that fact, not about it.
Erlander suggests that one of the main ‘think withs’ of the entire Bible is community. In the Hebrew Scriptures there is the community called Israel and in the Christian Scriptures there is the community called the Church. Do I have to mention that the phrase “personal Savior” is nowhere to be found in the Bible?
Because of this passage in 1st Corinthians, and many others, I have for many years threatened to do my own English translation of the Bible, which clarifies the difference between the singular and plural. For example:
No testing has overtaken y’all that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let y’all be tested beyond your strength…”
When I shared this with someone who had lived in Louisiana for a time, he explained that y’all is also singular. If you want the plural, you’d say “all y’all.”
So I have decided on a simpler approach. My goal is to present the passages in the three year lectionary with a very simple code. Any time the second person plural pronoun appears in the text, it will appear in bold and be underlined. I hope this will be a useful tool. It may also prove a hypothesis I have had for many years - that the majority of the Bible is addressed to God’s people as community and not as individuals (the Psalms not withstanding). We’ll see.
Series A Texts
Series B Texts
Series C Texts
Thanks for reading.
John Soyster
[email protected]
Saginaw Township, Michigan
November 2023
P.S. Along the way I may have incorrectly marked a ‘you’ here and there. Please let me know if you find any. Also, my Hebrew is not as good as my Greek, so I would especially appreciate your help in correcting any mistakes from the Hebrew Scriptures - or any other errors you encounter. I often rely on the Septuagint for help in determining singular or plural in the Hebrew text.
And please feel free to share this resource.
Updated November 2023
After forty-four years as a pastor, I preached well over two thousand sermons (Sundays, Holy Days, weddings, funerals, etc.). Occasionally I have preached what I call an expository sermon. In such a sermon, line by line, I've tried to unpack the meaning of the verses in the day’s text, and sometimes the words in the verses. More than once after preaching such a sermon I was told by someone, “I love it when you preach the Bible.” I would politely smile, but if given the chance, I would reply, “I am not called to preach the Bible; I am called to preach Biblically.”
One of my models for such preaching is Peter in Acts chapter two. Peter did cite many Bible stories in that famous sermon. But one reason that his sermon “cut to the heart” of his hearers is that he allowed himself to be a conduit for God. One of my teachers in seminary once described preaching as “truth passed through personality.” That is one of my goals as a preacher - to get out of the way so that God can meet the hearer and “comfort the afflicted, or afflict the comfortable,” or do whatever needs to be done.
I am also convinced that, notwithstanding persecution, it is more difficult to be a Christian in an English speaking culture, especially the American one, than in any other of which I know.
First of all, as we all know, in addition to being the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave,’ we are a nation that has a history of celebrating the rugged individual. Part of the American dream is that someone can arrive on our shores with two pennies in their pocket and, if they work hard, they can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and make something of themselves. I’m not an enemy of hard work, but it is difficult to connect this to a Gospel that describes the best we can be and the best we can have as a gift called grace.
Add to this difficulty: our language. English is the only language I know in which the second person pronoun is the same in the singular as it is in the plural. In German: du and sie; in French: tu and vous, etc. But in English: you and you or your and your. So it is possible to read passages in the Bible where the speaker or writer used the plural and take it as if it were addressed to me personally. And I believe many people do this on a regular basis.
My favorite example of this is 1st Corinthians 10:13, where Paul says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” I have had more than one person in my office over the years suggesting that God has forgotten the promise made to them, because they were indeed facing more trouble than they had the strength to endure. I tried not to confuse counseling with teaching, but looked for a way to remind them that in that passage, Paul was speaking to a community. The yous in that passage are plural. Paul begs us to be in community, to be connected to others.
A little excursus: Years ago I was at Holden Village and heard Dan Erlander speak about “think withs.” A think with is something you don’t have to think about, you think with it. Here is an example I always use: when reading a novel, you don’t stress over the fact that you’ve gotten to page three in the book and the main character has yet to take a breath. The author assumes you understand she is breathing - you ‘think with’ that fact, not about it.
Erlander suggests that one of the main ‘think withs’ of the entire Bible is community. In the Hebrew Scriptures there is the community called Israel and in the Christian Scriptures there is the community called the Church. Do I have to mention that the phrase “personal Savior” is nowhere to be found in the Bible?
Because of this passage in 1st Corinthians, and many others, I have for many years threatened to do my own English translation of the Bible, which clarifies the difference between the singular and plural. For example:
No testing has overtaken y’all that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let y’all be tested beyond your strength…”
When I shared this with someone who had lived in Louisiana for a time, he explained that y’all is also singular. If you want the plural, you’d say “all y’all.”
So I have decided on a simpler approach. My goal is to present the passages in the three year lectionary with a very simple code. Any time the second person plural pronoun appears in the text, it will appear in bold and be underlined. I hope this will be a useful tool. It may also prove a hypothesis I have had for many years - that the majority of the Bible is addressed to God’s people as community and not as individuals (the Psalms not withstanding). We’ll see.
Series A Texts
Series B Texts
Series C Texts
Thanks for reading.
John Soyster
[email protected]
Saginaw Township, Michigan
November 2023
P.S. Along the way I may have incorrectly marked a ‘you’ here and there. Please let me know if you find any. Also, my Hebrew is not as good as my Greek, so I would especially appreciate your help in correcting any mistakes from the Hebrew Scriptures - or any other errors you encounter. I often rely on the Septuagint for help in determining singular or plural in the Hebrew text.
And please feel free to share this resource.