“Find the main point of the text,” came the instruction from the homiletics professor. Said in a myriad of other ways, “What problem God is fixing? What is the Lord doing to change us this week? What is the malady?” Piece of cake, right? Not so much! In a recent e-exchange, a seminary professor wrote, “I don’t know that this ever becomes easy for preachers—seeking the center of the text, the main issue God is addressing.” I have struggled with this from the first sermon I wrote with my Section 2 classmates (we all were assigned the same text, pigs over the cliff from Mark 5) and still do.

One way to put a finger on the main point of a text is to have a preconceived notion or topic and twist the text like a wax nose so I can talk about what I want to talk about. Another is to go at a text cold with no context other than the nebulous (and perhaps gun-to-the-head) “I-gotta-find-the-main-point-Sunday-is-coming” which may lead to digging for silver in a gold mine. A happier plan is to pursue the big hint offered to the preacher by the church year. I have found great help in the discovery of the main point by keeping in mind how a particular text fits in the Proper, beginning with how a particular Sunday theme, based on the Gospel of the Day, fits into the Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, or Easter series or into a non-festival Proper worship series. Finding the main point of a text still won’t be like spying a shiny silver dollar sparkling on a black marble floor, but I’m well on my way to putting my finger on it when I grasp the theme of the day, find how the first and second readings support the Gospel of the Day, and put on my meditating cap. Then, sure enough! There it is!

Can there be variations on the main point? Sure! At times, will a different preacher uncover a different main point? Sure! But more often than not, by using the Proper and pericopic preaching, a Christo-centric, text-based main point will emerge that is on target and ready for sermonic development.

So, where to start? Use The Foundation resources (keep in mind that one of those resources is the Preacher Podcast) and track the series theme for the season or for that portion of the non-festival half of the church year. Preachers a lot smarter than I have spent a good deal of time thinking about the Gospel of the Day and how it fits with the current church year’s seasonal series or the non-festival half of the church year’s mini-series. From the series theme, zoom in on the theme of the day. Study the reading summary lines. Try to put the Sunday theme paragraph in your own words. Do the same with the reading summary lines. If preaching a first or second reading, note its connection with the Gospel of the Day. Read and re-read in English the text you have chosen. Think. Pray. Ask, “What is God telling me that he is doing to me this week? What will he be doing to the listeners of this sermon?” Then dive into the original of the text you have chosen. Take notes. You’ll find color and flavor. You’ll be putting meat on the bone of the main point. You’ll begin to flesh out the circulatory system around the heart of the sermon. You’ll not only be developing the sub-points that support the main point but solidifying in your heart and mind (and eventually conveying to your fingers on the keyboard) what the main point is.

How about some examples?

• Proper 10 C (July 10-16). The theme of the day and summary paragraph: A neighbor in need … We imitate the Lord’s love for us by coming to the aid of those in need no matter who they are. The theme of the day is obviously derived from the Gospel of the Day, Luke 10:25-37. It drove me to the main point, “Who is my neighbor?” and led to a sermon theme, “What’s the Big Deal About a Neighbor?” If preaching on the first reading, Ruth 1:1-19a, would not the main point, guided by the theme of the day, be the faithful service echoing through the centuries with Ruth’s, “Where you go I will go … and your God will be my God”? If preaching the second reading, Galatians 5:1,13-25, would not the main point, guided by the theme of the day, jump from your Bible’s page, “Love your neighbor as yourself” with all its law-hammer horrors and Jesus-life promise and power?
• Proper 16 C (August 21-27). The theme of the day and summary paragraph: The door is very narrow … Jesus’ followers believe that only faith in the Savior will enable people to enter the gate that leads to eternal life with God. Based on the “narrow door” of the Gospel, the main point—Jesus is the only way. While the good news of God’s love is inclusive of all, the way is exclusive in Jesus. The second reading, Hebrews 12:18-24, supports that with a contrast between the mountain of fear and mountain of joy. I chose to preach on the first reading, Isaiah 66:18-24. With the exclusivity of the theme of the day in mind, I zeroed in on that with the text’s tale of our need for God’s love, the proclamation of that love for all, and then the exclusivity of his love as the only way to the new Jerusalem.
• Proper 19 C (September 11-17). The theme of the day and summary paragraph: The lost are found … Jesus encourages us to imitate the intensity of a shepherd searching for a lost sheep or a woman searching for a lost coin—both pictures of his passion for the lost. I chose to preach on a portion of the Gospel, Luke 15:8-10, with its main point and encouragement to reclaim the lost. Had I preached on the first reading, Hosea 3:1-5, or the second reading, 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, the theme of the day, “the lost are found,” would have guided me to the main point of either one—“Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites”; “What I have forgiven … I have forgiven in the sight of Christ.”
• Proper 22 C (October 2-8). The theme of the day and summary paragraph: Increased faith increases duty … “You are not your own; you were bought with a price.” We live with Jesus not in a spiritual democracy, but in a benevolent monarchy: Jesus is the loving master, and we are his servants. The theme of the day helped pinpoint the last line of the Gospel of the Day as the main point, “We have only done our duty.” Under that theme, the main point of the first reading, 1 Chronicles 29:1-2,10-18, blossoms with David’s gorgeous prayer, “We have given you only what comes from your hand.” I chose to preach on the second reading, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5,11-12. From the theme of the day, the main point related to “service” and “duty” emerged with its tender description of selfless service (and, in the case of the Thessalonians, under duress.)

I realize that we all have different gifts and certainly different gifts and styles of preaching, but thanks for tuning in to another bit of encouragement from one preacher to another as you enjoy the humble privilege of preaching … for Jesus’ sake and in his name.

This article in Devote Yourself was contributed by the team that previously created and distributed Preach the Word. View past preaching-related articles at worship.welsrc.net/downloads-worship/preach-the-word.