Do you ever look back at sermons you’ve preached? If you do, what do you look for?

It’s not realistic to do an autopsy of every sermon (sorry for the negative imagery, but you get the picture!). You preach it, trust the Lord to bless it, and move on. However, occasionally it may be beneficial to spend a few minutes analyzing a sermon you’ve preached. An honest analysis can reveal things to improve.

But what should you look for when you review a past sermon? This is where the Tapestry of Preaching can help. For those new to this series of articles, the first article introduced us to the Tapestry of Preaching. Author David Schmitt compares a sermon to a tapestry, in which four “threads of discourse” are woven together. The four threads:

• textual exposition
• theological confession
• evangelical proclamation
• hearer interpretation

The full “Tapestry of Preaching” essay may be found here; unless otherwise noted, all quotations come from this essay.

First off, there are a few things we should clarify about the Tapestry of Preaching. When I first learned about the Tapestry and its four threads, I mistakenly assumed that each sermon was supposed to be like a pie chart divided into four equal slices: one quarter textual exposition, one quarter theological confession, etc. No! David Schmitt clarifies that using the Tapestry “does not mean a necessary amount of time spent in any one of these sections, as if, at the end of the sermon, the hearers need to have experienced five minutes of each discourse for a sermon to have taken place.” Nor is it intended to be a sermon outline, “as if the sermon must start with textual exposition and then move through theological confession and gospel proclamation to hearer interpretation. Where one begins and how one continues depend upon the text, the life situation of the hearers, and the complexities of the preaching event.” In other words, the Tapestry of Preaching is not a template to make every sermon sound the same.

In fact, the Tapestry can help pastors evaluate their sermons and identify how not to make every sermon sound the same. David Schmitt explains (with my emphasis added):

Faithful preaching is an art: the pastor weaves together four threads of discourse to form a sermon that is based on a text of Scripture, centered in the death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, for the benefit of the hearers in faith and life. These four threads work together to form the event of the sermon. They are not always found in the same proportion or communicated in the same manner. At certain times with certain texts and certain people, certain threads tend to predominate. Yet they are all present and it is through the artful interweaving of these four that the preacher faithfully serves God in the office of preaching. Evaluating one’s sermon, therefore, involves not only identifying these four threads of discourse but also maintaining an artful composition of these four that is appropriate for one’s preaching occasion.

What makes up an “artful composition”? David Schmitt lists four things for preachers to look for and evaluate in their sermons:

1. The first is concrete definition. If I may paraphrase: make sure each part of your sermon embodies one of the threads—rather than being a hodgepodge of all of them—and know which part is which.

One danger facing the preacher is “generic preaching,” when everything he says is so general that listeners can’t recognize why this Sunday’s sermon is different from last Sunday’s. The other danger, though, is “monotonous specificity.” Think of a preacher who has a favorite illustration, story, or doctrine; it’s specific, but it’s the same specific thing that appears too often. Generic preaching and monotonous specificity—I’ve been guilty of both at various times. This is where the Tapestry of Preaching can help. David Schmitt explains how:

Evaluating your sermon for concrete definition means being able to name what portion of the text you are focusing on, what teaching of the faith you are conveying, what the law/gospel dynamics of the sermon are, and what specific aspects of the lives of God’s people you are interpreting. It enables the preacher to be specific about the text, the teaching, the law/gospel dynamics, and the life situation chosen for this people on this day.

2. Second, look for homiletical movement. In other words, keep things moving and don’t get stuck on any one of the four threads. David Schmitt depicts situations I can relate to:

When the sermon remains too long in offering textual exposition, some hearers become frustrated and wonder when the Bible study will be over and the sermon begin. When the sermon remains too long in hearer interpretation, others become frustrated and wonder what the preacher’s family vacation in Montana has to do with the text and the preaching of God’s word.

To be sure, Schmitt notes, sometimes a sermon text or occasion will call for a preacher spending more time in one of the threads (more on this in a moment). That’s okay; remember, the four threads are not meant to be turned into a symmetrical pie chart! But even on those occasions, the preacher will remember not to get stuck on one thread; there are other things he needs to talk about.

3. Third, watch for internal coherence. How and why are you moving from one section of the sermon to the next? The movement from one thread to the other should be purposeful, not random. The preacher plans how and why he moves from one section of the sermon to another, and in some way the movement makes sense.

Simply throwing in a contemporary story, referencing a text, naming a theological teaching, or running to John 3:16 without knowing how they all hold together can confuse one’s hearers. Rather, the preacher considers internal coherence and establishes a purposeful interdependence among the threads of discourse in the composition of the sermon.

This “purposeful interdependence” doesn’t have to be complicated. A thematic sermon, for example, has a coherence that comes from logic. There’s an overarching point in the sermon, and the preacher addresses one facet of that main idea and then another facet. Theological confession or textual exposition may hold center stage in such a sermon, with evangelical proclamation and hearer interpretation woven in at appropriate times. In another sermon, coherence comes from the biblical narrative. The preacher follows the story, expounding the text, teaching related doctrine, proclaiming law and gospel, and interpreting the lives of his hearers in light of it. Or, in the beginning of the sermon the preacher poses a difficult problem or confusing situation; this is the main hearer interpretation section of the sermon. The sermon then answers the question by expounding the text and revealing God’s gospel-centered response to the situation. In this way, inductive movement leads from problem to solution.

4. Finally, evaluate appropriateness to the preaching occasion. In other words, ask, “What unique thing about the time, place, or group of people led me to emphasize what I did in my sermon?”

David Schmitt refers to the example of a sermon on Genesis 18:20-32, Abraham’s praying for Sodom. A pastor may know that several of his listeners are adult confirmands with little knowledge about prayer. While prayer was studied a little in their instruction class, the pastor senses an opportunity on this Sunday (near the end of July, Proper 12C) to teach more about it. So, that becomes the main thread in the sermon: teaching that though we are dust and ashes, the Lord invites us to pray boldly and persistently. Theological confession is the chief thread, and for a reason. Certainly, this teaching will be grounded in law-gospel proclamation (only in Christ can we pray boldly). The narrative of the text will be told and expounded. And of course, the preacher will show listeners what a life of confident praying will look like in their situation. But knowing his hearers, he chooses to focus on theological confession. He then gears his sermon toward the goal of deepening his listeners’ understanding of prayer.

Evaluating the “appropriateness to the preaching occasion” opens our eyes to how we can vary our sermons from week to week for a reason, not just on a whim—or how we can vary our sermons rather than preaching the same way every Sunday:

Using this framework for the evaluation of preaching, the preacher can discern what approaches are appropriate for preaching in reference to his particular preaching occasion. His decision is not based on wanting to try something new this Sunday and it does not mistakenly argue that the best approach is simply to do what he always has done. Instead, the preacher recognizes that the sermon is an event of God’s intervention among the people and his decision is based upon faithful consideration of how God uses these four types of discourse to work through the sermon among people this day.

Try it out! Take out your most recent sermon and spend a few minutes looking for the four elements discussed here. Begin by simply identifying each of the threads of the Tapestry in your sermon and go from there. If you’re brave, do it in a circuit meeting or with a brother. By assessing our own preaching, perhaps using the Tapestry as a tool, we’ll open opportunities to grow and preachers—and to bless our listeners.

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.