In my last update, I announced my intention to write sermons on the various songs associated with Moses in Scripture. So I am committing myself to proclaim and expound not only the messages of Exodus and the Psalms but also those of Deuteronomy and Revelation.

Some Challenges

Deuteronomy and Revelation present a greater challenge, I think, both for me and for the congregation.

The special challenge for me arises as I try to bring to bear the text’s literary, historical, and covenantal/canonical context without obscuring the message in a swirl of technical detail and theological apparatus. This challenge is present with every passage of Scripture, but it can seem insurmountable with those passages that strike present-day Christians as strange, too far outside the usual fare. The felt need to explain can crowd out the calling to proclaim. Compared with Exodus and the Psalms, Deuteronomy and Revelation are relatively unread, and passages in these latter two books seem to demand much more introduction and clarification. The first “practical application” of a sermon from these books is teaching the congregation how to interpret such difficult passages for themselves (and by extension, how to evaluate bogus interpretations; cf. 1 Cor 12.10; 14.29; 1 John 4.1)—most of all, how to interpret them christocentrically.

Ignorance about or unfamiliarity with the passages also presents a special challenge for the congregation. It’s difficult to hear or read an unfamiliar passage and say, “I trust that this passage applies to me.” The thinking makes some sense: “I have never needed the passage in the past. Why would I need it now? Are you saying that my Christian life has been deficient without a candle in this dark corner of Scripture?”

Not Knowing Is Not Growing

I suppose one does have to say that a Christian has a “deficiency” if they are ignorant about or actively ignoring certain parts of Scripture. That is not to say that a Christian who has not read Deuteronomy is less of a Christian, or is less pleasing to God, or some such legalistic nonsense. Knowledge of Scripture does not justify. But for those who have faith, it does sanctify. The Christian life is one of growth “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3.18). And how does one come to grow in the knowledge of Jesus? Well, all Scripture is about Jesus, the Mediator of the covenant of grace that extends over both the Old and the New Testaments (cf. [Westminster] Larger Catechism, QQ. 30–36). Therefore, not to know or not to search all parts of Scripture inhibits a full growth in the knowledge of Jesus—together with a knowledge of the Father and the Spirit (cf. LC, QQ. 5–10).

Simply put, understanding and applying Scripture is one of the primary and basic means of this growth (cf. LC, Q. 154), so the lack of attention to the “hard” parts like Deuteronomy and Revelation entails missing out or even stunting growth.

More extremely, a preference for some passages of Scripture over against other passages is the hallmark of error and heresy. It may be acceptable to have a “favorite verse,” but it is not acceptable to say that one can “do without” an particular part of Scripture. But I leave this matter for another post.

Growing in Knowing

A pastor—let alone a “guest preacher” like myself—can only spend so much time trying to persuade the congregation that Scripture is worth their time. To hear a sermon on a difficult passage of Scripture requires a bit of self-persuasion, a bit of mustering up courage, a bit of digging in the heels of conviction. One has to say, “I who claim to know God am determined to know him more. I am certain that this passage, however unfamiliar it may be, also testifies to God’s excellencies and to Christ’s person and work. I am expecting the Holy Spirit to make good use of his inspired Scripture for my good and God’s glory.” In short, one has to say, “I will be taught by God.”

For my part, the challenge can be rephrased: How can I communicate that God is teaching his people from these unfamiliar passages? How can I clear away the clutter—clutter not from the passage but from the felt strangeness—so that it is easier for the congregation to say, “I will indeed be taught by God”?