Book of the Week No.7

I have had ‘Expounding God’s Word‘ by Alan Stibbs on my shelves for some time, having picked it up at a second hand book shop some years ago. First published in 1960 it’s a small volume (just 112 pages) but packed with insightful comments, observations and teaching.

As I work my way through these books on preaching I am increasingly asking myself what is different and distinctive about this book compared to the others and with Stibbs it has been how in a very few pages he has crammed a great deal of very helpful examples of different ways of handling passages.

He has a chapter on ‘Expounding Narrative’, one on ‘Expounding Short Statements’ and another one entitled ‘Expounding Longer Passages’, and within each he takes several relevant portions of Scripture and in each case makes some general notes about the passage and then gives a helpful suggested exposition with outline and headings.

One particularly unusual feature of this little volume is in the chapter called ‘Getting to Grips with the Task’. Stibbs takes John’s account of Jesus’ first miraculous sign given at Cana and shows how important it is for the preacher to “not only undertake the preparatory work already indicated as necessary, but….to discern what is - for the occasion of ministry which he has in mind - the main thrust or obvious message from God in the passage at which he is working.” (p40) There then follows example sermon outlines showing how that one text could be helpfully preached in 6 different contexts - at a wedding, at a women’s meeting, at a meeting for prayer, at an address to (potential) workers for Christ, preaching to a local congregation or at an evangelistic service.

Stibbs wrote at least two other books on preaching related themes and evidently had a passion for faithful expository ministry and a high view of the calling of the preacher as can be seen in these quotes - “Is there not some dearth in our land of preachers who speak as men who have received words from God which must be declared?” (p23), “The only way for a man fully to get hold of a passage or to get into a passage, is for him to dwell on it long enough for it to get a deep hold on him, and a deep entrance into his being. This involves toil and sweat, thought and prayer, faith and good works, patience and perseverance.” (p36)

Having recently been involved in an ongoing discussion about the irrelevance and unhelpful nature of a great deal of contemporary training for pastoral and preaching ministry in our theological colleges, I was encouraged by these comments by Stibbs, then the Vice Principal of what is now the leading evangelical Anglican training College in England, written nearly 50 years ago. “men being trained as preachers in the theological colleges need to be set free from absorption in the study of the prevailing scientific and historical criticism of the Old Testament (which is for them not only so largely profitless but also so grievously deadening) and encouraged to study the Old Testament with its Christian application and use fully in view.” (p21)