Some Rules for Sacred Speech
17 Things to Think about Before You Deliver a Sermon, Holy Talk, or Devotion
I have been instructed, coached, and taught how to preach and teach by many mentors over the years. Along the way, I’ve gathered a host of meaningful “rules” for sacred speech. One I have gotten a great deal of mileage from is this: never make yourself the hero of your stories, illustrations, or points.
Not long ago, my thirteen-year-old daughter heard a speaker. When I asked about her impressions, she admitted she was put off by the message—precisely because the male speaker cast himself as the hero. Worse still, the story climaxed with his good deed “saving a woman’s soul.” My daughter couldn’t articulate all her feelings, but she was clearly alienated at that moment. Her instinct was right: stories framed around the preacher’s heroism rarely edify.
Another valuable maxim I’ve carried with me concerns storytelling itself: “Don’t just re-tell the story—re-live it. Let me see what you see.” I can still hear a mentor’s voice saying this. Stories should never serve as throwaway anecdotes. If you use one, let it be more than a point. Let it offer an experience. That principle has shaped me profoundly.
But are these “rules,” or are they simply pointers? I’m not sure what exactly qualifies something as a rule. Still, whatever we call this genre of codes, maxims, and guidelines, I am drawn to it. Significant ideas, expressed with economy of words, carry clarity and weight. Their apparent simplicity does not cheapen their depth; it sharpens it.
What follows, then, is a series of “rules” I would commend to preachers, homilists, and teachers in our time—a time marked by church decline and secularity’s endless buffet of meaning-making options.
1. Listen, Listen, Listen. Listening is the greatest tool in communication. As a communicator of sacred truths, one must first listen to God and the sacred texts. One must also listen to the needs of the community and the world. All this listening must happen long before the pen touches paper. Even during delivery, the speaker benefits from listening—attending to the Spirit’s leading and the congregation’s responses, making sensitive adjustments in real time. Listening is the superpower of communicators of all kinds. For me, listening is so important, I will often refrain from scrolling on my phone while alone at a restaurant or in a waiting room. By listening and observing, I find myself picking up bits of conversation, and interesting behavior—all of it is ripe for storytelling and illustration material.
2. Allow Space. Breathe. Practice the Sacred Pause. Reflection is rarely built into our schedules, even in church. Messages are often delivered and immediately followed by the net item on the agenda. Congregants rarely sit in silence afterward, pondering the message; more often, they are discussing dinner plans or sports schedules. Creating reflective pauses in worship gives the congregation time to let the message sink in. Such moments also support mental health—a rare gift in today’s fast-paced culture.
A colleague in contemporary evangelical circles once dismissed silence in worship as a “death-nail,” insisting that services must be scripted to the minute. I suggested that planned, intentional silence differs from accidental silence—and in my experience, it does. Before preaching, I often invite the congregation to take a few cleansing breaths, grounding both mind and body. This prepares them to receive the message—and helps me inhabit the space to deliver it.
3. Summarize Each Message with an Aphorism. Your aphorism might serve as your message’s “big idea,” a guiding principle, or even your closing line. Its placement is flexible; what matters is the clarity it brings. Crafting an aphorism forces the speaker to understand the core meaning of their message. For the listener, it provides a memorable takeaway. Aphorisms function like poetry, riddles, or songs—windows of meaning through which light can enter.
4. Avoid Third-Person Plural Where Possible. Using “they” to refer to groups risks demonization and othering. This is especially dangerous when the groups exist in the present—political, racial, ethnic, or religious. Respectfully naming people, rather than reducing them to a collective “they,” preserves dignity and avoids diminishing entire communities.
5. Let Your Scholarship Fade into the Background. Public speaking carries the temptation to prove intelligence through extensive research. Intellectual honesty demands acknowledgment of sources, but the preacher should avoid letting scholarship overshadow clarity. Mentioning Greek word origins or etymology without purpose becomes a gimmick. Instead, let your deep study inform your teaching quietly. Scholarship is the foundation, not the centerpiece; it should support understanding, not obscure it.
6. Let the Text Be the Text; Don’t Demythologize. Historical-critical methods and Bultmannian demythologizing have value, but biblical texts have purposes beyond the historian’s lens. Allow them to speak in the ways they were written. Let the text live, breathe, and convey its own power. That is where the magic happens. I never told my children a fable or parable and then spent the whole time applying the historical-critical method or “literalistically” explained metaphors—the whole purpose is lost. I avoid explaining jokes too, for that matter. Let the text be the text, its purpose is self-evident.
7. Avoid Ideological Preaching. Ideology presumes assumptions no longer debated but simply accepted. Preachers risk framing the Gospel as inherently “conservative” or “progressive,” reinforcing polarized thinking. Sacred speech should transcend such constraints, cutting through ideological silos and offering the congregation a vision beyond narrow, partisan lenses.
8. Let Your Message Flow Like Music. I rarely use notes or manuscripts. Instead, I know the beats I want to hit, the stories to tell, and the big idea. The way I move from beat to beat is extemporaneous, guided by the congregation, the space, and, I hope, the Spirit. Consider your sermon like music, with moments of legato, staccato, crescendo, and decrescendo. The message should be felt as much as it is heard.
9. Move with the Audience in Mind. Gestures, posture, and stage movement can reinforce meaning. Symbolic movement—walking from one side of the chancel to the other as the story of scripture unfolds—can subtly illustrate narrative progression without overt explanation. Audience-centered movement enhances comprehension and connection.
10. Use Silence Wisely. Silence is sacred space. It allows the point to land, invites reflection, and can heighten drama. But misuse it as manipulation undermines trust and holiness. Avoid coercive pauses that shame or intimidate; instead, let silence serve as a vessel for contemplation and presence.
11. Everything Is Study. Sacred communication demands constant engagement with texts, theology, culture, human development, and daily life. Stories, jokes, historical references, statistics, or anecdotes may all serve as illustration. Sources of inspiration are everywhere: literature, films, conversations, sports, media—life itself is a classroom for sermon material.
12. Exegete the Human Condition. Knowledge of scripture or tradition alone is insufficient. Understanding the human experience—what motivates, troubles, and excites people today—makes preaching relevant and meaningful. Study contemporary life as deeply as the text itself.
13. Study with the Saints of Old. The ancients were brilliant and creative. Beyond presentism, we can discover insight and wisdom from past thinkers, leaders, and exegetes. Their perspectives illuminate human nature and provide a lens for understanding today’s challenges.
14. Be Positive Whenever Possible. The Gospel is easier to describe negatively—what it is not—but strive to offer positive examples. Avoid saccharine cheerfulness or toxic positivity; instead, provide generative ideas, hope-filled examples, and illustrations that inspire transformation.
15. Acknowledge the Sacredness of Your Audience. I learned from Fred Rogers the power of recognizing the sacredness of those who listen. Bowing at the beginning of a talk or sermon sets a tone of care and responsibility. Honor the dignity of your listeners—they are entrusted to you for that time.
16. Major in Proleptic Speech and Imagery. Christian faith anticipates the hope of the future by bringing its reality into the present. Preachers must use language and imagery that embodies this proleptic vision, showing how the Gospel transforms here and now.
17. Do not dichotomize the body and soul. Preach an integrated life. Honor the inner life of people, but always connect it to their outer and public world. Honor the body. We do not merely have souls—we are souls. We do not merely have bodies—we are bodies. Resist the temptation to oversimplify through dualism or reductionism. When we do, we end up prioritizing the soul or inner life at the expense of the body, other bodies, and ultimately the created order itself. There is profound richness in exploring spirituality through the lens of the body—through somatic expression, physicality, and embodiment. Don’t miss that richness.