Managing the Manuscripts
Last year when ending our study of 2 Thessalonians, I took a few minutes to explain 2 Thessalonians 3:17 in which Paul wrote, ”The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.” Paul needed to authenticate his letters because there were false teachers that forged letters in his name and claimed they were from him. Paul usually dictated his letters to an amanuensis which was no validation that the handwriting was his. To circumvent this problem and prove he had indeed written the letter, he would write one section in his own handwriting. This would authenticate the letter was truly from him as the addressee would recognize his writing.
I thought about this as I sat down to write this article. Each week I write hundreds and sometimes thousands of words in my own handwriting. I find that pen and paper enable my thoughts to flow more freely rather than staring at a computer screen and tapping them out on a keyboard. In my office closet, there are years’ worth of composition books, page upon page filled with scribbled blue ink. Most of it is illegible (and probably unintelligible) to you.
One day a few years ago, I was thinking of my mortality and getting closer to wondering how to dispose of so much I have accumulated. My oldest daughter Clarissa told me long ago that she wanted all the books in my library. I thought about the closet and the composition books and wondered if I should throw them away or ask her if she would like to have them. She eagerly replied I should not dispose of them because they would be a special remembrance and be valuable to her. I can well relate to this because one of my treasured possessions is a large box of handwritten sermons belonging to my father. Long before computers became the normal method of preserving manuscripts in readable form, my father would write them longhand and place them in a large cardboard box. Each was saved and dated with some having multiple dates because they were preached several times over his long 40-year career of pastoring churches. His handwriting was worse than mine but through years of reading it, I became an expert in hieroglyphics. Most preachers have their own preferred methods of organizing and recognizing their notes as they preach. His was at best difficult, so you will rarely hear me preach one of his sermons. The exception would be some of his notes on the Tabernacle. I considered him the foremost expert in all things Tabernacle, so I could hardly do better than emphasize his understanding of the scriptures.
I have been told numerous times that my preaching is like my dad’s. It is a grand compliment, but I hardly see how this is determined when looking at our notes yields highly dissimilar approaches. There may be a subconscious connection because we both believed preparation is paramount. Never be content to give the people watered down versions of the word or believe the sermons are too far above the crowd’s intelligence to understand. Dumbing down the word just leaves people dumbed down.
These thoughts are on my mind as I contemplate the sermon for this week. Consistency in the presentation of Bible subjects is paramount. Attending the services is also paramount to good understanding of the subjects at hand. Our preaching is usually in series format which requires attendance at nearly all instances of multiple sermon parts to get the comprehensive picture of the current topic. You would not have a complete understanding of nuclear fission if you missed the lecture on atoms! Often the most vital part of the sermon is the one you missed.
Perhaps to get it all, you might want to request the written manuscript. Good luck with that—I give them away because I can’t read them either.
Pastor V. Mark Smith