For good reason, young beginning pastors do not take the standard old texts for their first sermons. Few feel qualified to produce a full sermon on such subjects as:

John 3:16. The Golden Rule (Matt. 7:12). Salvation by faith (Eph. 2:8-9). Love one another (John 13:34-35). Forgiveness. The home. Kindness.

That's why beginning preachers almost always gravitate to the exotic texts. They find those strange little metaphors, unusual verses, and unfamiliar images and shed light on them.

Perhaps it's easier to get their minds around such, I don't know. One of my first sermons was suggested by "a house in a cucumber patch," from Isaiah 1:8. That image had brought to mind an old bungalow where some relatives of ours used to live far out in the country, but which was later abandoned and soon completely covered by kudzu vines. Eventually, a massive mound of green vines stood there, hiding what used to be a house. What point my sermon made from that has long been forgotten.

Why didn't I preach on grander (and safer?) subjects like the Incarnation of Jesus, His miracles, His amazing teachings and sinless life, and of course, His death, burial and resurrection?  Answer: Any of those subjects would be so huge, and I felt so small.

I could no more preach a full-length sermon on John 3:16 than swim the Atlantic.

Recently, someone sought my input for an upcoming sermon on the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do to you." The pastor had had a demanding week, and his study time was rapidly getting away from him. He wondered if I could give him a push in some direction with a story or an insight.

My wife said, "No wonder it's so hard to preach on that. Everyone knows it, so it's boring."

Leave it to her.

That's the truth, of course. And it's the very reason we preachers find it difficult to come up with a sermon on such a subject.

The saying that "familiarity breeds contempt" carries a great deal of truth, although we're not suggesting familiar texts and well-known truths are anything less than the inspired Word of God. They simply become commonplace from universal acceptance.

Announce to your people that your next sermon will be "The Golden Rule" or "John 3:16" and watch all but the most determined or least imaginative find reasons to be out of town that day.

Complicating this is that the preacher himself may find such texts and subjects unchallenging and even boring. They're not, of course. The problem is not with John 3:16, one of the most amazing statements of heaven's truth to planet Earth imaginable.

The problem is with us.

1. The pastor needs to give himself plenty of time to prepare such a sermon.  If he begins preparing on Friday for Sunday's sermon, we can almost guarantee the result will be shallow, inferior and unworthy of such a great teaching.

The Holy Spirit has no problem with advance planning for sermons (and everything else). The pastor shouldn't either.

2. The pastor should study that text backward and forward and everything around it, learning text, context and pretext. What is a pretext? All the ways this text has been "done wrong" by others in times past. A pastor should flag those potholes in order to avoid them.

In most cases, the context will suggest the problem that caused the Holy Spirit to put that teaching in the Bible in the first place, and that will get you started. After all, it's frequently good technique to begin a sermon with a problem, particularly one the people in the pews can relate to.

3. The pastor should constantly enlist heaven's assistance and should force himself to listen to the small stirrings of the Holy Spirit bringing His answer. He should pray and then stay for the answer.

In my study, I sometimes find myself saying, "Lord, you have heard every sermon ever preached on this text. And you inspired many of them!" (said with a smile) "I could sure use your help here. What do I need to see that I've missed? Who embodies this trait? Who in Scripture or in the world has violated this truth?"

Whether the answer comes immediately or two hours later in my study or that evening while driving to the store, when it does come, my spirit rejoices, and I grab pen and paper to make notes. Many a time, the answer arrives in the middle of the night.

After all, the Lord knows more sermons than the Library of Congress. He has heard them all.

He waits to be asked for His help.

Dr. Steve Greene is now sharing stories, teachings, and conversations with guests who lead with love on Love Leads, a new podcast. Listen now.

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