The Didache is part of the body of writings by the early Church Fathers, meaning church leaders who lived in the first through about the third centuries, AD.
It is good to read these writings because, basically, they show how much better the inspired writings of the Bible really are. Sometimes you wonder how people in the early church decided which writings to include as part of the Bible and which to exclude. One way to know is simply by reading the excluded works. The difference in quality, and in Spirit, is obvious.
For example, the Didache (which means "a Teaching"), draws from many passages of the standard Bible. But the way it adds nuances to some of them is not only awkward, it underlines the dangers of sermonizing. Consider:
Didache 1.24 says: "Happy is the man who gives, as the commandment bids him, for he is guiltless!"
As best as I can determine, this is a vague reference to 2 Corinthians 9.7: Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. But notice the nuances and twists:
1. "God loves a cheerful giver" (Corinthians) is different than "happy is the man who gives" (Didache) The latter makes the happiness dependent on giving, which is not the biblical sense.
2. "...as the commandment bids him" (Didache). What commandment? By this small phrase the Didache adds a commandment to give -- and implies that you'll be happy if you follow through with this commandment.
3. "... for he is guiltless!" (Didache). Really? So guiltlessness is now dependent on giving.
All of this sounds biblical; none of it is.
The danger in giving sermons is to take a passage of the Bible and, rather than expounding it, using it as a springboard for additions and nuances that the passage really does not permit.
I had this in mind as I was preparing a sermon for this morning, and it altered several things I was planning to say.
Logos2Go
2 Corinthians 9.7 See above
James 3.1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
The danger of giving sermons
Posted by
David Wang
Jul 5, 2009
3 comments:
So in the spirit of James 3:1, I'll do some judging of your post! You wrote, "It is good to read these writings because, basically, they show how much better the inspired writings of the Bible really are." Using that line of reasoning, you could also say "It is good to listen to sermons because they show how much better it is to hear just the Bible alone."
Much of the early fathers writings are their sermons. Like yours and mine, some are more faithful than others in expounding the Bible. Your picking on a single passage from the Didache might leave the impression that it is largely useless. Actually as a very early genuine document, the Didache is VERY useful for our understanding of how the church developed shortly after the time of the apostles.
What the text "permits" is indeed an important consideration for the preacher. Equally important is knowing what "additions and nuances" the Holy Spirit may want to make through you. I hope it was not just you or me that changed things we were planning to say this morning!
Ahhh my friend. I'm not sure the logic is the same. But ... I must agree that for many of the sermons that I do hear ... they just drive me back to relief in the Word! Thanks Dan. We'll talk soon.
I myself have listened to too many sermons that really are not teaching what the Bible has to say, but "using [a passage] as a springboard for additions and nuances" that are really the speaker's own thoughts and axes to grind. How I appreciate a message that is "Christ-exalting" with very little to reference to "I." We need true teachers of the Word in these days.
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