Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World: Expounding Christ:Asking Questions, Discourse Analysis

By Ed Clowney

Luke 17
We see in this passage the return of praise, which is the glory of faith showing the glory of grace.

The lepers call to Jesus from afar off: ‘Jesus, Master have mercy on us’.
Faith hears the word of Jesus.

Jesus came to gain the worship of the unclean- He wants the Lepers for Himself. He came to be the servant who would receive the punishment for our sin. He paid the price of our uncleanness so that we would become clean.

The disciples ask about receiving faith and Jesus responds by speaking about the obedience of praise. The others lepers didn’t show hear-obedience to the master. They were doing exactly what they were told to do without praise in their hearts.

If faith is to be increased it must show the fruit of praise.

***
When preaching narratives make sure you weave doctrine around the story.

The Wisdom Narratives
The meekness of wisdom- ‘learn of me’, ‘let your gentleness be known to all men’.
Prov 8- wisdom personified produces joy.
The meditation for wisdom leads to the realisation of joy.
Calvary is the ultimate expression of wisdom- it looks foolish to men but is wise in an ultimate sense.

Christian meditation is the awareness of a person. It’s personal and focuses, arousing emotion. This emotion grows out of knowledge of scripture.

The suffering servant brings to us the counsel of God. This is the solution to the problem of suffering and wisdom presented in the OT. Our suffering (planned by God’s wisdom) allows us to enter into fellowship with Christ.

The sending of Jesus Christ is the sending of wisdom (Matt 23:24)

Wisdom is the right application of knowledge to a specific situation. Therefore wisdom will be (in one way) look different for different preachers. This is because Pastors preach to different peoples and cultures.

Psalm 1:2 tells us that wisdom ends with delighting in the law of the Lord. Wisdom leads to thinking and savouring scripture; this is the fuel of joy.

Discerning- seeing the world through a renewed mind, seeing the world through light and not darkness, discern opportunities for the gospel by the power of the Spirit.
Don’t think ‘I’ll only do a task that matches my gift list’.
Be task-orientated not fulfilment orientated
Reflect- on what you’ve done, consideration on the outcome and process.

Spiritual gifts are often a heightening of natural gifts that you already posses. As God renews us we should expect that our natural gifts will be used by the Spirit. Don’t look at Paul’s list of gifts as the complete list of all gifts. There is individuality to our calling and graces. Gifts are designed for corporate worship. The whole body works together.

Recognise Christ direction in your calling.

(Keller)
Analysis is making distinctions, noticing the limits
Intuition is seeing relationships, seeing the whole

Eastern traditions say that analysis must stop in meditation. Scriptural meditation uses both analysis and intuition.

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