If you haven’t read the previous post, you might find it a helpful introduction to this one.

Words work because they materialize in the visible world. Assuming we know the word, we can’t detach it from its meaning. The word represents something, either visible or invisible, and we know the meaning by the word that identifies it. God made the world this way. He made the world out of words so that the world is a visible word. And this is why metaphor works. A metaphor identifies something distinct from and yet fully identified with something else. Words themselves are metaphors because the word isn’t the material thing, but when we think of the material thing, we want to know its name.

Preachers need to know this because we deal in words. We use words to communicate God’s truth, conveying our message with words. The gospel is good news, which means the gospel is words. We ought to know the power of words to effectively communicate God’s truth.

In the previous post, we offered three treasures found in words. Here, we’ll offer two more.

Treasure #4: Poetry communicates more clearly than science.

From something less true, we can learn more truth. [1]

God is immutable.

I’ll pause while you look that up. Actually, no, I won’t. We’re all preachers reading this, so we know what immutable means. Hopefully, we have taught our churches to understand and honor the immutability of God. If we have, we know that the Bible doesn’t spend much time on the topic. Hebrews 6:18 provides the singular appearance of this amazing word. If we want our people to know what it means that God is immutable, we might find it helpful to use a more familiar yet equally Biblical expression, perhaps like this:

But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge. (Psalm 94:22)

The Bible tells us that God is a rock at least twenty times. Think about that. If you demand scientific accuracy for every expression, the Bible must disappoint you terribly. If I were to ask you to explain the similarities between God and a rock, you might struggle a bit. As you take your kids hiking, how often have you pointed at a rock and said, “See that, kids! God is just like that!”

But you could. You should, in fact. God identifies Himself that way. If I’m honest, I can only think of one or two qualities of a rock that resemble God – a rock is unchangeable; a great big rock is nearly immovable. But the Bible says, “God is a rock.” Not that He is every way like a rock or a rock is every way like God. But a rock depicts God’s immutability in a way we can grasp, in a way that the word “immutable” doesn’t.

If you want your kids to know that God is immutable, tell them that God is a rock. A child can grasp that.

But that isn’t true for kids only. Think of the way science expresses truth compared to poetry. Science always wants to quantify things, usually with a number. On a scale of 1-to-10, how much pain are you feeling? A 55-year-old gets a senior discount. And on a cold day, temperatures might dip into the teens or even below zero.

Now, of course, this scientific mode of expression has become familiar enough to us that we know the lingo. We may have never considered how inane the idea of “zero” degrees of temperature might be. We might wish we could store a few degrees when it is 100 outside and pull them out of the pantry when it is zero. But what about below zero? What does that even mean? If my bank balance gets below zero, I’m in trouble. Does that mean we’re in trouble when temperatures get below zero? Do they owe us something they need to repay?

The scientific or “analytical” paradigm takes itself very seriously and sometimes acts as if accuracy is more important than clarity. But the Bible doesn’t rely on the analytical paradigm as often as we might think. The Bible is much more likely to describe God as a fire, Jesus as bread or light or water, the Bible as a sword, and a contentious woman as a continual dripping on a very rainy day. The Bible doesn’t get all that technical. In fact, the scientific way of saying things is more precise and accurate, but also more abstract. If you don’t believe me, draw me a picture of a degree. Not just one – draw me fifty of them huddled together in the air surrounding your house on a warm spring afternoon. Show me what a degree looks like, and we’ll discuss how great scientific expression really is. And tell me which expression makes it more apparent that Tom Bombadil is quite old – if I tell you his age in years or if I quote Tolkien:

There’s earth under his old feet, and clay on his fingers; wisdom in his bones, and both his eyes are open.

The poetic way of saying things (imprecise but more concrete) is often the Bible way of saying things.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. (Proverbs 25:11)

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. (I Corinthians 13:1-3)

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. (James 3:6)

The Bible speaks this way for a simple reason: we understand it better. The concrete images used in poetic speech aren’t always the most accurate, but they express the idea in a way our minds can grasp.

How should this affect our preaching? We should recognize first that theology, like any science, uses a fair amount of jargon that the noninitiates might not recognize. You can speak of “getting saved,” the “atonement,” “justification,” “sanctification,” and the “vicarious” suffering of Christ all day long. Half your audience will have no idea what you mean.

I wouldn’t argue against the use of these technical terms. They serve an essential purpose, as they express the nuances of the Christian faith more precisely. However, a preacher should also know that the audience probably doesn’t understand the terminology and should express it in a way that people can grasp. Even a phrase like “getting saved” is jargon to a newbie. Labor to express things clearly – imprecisely, but using concrete terms. We understand words we can picture.

And now for the final blessing of words.

Treasure #5: Preaching is extended analogy.

Every art has a science behind it, and analogy is no exception. Think of analogy as an extended metaphor, a comparison between two distinct yet closely related things. The point of analogy is not to focus on the similarities between the two unlike things. The point is to shed light on the connection between two conclusions. Some use the term “illustrative parallel” instead of analogy – the analogy illustrates the truth you are making. Good analogy is an art form, and there is a process that good analogy follows.

The analogy process combines inductive reasoning (from the particular example to a general statement) and deductive reasoning (from the general statement to the particular conclusion)… [2]

Let’s take an analogy and break it down for kicks. Here’s the analogy: “Opening a new credit card account when you are deep in debt is like fighting a flood with a fire hose.” Here’s how the process works: I want you to conclude that opening a new credit card will compound the problem. I could say that, but I think the analogy clarifies it. So, I insert an inductive argument between the action (opening a new credit card account) and the desired conclusion (will compound the problem). I find something comparable that illustrates what I want to argue – fighting a flood with a fire hose seems to work.

In his book Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, John Piper argues that the best argument for Jesus is that His glory is self-authenticating.

Stated most simply, the common path to sure knowledge of the real Jesus is this: Jesus, as he is revealed in the Bible, has a glory – an excellence, a spiritual beauty – that can be seen as self-evidently true. It is like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light and not dark, or like tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet and not sour. There is no long chain of reasoning from premises to conclusions. There is a direct apprehension that this person is true and his glory is the glory of God. [3]

The glory of the sun becomes analogous to the glory of Christ. And this is the beauty, not only of the power of words but of the power of our minds as we read or hear those words. One of the most powerful things we can learn as communicators is that the audience can understand what you don’t say. If your audience anticipates your argument before you make it, you win. Your confidence in them to make connections you didn’t make is a great complement. You trusted them. You treated them as if they were intelligent enough to draw conclusions on their own. That is the power of analogy: you don’t have to make the conclusion when you have used it effectively. Your audience gets it. Do I need to tell you that water is wet or did you already know that? You can’t put your hand in the water without knowing it is wet, and you can’t see Jesus as He is presented in the Bible and deny that He is God. This is self-evident.

The best communicators have mastered the art of analogy. The greatest master of all was none other than our Lord Jesus. In Matthew 13:31-52, Jesus told us that the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, leaven, a treasure hid in a field, a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, a net that was cast into the sea, and an householder which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. These five analogies give us a better picture of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus didn’t speak in parables to obscure His meaning (though His meaning was hidden from the rebellious) but to clarify His meaning.

If we want to communicate clearly in our sermons (and isn’t that the point?), we should spend significant time understanding how Jesus used analogy. But we should also study the works of great masters. I would argue that this is a reason to read C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, G.K. Chesterton, Ronald Reagan, P.G. Wodehouse, and Douglas Wilson. These men mastered the art, which is why we admire them. Consider some examples.

A Christian should do with truth as a snail does with his shell – live inside it, as well as carry it on his back and bear it perpetually about with him. (Spurgeon in Sermon #50 “The Holy Ghost – The Great Teacher”)

Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. (C.S. Lewis in “The Screwtape Letters” p. 54)

An economist is a fellow who takes long steps to save his new $10 shoes and splits his $20 slacks. (Reagan’s Notes)

Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed. (G. K. Chesterton)

She looked like a tomato struggling for self-expression. (Wodehouse)

So then, how is preaching like an extended analogy? Because in every passage you preach, you are taking the words of God and applying them to the hearts of the people. You are drawing conclusions from what is said in Scripture. If you want to make the conclusion come alive, you must connect the passage to the people’s everyday lives. You don’t want to make every connection for them – that gets tedious and can seem condescending. But you do want to help them see the connection. Metaphor, analogy, and other vivid forms of illustration are essential ways we do this.

Think of all the ways Scripture does this for you.

For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:14)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1)

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. (I Corinthians 12:12)

The Old Testament, especially the history books of the Old Testament, teaches you what God is like. Here are two from yesterday’s preaching. In the morning, I preached from 2 Samuel 16, where the Bible presents a parade of David’s enemies, including Shimei, who curses David relentlessly. David responds by throwing himself on the mercy of God. He didn’t know the outcome of his battle with Absalom. But he knew the holy character of God and knew that God was capable of incomprehensible mercy and kindness. David’s example taught us to throw ourselves on the mercy of God when we are in trouble.

In the evening, one of our men preached from Nahum 1:3, where the prophet preached repentance to the Ninevites. He reminded us that a God of great power and unyielding justice is also a God of great mercy, that, in fact, given such unrelenting justice and power, it is the mercy of God that called Ninevah to repentance. He quoted from Spurgeon, who pointed out the way the mercy of God rushes on the scene while the wrath of God takes slow, measured steps. We were blessed to see the nature of God expressed in terms we could grasp.

That’s what preaching is—one significant analogy for affixing the truth of Scripture to people’s hearts.

The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. (Ecclesiastes 12:11)

To borrow from the Wilsons, the preacher’s work is to act as seer, recognizing the connections, rather than as maker, causing those connections and cognates. Metaphor doesn’t tie together two disconnected things but instead identifies and reveals the connection between them, which is Christ (for by Him all things consist). Therefore, striking metaphors don’t make the connection. They see the connection and declare it.

When we understand how everything connects and coheres in Christ, we will find a world of analogy opened to us that will enable clear communication and connection to hearts so that the Word of God can dwell richly in the hearts and lives of our people.

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[1] The Rhetoric Companion, p. 84

[2] Fitting Words, James B. Nance, p. 211

[3] Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, pp. 119-120