Open Air: Context Context Context

So said my homiletics (preaching) prof, Derke Bergsma. I don’t know if that aphorism was original to Derke (he often quoted R. B. Kuiper to us in class, e.g., “Men, there are three points to every sermon, the text, the text, the text” and “preach the text, the whole text, and nothing but the text, so help you God.”) but it stuck with me. One way to be sure to handle the text of Scripture well and accurately is to place it in its original context. Failure to read Scripture against its original background will have unhappy consequences.

The above is from R. Scott Clark’s The Heidelblog, and the rest of what he has to say is well worth reading, if you care to search it out. But it was the title of the entry that originally caught my eye: Any Text Without A Context is Pretext for a Prooftext - an oft-repeated precept amongst those of the Reformed persuasion. “Yes, indeed,” I thought to myself. “No matter how many times we hear it, when we want to make a point and back it up from the bible, how readily we seize upon ‘odd old ends stol’n out of holy writ’, regardless of whether or not they really do support our argument, in their original context.”

On Wednesdays, we often encounter church groups and unaffiliated evangelists who are all too happy to thrust their tracts and leaflets into our hands. When I get home, I make a point of reading them through with care, paying particular attention to their use of scripture texts. The ones that misuse them are often the ones that belong to cranks and cultists.

That said, when preaching in the open air, it’s pretty difficult to give your audience (most people hearing no more than a minute’s worth of your address) any idea of the context of your own quotations. Spurgeon writes as follows. 

... to a passing company who are not inclined for anything like worship, quick, short, sharp address is most adapted. In the streets a man must be from beginning to end be intense, and for that very reason he must be condensed and concentrated in his thought and utterance. But have something to say, look them in the face, say what you mean, put it plainly, boldly, earnestly, courteously, and they will hear you.

Well, so we trust. Anyway, I suppose the best that we can do is to be familiar with the context of the quotations that we ourselves use in the open air, in order to avoid offering anything which might mislead our hearers.

And so, what of last Wednesday?

The only remarkable thing about it was the absence of Peter, which caused us a little anxiety, since we’re so used to his presence, week by week. We trust that he will be back with us next Wednesday. However, Janette and Kieran were with us again, which was some consolation. It was gratifying to see them in earnest conversation with various folk as the afternoon progressed.

A couple of old acquaintances stopped and listened for a while, and then went on their way with encouraging words. There were a few humorous sallies from wannabe comedians and controversialists, but these were easily answered with a little grace and good humour.

However, the afternoon seemed to take more out of us than usual. Perhaps it was because both Stephen and I were a little tired; perhaps it was because of that rather melancholy frame of mind that can come upon us as we enter into autumn; or perhaps there was some spiritual opposition, for reasons that are necessarily a mystery to mere mortals.

One factor might well have been the deafening racket that threatened to drown out the sound of our little amplifier. How the trams groaned and squealed along in the dry tram tracks, how many lorries and vans there were going through this supposedly pedestrianised area! How the sirens wailed as ambulances and police vans forced their way through the crowds! And what a racket there was from the building work going on down Market Street!

Which reminds me - a reader takes me to task for writing “and the sound of hydraulic drills in the distance”, in our last Open Air Newsletter. Surely, he says, I must have made a mistake, writing “hydraulic” when I meant “pneumatic”? Perhaps he, like me, has been spending some time in Proverbs, and has noted Proverbs 27.17: “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” (KJV, in deference to our reader.) 

Be that as it may - as above, it’s the context that matters. I’ve mentioned the noise from nearby building work several times in recent newsletters, e.g., “The roaring of heavy machinery comes from somewhere inside the tarpaulin-shrouded outer shell of Debenhams-as-was”.

Now, as anyone familiar with the building industry will tell you, hydraulic drills, both large and small, are widely used in all manner of construction projects. I quote from a manufacturer of one type of these useful devices: “Hydraulic core drills are used by construction professionals in a wide range of applications including building renovation and utility works. They are relied on to install drainage, sewer and water pipes, plus cable and ventilation ducts where large and deep holes are needed. Core sampling in asphalt roads is another perfect application for this high performing drill.” (My italics.)

I wonder what Miss Pilling would have said? And yes, I seem to see her now, in my mind’s eye, as she leans towards me with a smile. For a moment, her hand rests lightly upon my arm. “Well, there you go!” she says. How those long, languorous evenings on the Out Counter still shine, even on the dreariest of autumnal afternoons…

But I digress. Please pray, if you would be so kind, for all those who spoke with us last Wednesday, and for all those who took away tracts and other Christian literature. Please pray also for a peaceful and profitable time together this coming Wednesday afternoon. Many thanks!

Every blessing!