Usually the text is indicated on the psalm board in the church. If the sermon is to be actual ministration of the Word of God, then its contents must be determined by a portion of that Word. Fortunately, in Reformed churches it is self-evident that the sermon deals with the text indicated on the board. There are several aspects related to the sermon text which are of particular importance to the listener.

The whole Bible⤒🔗

The whole Bible forms the basis for the preaching. Since one sermon can in no way do justice to all of Scripture, we limit ourselves to a portion, the sermon text. This does mean that we should not lose sight of the whole Bible. It is indeed true that the congregation may expect that all of God's Word is ministered to her. Of course, no minister will be able to do this fully; not even a lifetime is sufficient for this. It does mean that the selection of the sermon text is not a matter of the minister's private choice. Certainly, every week he selects texts for his sermons, but he must consider and do justice to all of Scripture. Therefore we may expect that the minister adopts a guideline which helps him to organize the material for his sermons in such a way that he takes into account the whole Bible.

This can be done in a variety of ways. Two such possible frameworks to organize sermons are rather obvious: the Christian calendar and the Heidelberg Catechism. Each in its own way suggests an organizing principle for the selection of material for the sermons.

The Christian calendar←⤒🔗

With the term the Christian calendar we mean the cycle of Christian feast days which commemorate important events of the history of salvation.

The Church Order regulates this in Article 53: Each year the Churches shall, in the manner decided upon by the consistory, commemorate the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as His outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

This instruction of the Church Order provides a natural way in which the material for the sermons may be organized from Christmas to Pentecost. The principle which is used here is the history of salvation. Obviously, many of these sermons will be based on the gospels. It is not without importance that we have received four gospels in the Bible which relate the facts of the history of salvation in detail. This is obviously a central point in the Bible. Therefore, we may expect to find this reflected in the preaching. We add, though, that it is not reasonable to expect a Christmas sermon on Luke 2 every year. Although this chapter contains a central point in the history of Christ's birth, the Bible has more to say about it in other passages. We may expect to hear that as well.

The importance of the Christian calendar has been questioned in the Reformed churches. Opponents have often cited the exaggerated emphasis on the cycle of feast days. In other denominations, each Sunday between November and June is given a different character. That is too much of a good thing. A varied arrangement of sermon topics based on the Christian calendar will help to make the congregation familiar with the significance of Christ's birth and work on earth. This will help to foster in the hearts of the believers the longing for His return. That is precisely what we may expect from a sermon.

The Old Testament←⤒🔗

Using the order of the Christian calendar will result in many sermons based on texts chosen from the New Testament, although appropriate passages from the Old Testament may be selected as well. This will be the case particularly in the period between Christmas and Easter.

However, this practice should not result in an overemphasis of the New Testament at the cost of the Old Testament. The New Testament is not available separately! It receives its meaning and significance from the Old Testament. Throughout the centuries, this insight has protected the church against many heresies. Therefore, it must bear fruit also in the preaching; otherwise the congregation does not learn to understand the significance of the interdependence of the Old and the New Testaments. It is important that this is emphasized today when the unity of the history of God's salvation is under attack from various sides. With the help of preaching based on the Old Testament, the congregation must learn to recognize clearly the unity of the Bible. This means that throughout the remainder of the year we may expect many sermons from the Old Testament. The second half of the year is a good time for that because of the absence of feast days.

Of course, we cannot and do not want to be prescriptive. (I value the personal privilege of choosing the text for the sermon.) However, the congregation may expect that in the longer term she receives systematic preaching from the Old Testament. The consistory may also speak to its minister about that. We believe that we have received the Bible because in it God describes at length the whole manner of worship which He requires of us.¹ Therefore, this confessional insight demands that the preaching deals with the whole Bible, the Old and New Testament.

If certain books of the Bible remain closed on the pulpit, the congregation will be all too readily inclined to accept a much thinner Bible than the one entrusted to us by the Lord.

Planning←⤒🔗

From this discussion follows the obvious conclusion that a sermon text cannot be chosen haphazardly. Selecting such a text requires planning. This is already implied by the instructional character of the sermon.² Every teacher who takes his work seriously uses a plan for his teaching because instruction requires structure and continuity. Since instruction from the Bible has the same characteristics, we may expect that a sermon also satisfies these demands. Therefore (do not believe in selecting sermon texts each week on the basis of certain events or needs in the congregation. This would show an overvaluing of the direct instructional character of the sermon.

The Heidelberg Catechism←⤒🔗

The Heidelberg Catechism provides us with an extraordinary method to arrange the content of the sermons systematically. The material is organized on the basis of the confession of the church. At times, people dispute whether a section of the catechism, a Lord's Day, can be the text for a sermon. The argument is that a sermon should be ministering of God's Word, while the catechism is the word of men. This is a false dilemma. The church has been diligent to indicate where these doctrines have come from. The church was able to formulate its confession by listening carefully to the Scriptures. When a sermon is based on the catechism, then the Bible is opened at all those places which the church has read in connection with the element of doctrine as summarized in that particular Lord's Day.

At this point I do not need to elaborate on the fact that we may expect regular preaching based on the catechism. I note here that the division of the catechism into fifty-two Lord's Days does not mean that the minister must complete the full cycle of the catechism in each calendar year. That would mean that a large part of the congregation will regularly miss the sermons dealing with the sacraments (because of the holidays!).

Further, the catechism does not provide an exhaustive treatment of the Christian doctrine. For example, much more could be said about God's election than may be done within the context of a catechism sermon. Since we confess that this doctrine must be taught to the congregation,³ we can expect that the sermon regularly demands our attention for this doctrine.

The text as a window←⤒🔗

So far we have only considered the choice of the text. That is only the beginning. How the text is worked out determines the whole sermon. Ultimately the sermon shall inform the congregation about her God, and shall minister His grace in such a way that it will become visible in the life of the congregation.

To achieve this, it must become clear that the text of the sermon is a window on the whole Bible, and in this way opens the way to God through His Word.

This means, very concretely, that the text must be explained carefully. Preaching is not a discourse on a variety of topics. It is the pointed speaking of God. To make this clear, the place and function of the text in the context of the whole sermon must be transparent, that is, clear and understandable. This is the first thing we may expect from the exposition of the text. If this is the case, then it will be obvious that the text was not selected because the minister wanted to get a particular message across, but because the Word of God must be ministered to the congregation. The preacher may, indeed, be tempted to do this. He might want to make a particular point and therefore select a suitable text. But then he ends up hiding his message in the sermon, while the question is ignored whether the text really says what the minister wants it to say. Thus the danger becomes real that the text is no longer a window on the message of God, but a vehicle for the ideas and opinions of the minister.

We may expect, therefore, that the sermon is faithful to the text. That means that the sermon shall put into words specific aspects of God's salvation about which the text speaks. Only in this way can the sermon be instrumental in bringing the congregation to Christ. And that is what we may expect from a sermon in the first place.

The question will undoubtedly arise at this point: What about the relevance of the sermon for today?