Who in the world preaches a 10 minute sermon? And why would anyone think that was sufficient for the care of souls in their congregation? Even 20 minutes is barely enough. Luther said we shouldn't preach more than an hour unless we had something especially important to say!
Having now sat in the pew as retired for a couple of years, I always strove for my sermons to be in the 10-12 minute range. The average lay person's attention span goes dull far more quickly than the average preacher thinks that they are stimulating orators. Good preached is, in my humble and retired opinion, far, far more difficult to find than preachers who think they are good preachers. Just saying!
While I agree that American attention spans are not what they were 60 years ago, they are still generally good enough in my experience to deal with a well laid out and presented 25-30 minute sermon proclaiming Christ's sacrifice for the sinners in the pews. If all I was going to do was tell them that Christ opened the pathway to heaven confess His Name and believe in their hearts God raised Him from the dead, well I'd just print it in the bulletin, sing a hymn or two, offer a prayer for the church and send them home. Might take less than 1/2 hour. I'm sorry brothers but I'm having the feeling some of you have raised the rightly administered Sacrament so high you're neglected the proclamation of the pure Gospel (hope I'm wrong about that)
It doesn't take a long sermon to preach the pure Gospel. In my experience, this story rings true. A well-known speaker was visiting at some gathering. The host asked if he would like to speak to the group. "Well," he said. "If you want me to speak for an hour, I'm ready now. If you want me to speak for 5 minutes, give me an hour to prepare." A well-crafted sermon that takes seriously the biblical text, proclaims the Law (exposing the sins that the text lifts up) and the Gospel (that forgives and gives new life to sinners) takes time to prepare.
In Part III of my exegetical method (the hermenutical part) after translating and studying the text in Greek, I raise the following questions (and seek answers from the text)
III. What does the text mean to me and my world?
A. How am I like them? How is my church, my world like theirs?
B. What questions does this text ask me/us?
C. How does it understand my/our plight? What’s the “bad news” it is addressing?
1. What human failure or sin does it expose?
2. How does the word pulverize me/us?
3. What aspect of my/our lost condition does it speak to? e.g. bondage, sin, guilt, alienation, weakness, darkness, etc.
D. How is that plight resolved? What’s the “good news” in this situation?
1. What hope does it give in my/our lost condition?
2. How does it heal and make whole? e.g. liberation, cleansing, forgiveness, reconciliation, power, enlightenment, etc.
E. How is Jesus involved in affecting the resolution?
1. How is this solution unique to Christians?
2. Where in my/our life/lives does Jesus meet me/us?
F. What in our world functions in the same way?
1. How has the biblical truth been re-enacted in my life or in the life of someone I know?
2. What metaphors, images, stories does the text produce?
G. What differences might it make in my life if I believe this?
The pure gospel certainly comes out of this process - as well as a 12 minute sermon.
