Task 2: Write the conclusion
Essence of the task
To write the conclusion so that, in the final stretch, the sermon transmits the main idea of the passage with great clarity and achieves the purposes established for the sermon.
Detailed description
In the previous task we endeavored to prepare the listener to be able to “enjoy” the homiletic journey in the best possible way. In this task we will dedicate ourselves to helping the listener take advantage of what he or she has learned and experienced during the journey.
Using a biblical metaphor, with our conclusion we want to help the listener not to be like the person in the epistle of James, who looked in the mirror and then forgot what he looked like (James 1:22-25). In fact, according to the same passage, we want to do our best to help our listeners not only to remember what they have heard, but to put it into practice as well.
To Do
Depending on the passage being preached and the purposes set for the sermon, each conclusion will have its own character. That said, there will usually be a few elements that are good to include in some way. For example…
- Review the main points.
- Recall the applied interpretations.
- Emphasize the main idea.
- Achieve the point of climax and conclusion.
This last point brings us back to the idea of Lowrey’s homiletical plot. If we have been able to maintain “homiletical tension” until very close to the end of the sermon, we will have to incorporate, in the conclusion and just before, the last three phases of his pattern. Namely, Phase 3: Reveal the key to resolution, Phase 4: Experience the gospel, and Phase 5: Anticipate the consequences.
Delaying these three elements as long as possible is the main reason I mention it in relation to the conclusion, even though they don’t always have to be in the conclusion, per se. The important thing is not to unnecessarily anticipate the resolution of the issue unnecessarily, because revealing the conclusion too soon causes listeners to lose interest in what still needs to be said.
That said, I would not use even this pattern, however useful it may be in terms of attention and persuasion, all the time. Again, we can go back to the idea of creating a collection of concluding patterns, just as we did for introductions. Much of what was devised there can also be applied here but perhaps we can also think of some additional options.
- Pick up on an issue that was left “hanging” in the introduction.
- End with a surprise.
- Correctly end a joke that intentionally ended poorly in the introduction.
- Include a few moments of reflection and prayer.
- Ask everyone to write down on a piece of paper (or on their cell phone) something they feel the Lord wants them to do in response to what was preached.
- A personal example where the preacher himself had to respond to the message of the passage.
- Etc.
To Keep in Mind
As I mentioned for introductions, it is also important to not always end sermons in the same way. For example, a few years ago I remember hearing a pastor preach for several months in a row. He «always» ended his sermon with the conversion story of a famous person. After several weeks it was so predictable what he was going to do that not only did his conclusion lose impact, but one began to wonder if every biblical pericope really had that as its main application. Consequently, this man suffered a loss of credibility. The regular listener would have reason to wonder if the pastor had really made an exposition of the morning’s biblical text, or if he had simply padded a homiletical template he had with a few sporadic allusions to the text to make it look like legitimate study.
If you preach frequently to the same audience, your introductions and conclusions will eventually lose some of their value if they always repeat the same pattern. Again, keeping the main idea of the passage in mind and striving to achieve the stated purposes of the sermon will go a long way toward getting rid of that kind of monotony. It means allowing the passage to rule at the climax of the sermon.
Moreover, insisting on the sovereignty of the passage also reminds us that behind the passage is the sovereign God who inspired it. Therefore, we must never lose sight in our conclusion (or anywhere else in the sermon) that, if we have done our work well, the conclusions of the sermon are nothing less than the conclusions that God himself wants to bring the hearer to. So let us not be afraid to conclude with all the natural authority that the biblical text confers. If God says it, we are authorized to say it too, as his heralds. That is, as long as we are very clear that the message is ultimately God’s, and not ours. There are unfortunate cases in this profession of preachers who have not really come to understand the real difference between the inherent authority of God and the delegated authority of the preacher. May God save us from being counted among them!