The Ingredients Of A Classic Sermon

F.W. Boreham was heavily influenced in the early part of his ministry by Edward Gibbon’s book, THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

Was F.W. Boreham an essay writer or a preacher? After much careful research, the answer is an unusual one. Boreham described his writing as ‘scribbling‘. Boreham’s critics described his preaching as ‘story telling‘. Listening to an F.W. Boreham sermon would have been like sitting around an open fire on a cold winter’s night, after a hearty meal, as your Grandfather told you the most wonderful and amazingly true stories in the most entertaining manner you could ever hope to hear it! Only after you’ve retired for the night and the fire has now been reduced to smouldering embers would you begin to realise that your Grandfather hasn’t just told you stories for your entertainment. He had in fact nourished your soul! F.W. Boreham learned to use the pulpit and the pen to preach. And while this in itself was not unique, the results, classic sermons, might be. 

FWB at his writing-desk, 1953

The Pen And The Pulpit

The relationship between FWB’s pen and pulpit was a partnership and a process. He would write his message, preach it, rewrite it, re-preach it, and rewrite it. The final product of this process was initially published in newspapers, journals, or periodicals. Eventually, even after having been published in periodicals, Boreham would still polish these sermon-essays to collate into the books which we have all come to appreciate.

It’s difficult to appreciate how much effort FWB put into rehearsing and delivering his sermons simply from reading one of his essays. He recognised that not only should his sermons read well, they should be heard well. This required recycling, refining, and replaying. One of the most appreciated of FWB’s sermons, The House That Jack Built, was preached by Boreham at least 140 times. This gave FWB the opportunity to refine this message and also to refine his theatrical delivery of this message.

“‘The House That Jack Built’ was a brilliant drama, staged and performed by the author. And his control of the audience! A happy and original introduction; apposite stories from history, science, and romance, related with telling effect; soft touches on the varying notes of the human soul, making it tremble with childlike laughter, and then a sudden chord of richer music with concentrated and arresting power—while the listener perceives God through smiles.’”
T. Howard Crago, The Story of F W Boreham

“Moving a vote of thanks at Wangaratta [Victoria], a local farmer expressed a good deal when he said, ‘I enjoyed the lecture because I could see that Mr. Boreham was enjoying it so much himself.’”
T. Howard Crago, The Story of F W Boreham, (p. 172-173)

People Soon Forget

Mosgiel, New Zealand, 1895, where Boreham pastored from 1895 to 1906

It was during Boreham’s first pastorate at Mosgiel when he realised that not only could he recycle his previous sermons, he should! He wrote in his autobiography about how the effort to prepare and preach two new sermons each week had become taxing. After pastoring there for eight years, he began to recycle his sermons from eight years earlier. This gave him the opportunity to rewrite and improve these sermons. He marvelled that no-one in his congregation had ever seemed to notice what he had done.

Bishop James Hannington

The realisation that people soon forget what they’ve heard preached, gave FWB a greater resolve to recycle. His Hobart pastorate became the beneficiaries of this resolve. After this Tasmanian pastorate, he recycled and enlarged the entire series of Texts that Made History when he moved to Armadale in Melbourne. He spent a good deal of time at the State Library of Victoria doing fresh research on Luther, Wesley, Hannington and the other heroes of the Church. His book series which resulted was a departure for Boreham from the more winsome sermonic essays he had become known for. It soon became his best selling series of books. But it helped FWB to develop classic sermons which would have global and timeless appeal. Even during World War II, Boreham maintained this classical tone to his ministry – something he was heavily criticised for. While most other preachers were preaching on war related themes, Boreham chose to maintain his pursuit of classic themes.

The Hobart Baptist Tabernacle, 1907, where FWB pastored from 1906 to 1916

FWB was able to do this because he wrote about people and events from the past. His ability to retell the past and bring out contemporary applications is largely what made his works classic. It’s not that FWB dismissed the seriousness of the War, but as a student of history, he knew that wars came and went. Rather than focussing on such ‘temporal’ issues, Boreham chose to focus on universal and timeless issues. These were the big issues we each have to deal with – finding peace for our soul, dealing with tragedy, coming to know God, preparing for eternity. Boreham categorised these classic themes as, immensities, infinities, and eternity. The means that he used in his preaching with the pen and the pulpit to minister these themes were – stories. Thus, drawing on the past, dealing with the biggest issues we each must face, and then using the universal appeal of stories, all contributed to F.W. Boreham being able to preach with his pen and from his pulpit in a classic fashion. But what really enabled Boreham’s ministry to leave a legacy of classic sermonic literature was his method of writing, preaching, re-writing, re-preaching, and recycling.

Memorial plaque to Dr. F.W. Boreham at Mosgiel Baptist Church

Not every preacher is called to preach beyond their pastorate. Not every preacher is called to preach one of their sermons over 140 times. Not every preacher is called to preach sermons that will continue to have appeal and application in a hundred years time. But surely some are! And if you’re one them, then you will certainly benefit from getting to know Dr. F. W. Boreham and his work. And even if you’re not, maybe your ‘Mosgiel’ could similarly benefit from hearing a classic sermon every now and then.

Andrew Corbett