How long should a sermon be? This question has been the topic for serious discussions and numerous jokes. There is the one asking what it means when a gospel preacher looks at his watch during the sermon -- Answer: "Absolutely nothing." Then there is the one with two brethren where one asks the other, "Why does the preacher spend 20 minutes in the pulpit, but 4 hours on the golf course?" Answer: "His tee time is at noon." While the jokes may be humorous and the discussion of our thoughts may serve some good purpose, they cannot form the pattern for our teaching and practice.
We must all do our very best to help the cause of Christ and avoid any harm. We must evaluate ourselves, in action and attitude, to make sure we conform to the pattern of Scripture from a pure heart in every matter. We want to avoid the denominational tendency towards minimizing time spent in public study of God's word, while also rejecting misguided attempts to oppose such by needless length born of pointless repetition or lack of preparation. Let us assist efforts to fully examine some matters which may require longer periods of time, while also aiding brethren to see the simplicity of other matters through brevity when appropriate. Every faithful preacher has, no doubt, preached both lengths of lessons. Why? Both kinds were needed in Bible times and are needed today.
My purpose in this article is to address some who would ignore or exclude brethren teaching the truth due to subjective limits placed on sermon length. The major problem we have is not those who oppose shorter lessons, but the tendency among some to ignore preaching of truth which goes beyond the length they subjectively deem best. Not long ago, I preached a 20-minute lesson on the "One Container" issue because I wanted brethren to see that it was not as difficult to answer as some thought. Not one sound brother accused me of going soft because I only preached 20 minutes. I have preached short sermons on other subjects in the past without being rebuked for imitating the denominations. The problem comes when some folks do not want to invest the time necessary to thoroughly study issues that require an hour or more to adequately examine. It is far easier for them to malign a brother for abusing the time than to diligently engage in the thought and attention needed.
While growing up, my experience with the length of services during my teenage years was that they typically were a little over an hour. By that time, the battle over institutionalism was past and brethren were of much the same mind. Those present accepted the same fundamental truths and had defended that foundation in the battle just past. Brother J. M. Gillpatrick worked with us during my high school years and I remember his lessons being shorter than they had been when he preached where I attended as a child. In my early childhood, the institutional division came to the Panhandle of Texas and lengthy services were not unusual during that period. We had Roy Cogdill several times in successive years and I remember him preaching 2 hours or more in meetings. Brother Gillpatrick was the local preacher in those days and he sometimes went beyond an hour as well. In both cases, they did not have the luxury of an audience that accepted the same basic truths. They had to go back to the basics and build their case so that brethren might unite on those same truths. After getting brethren to understand the truth themselves, sound preachers had to help the faithful brethren know how to teach their friends and family about those truths. When those preachers dealt with the issues of the day, they often had brethren of opposing views in their audience who were looking for any point of weakness to exploit. Their situation called for an expenditure of more time in preaching. Today, we are probably in a time more closely parallel to the latter than the former.
We must resist efforts to establish a pattern for the length of our services on the basis of our cultural norms rather than biblical principles. If our culture is different from the culture of Bible times, let us affirm the practice of Scripture as binding regardless of what culture is being considered. We may no more change the teaching about the demands on our time because of our culture than we can change the teaching on creation because of our culture. We must always go for our pattern "to the law and to the testimony" (Isa. 8:20).
Some brethren have noted that Nehemiah 8 specifies the presence of "men and women" in that lengthy service and concluded that children were not present Thus, they suggest that such an assembly is not analogous to the assemblies of the church in our time. Yet, Acts 2:46, 5:42 and 20:7-12 clearly establish the point that long periods were sometimes needed for teaching. Psalm 1:2 and Psalm 119:145-148 show a similar desire to spend the long and late hours needed in study of God's will. So, even without Nehemiah 8 being considered, the pattern is established that lengthy periods are sometimes needed to examine some matters of Scripture. Not all occasions of study lasted through the night hours to dawn, but some did. (The same could be said of occasions for prayers and singing.) However, an examination of Nehemiah 8 and related texts in the Old Testament also suggests an assembly comparable to our assemblies with respect to ages present in which an extended period of teaching took place.
(1) Nehemiah 8:2 says, "And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all that could hear with understanding..." Surely this would include those of a young age (children) who could understand the law -- those we might call of the age of accountability. Thus, a number of children were among those present "from early morning [lit. "from light"] until midday" (Neh. 8:3).
(2) As to whether infants and such were present, please note that the passage does not speak to this point one way or the other. The passage simply says that Ezra "brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all that could hear with understanding..." One cannot "bring the law" before those who do not understand it whether they are present or not. When we preach, we preach the gospel to those who can understand it, though infants are sometimes present. The infants present are not the audience we are addressing. If I understand Nehemiah 8, the same point is being made there.
(3) If all adults and children of accountability were expected to "hear with understanding" the law of God, who would be with the infants if the infants were not present?
(4) When the text of the Old Testament speaks to the issue of those present at their general assemblies, the text says that "all Israel" was there. For instance, Deuteronomy 5:1 declares that "Moses called all Israel" to hear the law restated to them. When we notice what was spoken on that occasion before "all Israel," we see the entire section from Deuteronomy 5 through the end of chapter 26 records the single sermon delivered. Merely reading that section takes much longer than the time limitation some would put on sermons today, not to mention that the breadth of content was far greater than some would suggest should be done now. Yet, the Holy Spirit led Moses to give such a lesson to an assembly of "all Israel."
In short, there is scriptural precedent for assemblies of study and worship for both long and more brief time periods. If we say either brief or extended period will not be acceptable, we have made a subjective law unknown in Bible times. While we do not favor needless repetition or length added to sermons as a result of a lack of preparation, we recognize the value of more than one point or passage to establish a principle that calls for added emphasis. Just as we must not dismiss a lesson solely upon the basis of its brevity, we must resist the spirit of our age which seeks to spend less and less time on spiritual matters. Though we accept these same points, our judgments may vary on how to handle a particular case. How can we effectively cooperate in the work of the Lord? We can encourage one another to spend the time needed on any spiritual subject to know the will of God and do it, while respecting the judgment of fellow-laborers teaching the truth whose approach may take more or less time than we would take. Let us strive to prepare for eternal worship before God's throne.