preaching on propitiation

As I was preparing for an evangelistic Christmas sermon last week, I asked myself this question, how often should we talk about propitiation in our preaching? After all, it is a core aspect of the Gospel.

My answer is, often.

Here are some questions that will help us decide whether to talk about it or not in a sermon. As we move down the list, I suspect the degree to which we expound propitiation will lesson:

First up, does the text I'm preaching on explicitly mention propitiation?
Second, does the text I'm expounding infer propitiation?
Third, does the text speak about sacrifice?
Fourth, does the the text speak about the wrath of God or the judgement of God?
Fifth, does the passage talk about sin?
Sixth, does the passage speak about the death of Jesus?
Seventh, when explaining the Gospel (in any sermon).

In other words, let the text dictate what we preach and how we preach. And yet, like every sermon which ought to explain the Gospel (I remember a pastor asking me once should he mention Jesus in a sermon he was preaching from Exodus!), we must understand that propitiation is a central aspect to that Gospel. We shouldn't be obligated to mention it every time (in case people start doubting our orthodoxy), but we should mention it often, sometimes with an lengthy explanation, more often with a helpful reminding one-liner. In some Christian circles the preacher feels the pressure to say the word every week, but I suspect the greater issue today is that we rarely speak of it, and to avoid it is to lose the heart of the Gospel, and to lose the heart of the Gospel is to lose its power to save.

So did I mention propitiation in my Christmas sermon last night? No. The reason being, the Bible passage I was speaking on spoke about the cross in different categories and so I went with them.