There is no end to books and articles aimed at helping those who preach learn to do so more effectively. There is very little aimed at helping people listen to sermons more effectively. The discrepancy is a telling one about how we view listening to sermons. In the minds of most people, the task of preaching a sermon is considered active, while the task of listening is perceived as passive.

Jesus warned, “Take care then how you hear” (Luke 8:18), and the Gospel writers mention Christ’s exhortation, “He who has ears, let him hear!” fifteen times. The writer of Hebrews warns, “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking” (Heb. 12:25). Without a doubt, Jesus calls his followers to be active listeners to the word of God. Another way to think about it is that sermon listeners are active participants in the sermon. 

You often hear the phrase used: ‘I liked that sermon’ or ‘I didn’t like that sermon.’ The one making the statement has rarely considered their participation in the sermon and their responsibility to help make it more effective through active engagement. What did they do to help, aid, and encourage the preacher, the sermon, and one another?

Some of the problem is rooted in the fact that too many people, including preachers, simply view the sermon as a transfer of information. This viewpoint is one of the reasons why video venue preaching is deemed perfectly acceptable. The idea is to get the most articulate speaker in front of the people through technology, as that will be the most effective way to convey accurate biblical information and application.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones pointed out years ago that watching a video or listening to an audio recording of preaching is not of the same value as attending a physical assembly and hearing a face-to-face sermon within a congregational community. According to him, it detaches the preacher from the sermon listener in a way that the biblical teaching becomes merely informational. 

When the living, embodied transaction between preacher and congregants is broken, you can impart knowledge, but what is left is no longer recognizable as preaching in any normative biblical sense. Lloyd-Jones also noted another problem: the listener can simply turn it off without anyone else knowing.

However, far too often, even when we hear the sermon in a face-to-face context, we respond no differently than if we were watching a video screen. And we do not feel any greater responsibility to be active participants while sitting among the congregation listening to the preacher than we would if we were at home with a laptop open, watching him preach.

Here is the truth: the listeners are participants in the sermons. They are either good or bad ones. Both the preacher and the listener have a vital role to play every Lord’s Day. Not all preaching that is less than it should be is solely the fault of the one doing the preaching. Is it obvious that you are eager to hear the word of God preached? Will you be visibly responsive when you are challenged, convicted, or encouraged?  

I love sports and enjoy watching people watch sports. The college football season will kick off soon, and if you watch our family watch our favorite teams play, it will be evident that we are willing good things to happen for our team. Our bodies are not unengaged. Neither are our emotions. We are not neutral about what’s happening on that field nor are we detached from it. If a win depends on us, our team will win. 

Now, not everyone’s personality is the same, and that is fine. Some people are more demonstrative than others. No one has to show their eagerness and responsiveness to hear the Word of God according to the standard of someone else, but every sermon listener should show it in their way. If everyone in the congregation gathered for Lord’s Day worship with a participatory mindset and took seriously their responsibility to help the sermon that day be what it needs to be, your pastor’s sermons will get better. 

You would find yourself saying more often that the sermon changed you rather than you liked the sermon. That change would encourage your pastor and fellow congregants as you “meet together … all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb 10:25) and, most importantly, glorify the God who speaks in His Word.