“All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.” "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.” Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum. "I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown.'" (Luke 4: 22-24)
One applications springs to mind about internet sermons. Everbody thought Jesus' sermons were great, apart from his own hometown. They did at first, but then it began to sink in who was speaking - Joseph's son, you know, the carpenter's boy.
I listen to podcast sermons all the time (I'm listening to one by Alister Begg at the moment!?) so I think they can be a really useful resource. However, the reaction Jesus gets in Luke 4 shows why they are becoming so popular.
Here's some thoughts from Luke 4:
1. This is all about Jesus right? Perhaps I'm just jealous that people only google 'smuts' for all the wrong reasons.
2. There is distance involved. In Nazareth they loved what Jesus had said all over Galilee. So too it is great to listen to Matt Chandler (or whoever) giving to the Village Church (or wherever) right between the eyes. Scripture is testimony itself to the fact that we can be challenged by overhearing God's messenger speaking to someone else. Nevertheless in listening to a sermon via the internet extra distance has been placed between speaker and hearer. It is so much easier to listen to X preaching to them, than to listen to my Pastor preaching to me.
3. It is less personal. It is easier to take a challenge from someone you don't know and will never meet. For a start it tends to stay in the abstract. Secondly, I'm totally in charge in how I apply the sermon to my life. The speaker has no come back to me. He can't point out that I've completely ignored the main theme of the passage. It is one thing when Mark Driscoll looks all of Seattle in the eye and gives a clear call to commitment and service. It is quite another when your Pastor asks you to teach in Kids' church.
4. It can encourage a cult of celebrity. This can happen in large churches as well as with the internet. I noticed this a bit in Scotland where roughly a thousand people would turn up on a Sunday morning. Even in Cheltenham I discovered that some wouldn't bother coming when I wasn't preaching ... or was that when I was preaching? When the sheer size of the number of people listening produces too much distance between preacher and listener it is very easy to put the preacher on a pedestal.
However, in a small or medium sized local church the preacher is close enough to touch - you get to know him week in and week out. All his faults and weaknesses. He's just like you really. Suddenly he's not so impressive. Why bother listening to him? He's just Joseph's son.
That's not to say that those things must happen when you listen on line. Just things to be watch out for.
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