Here is an acid test for a sermon: Will it hold up if you change the setting from a public to a person-to-person situation? Take away the pulpit, the pews, the choir. Move to a kitchen table. You're on one side and a couple of your friends are on the other. Notice how things change: the volume of your voice and the frequency of your gestures decrease. Your theology becomes more modest, less confident. Notice your increased concern for the response of the listeners and, perhaps, even a request for their help in this vital quest for God's word, God's love, God's peace.