It is a universal practice in Christian churches that pastors deliver sermons to their congregations, usually on a weekly basis. They study passages from the Bible – sometimes drawn from a lexicon, sometimes arbitrarily selected - and usually base their sermons on the Biblical text. Even though the same text may be used on a specific day or occasion, the messages delivered will likely be quite different from one another. That will depend on the particular situations and concerns of those delivering the sermons. And even though pastors have experienced training in seminaries, the extent of their scholarship is likely to differ. Some will study the original text in Greek or Hebrew; some will not. Some will rely on the textual criticism they were encouraged to employ; some will not. Some will refer to the historical context; some will not.
It is disappointing when the Biblical passage is read and referenced as though it had no context, as though it possessed a flat existence commensurate with everything else in the Bible. The reality is that all of the Biblical writings were written and assembled at various points in time, inspired by diverse events, responding to different conditions, soliciting dissimilar responses. For example, the prophets of the Old Testament appeared and spoke in Israel and Judah at various time before and after the Exile – so their messages differed, depending on the situations they were addressing. The New Testament Revelation of John on the island of Patmos reflected the persecution of the Christians by the Roman authorities – and encouraged steadfastness in the faith. It was not forecasting events that would take place a couple of thousand years later as some hairbrained preachers would have you believe.
When clergy people stand before their congregations to impart some wisdom to their attendees, they owe their audience good scholarship and instructive material for the time being spent. They need to provoke thought about the mission they have undertaken together as a group. The message needs to be relevant to and consistent with experience outside of the church. It needs to be well-informed and to meet the standard of good logic. And it needs to be based on good scholarship.