Patton on Preaching
“Whenever Patton arrived at a new post, he lost no time asserting his influence. He summoned the chaplain and bluntly told him that his sermons were too long. ‘I don’t yield to any man in my reverence to the Lord, but… no sermon needs to take longer than 10 minutes. I’m sure you can make your point in that time.’ The following Sunday morning Patton appeared in the front pew and ostentatiously took out his watch when the chaplain began his sermon. Exactly ten minutes later the chaplain concluded his sermon. The troops were delighted.”
Carlo D’Este, Patton: A Genius for War, (New York: Harper Collins, 1995), 368.
I do not condemn sermons that are longer than 10 minutes. I simply found this account humorous as I read through this biography of General George Patton.
About The Author
I think most sermons on the Gospel lesson can be relatively shorter, since the stories are usually familiar, and little background information needs to be explained in detail.
When I preach on the OT or on the Psalms, I find that the sermon needs to be a bit longer, since folks usually have less working knowledge of the background of these.