"Responding" ain't easy...

I have been helping a friend of mine try to improve her sermons. You would think that after 15 years of responding to writing in constructive ways, this might be a perfect way for me to help her. But I was a little down today because I am finding it so difficult!
For one thing, as we will discuss later in the semester, there are particular challenges when working with a friend's writing. But I am also finding it difficult for the same reasons described in the article "Helping Students with Literary Analysis." How much can we get involved with the content of the writing? On the other hand, how can we NOT address what the writing says?
One thing I know is that this friend has had bad experiences with people judging her writing. She is sensitive. And so I knew that it would take time for me to gain her trust. I told her that I would give her "reader response"--I would not tell her what to do, but I would give her response so that she could hear what her audience is thinking. And then I have given her some tips about how to organize and make sign posts for listeners. I can begin to see some of that taking hold in her writing now.
At the same time, I am so aware of where she needs to go next: content. The textual analysis of a good sermon is very similar to literary analysis. And so I was fascinated to read the scenarios in the article with sermon writing fresh in my mind. I think the tips there on how to teach someone analysis skills are pretty good. I know that one of the biggest leaps college writers make is when they can understand the difference between analysis and summary, and when it is appropriate to use each. Analysis is madeningly hard to teach someone. Students usually make lots of attempts before they have a lightbulb moment and get it.
But as consultants we have to remember who the text belongs to: the writer. It will be the writer who takes the credit or the lumps for how the writing turns out. So how far do we go in dealing with the content?