Preparing to preach
20/11/15 05:08
I have been privileged to have my life touched by a number of brilliant teachers. Some of them touched me through regular class work in college, university and seminary settings. Some of them have changed my life by the words they have written and by observations of them from afar.
One of those who has taught me from a distance, and who may be the most influential theologian on my preaching is Walter Brueggemann. When I was a student at Chicago Theological Seminary, he was professor of Old Testament at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. As I began to realize the impact of his writings on my life he moved to Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. My visits to the American south have been few and far between. I have listened in the crowd while Brueggemann addressed clergy meetings, continuing education events, church conferences and the United Church of Christ’s biennial national gathering, General Synod.
Each time I preach on Genesis, 1 & 2nd Samuel, or the prophet Jeremiah, I turn to Brueggemann’s books first. Whenever I do, I am reminded by his direction to pulpit preachers to read beyond the lectionary. Look beyond your assigned texts, learn their context, understand how they are part of a whole. Read the whole Bible and read it again and again. I remember clearly watching a video of a presentation that Dr. Brueggemann delivered in Hartford Connecticut in 2007. I was in the city at the time, but had been asked to lead workshops that day and was not able to be present when he spoke so I purchased the video and watched it later. At one point he addressed the lectionary preachers in the room and looked directly into the camera. I could feel my cheeks burn as I listened. It was as if he was speaking directly to me and he understood me perfectly. I have no idea whether or not my congregation sensed the change in my preaching, but I made a lot of changes right away.You will find me reading long passages of scripture out loud in the sanctuary of the church when no one is present, developing an intimacy with texts that are beyond my usual cycle of preaching. Stirring up the mix.
In 2010, Brueggemann published a small book on preaching: “The Word Militant: Preaching a Decentering Word.” In the book he reads, in the Gospel of John a great legal argument over who Jesus really is: Jesus isn’t the one on trial in our world today, but each one of us is called to testify. Perhaps the contemporary church is the place where all of us are on trial. What do we really say and believe about Jesus? What is the truth to which we belong? Brueggemann says that we're not dealing with intellectual or theoretical things here, but with "a way of being in the world in suffering and hope, so radical and so raw that we can scarcely entertain it.” Could people say that about the way we live our lives, as disciples of Jesus in our church today?
I turned to Brueggeman this week in search of a way to present the relatively short passage of the Gospel that is the focus of my sermon on Christ the King Sunday. On the last Sunday of the Church Year our Gospel text is John 18:33-37, a short slice out of the trial of Jesus before Pilate. Brueggemann warns against preaching the message of the wider culture - simply affirming what is said on television and read in the newspapers. He reminds us of how radical the message of Jesus really is in our complacent world.
I have lived through decades of church leaders (and often myself) downplaying Christ the King Sunday. We’ve never lived in a monarchy. I don’t know what it means to have a king. In the height of the changes in language use, I’ve referred to the day as “Reign of Christ” and to Jesus as “Sovereign over all the world,” to transform the way we think about Jesus role in the world as leader not of some ancient cultures in far away places, but contemporary ruler of the world. For Pilate, however, Jesus portrayed as a king is exactly what gets his attention. He understands well those who rule by fear. It is the Roman way. It is how Herod has kept Pilate under his thumb for all of his political career. Pilate has much to fear: loss of position, prestige, wealth, home and even his life. Herod can order him destroyed and carry that order out without a moment’s hesitation.
As we read the brief description of the trial, we realize that Jesus’ simple answer is just what Pilate needs to hear. Just as when he spoke with the woman at the well, Jesus calls Pilate to look at himself as he really is and choose to become something different. He simply says, “But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
Jesus is not one to rule by fear. He is not a king in the way that the kings of this earth are kings. He is something entirely different. And we are called to reject the way the world does business.
How stark our world stands in this light, with politicians and would-be presidents and governors speaking of fear and trying to make us afraid in every speech. They loudly proclaim that we are fools not to be afraid.
All I want to say is don’t look of Jesus on the ballot. “You say that I am a king, for this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate comes close, but he is unable to conquer his fear. He is unable to come clean in the face of the powers of this world. He is unable to see something beyond the reign of the Roman Empire.
We have inherited this story. We have been offered the option of making a different choice. We don’t have to submit to the rule of fear.
Would that I can find the words to say this clearly to the people that I love so dearly - the ones who worship with me each week in the hope that I might, on occasion, utter words of truth.
One of those who has taught me from a distance, and who may be the most influential theologian on my preaching is Walter Brueggemann. When I was a student at Chicago Theological Seminary, he was professor of Old Testament at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. As I began to realize the impact of his writings on my life he moved to Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. My visits to the American south have been few and far between. I have listened in the crowd while Brueggemann addressed clergy meetings, continuing education events, church conferences and the United Church of Christ’s biennial national gathering, General Synod.
Each time I preach on Genesis, 1 & 2nd Samuel, or the prophet Jeremiah, I turn to Brueggemann’s books first. Whenever I do, I am reminded by his direction to pulpit preachers to read beyond the lectionary. Look beyond your assigned texts, learn their context, understand how they are part of a whole. Read the whole Bible and read it again and again. I remember clearly watching a video of a presentation that Dr. Brueggemann delivered in Hartford Connecticut in 2007. I was in the city at the time, but had been asked to lead workshops that day and was not able to be present when he spoke so I purchased the video and watched it later. At one point he addressed the lectionary preachers in the room and looked directly into the camera. I could feel my cheeks burn as I listened. It was as if he was speaking directly to me and he understood me perfectly. I have no idea whether or not my congregation sensed the change in my preaching, but I made a lot of changes right away.You will find me reading long passages of scripture out loud in the sanctuary of the church when no one is present, developing an intimacy with texts that are beyond my usual cycle of preaching. Stirring up the mix.
In 2010, Brueggemann published a small book on preaching: “The Word Militant: Preaching a Decentering Word.” In the book he reads, in the Gospel of John a great legal argument over who Jesus really is: Jesus isn’t the one on trial in our world today, but each one of us is called to testify. Perhaps the contemporary church is the place where all of us are on trial. What do we really say and believe about Jesus? What is the truth to which we belong? Brueggemann says that we're not dealing with intellectual or theoretical things here, but with "a way of being in the world in suffering and hope, so radical and so raw that we can scarcely entertain it.” Could people say that about the way we live our lives, as disciples of Jesus in our church today?
I turned to Brueggeman this week in search of a way to present the relatively short passage of the Gospel that is the focus of my sermon on Christ the King Sunday. On the last Sunday of the Church Year our Gospel text is John 18:33-37, a short slice out of the trial of Jesus before Pilate. Brueggemann warns against preaching the message of the wider culture - simply affirming what is said on television and read in the newspapers. He reminds us of how radical the message of Jesus really is in our complacent world.
I have lived through decades of church leaders (and often myself) downplaying Christ the King Sunday. We’ve never lived in a monarchy. I don’t know what it means to have a king. In the height of the changes in language use, I’ve referred to the day as “Reign of Christ” and to Jesus as “Sovereign over all the world,” to transform the way we think about Jesus role in the world as leader not of some ancient cultures in far away places, but contemporary ruler of the world. For Pilate, however, Jesus portrayed as a king is exactly what gets his attention. He understands well those who rule by fear. It is the Roman way. It is how Herod has kept Pilate under his thumb for all of his political career. Pilate has much to fear: loss of position, prestige, wealth, home and even his life. Herod can order him destroyed and carry that order out without a moment’s hesitation.
As we read the brief description of the trial, we realize that Jesus’ simple answer is just what Pilate needs to hear. Just as when he spoke with the woman at the well, Jesus calls Pilate to look at himself as he really is and choose to become something different. He simply says, “But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
Jesus is not one to rule by fear. He is not a king in the way that the kings of this earth are kings. He is something entirely different. And we are called to reject the way the world does business.
How stark our world stands in this light, with politicians and would-be presidents and governors speaking of fear and trying to make us afraid in every speech. They loudly proclaim that we are fools not to be afraid.
All I want to say is don’t look of Jesus on the ballot. “You say that I am a king, for this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate comes close, but he is unable to conquer his fear. He is unable to come clean in the face of the powers of this world. He is unable to see something beyond the reign of the Roman Empire.
We have inherited this story. We have been offered the option of making a different choice. We don’t have to submit to the rule of fear.
Would that I can find the words to say this clearly to the people that I love so dearly - the ones who worship with me each week in the hope that I might, on occasion, utter words of truth.