Intro to Preaching

Preaching

9/7/95: Bartlett Lecture

Preaching claims an importance to the word. This is problematic in a time when the power of words has diminished.  Preaching is 'performing' rather than 'descriptive' words.  For instance, 'I promise' is performing words.  Words make a tremendous difference.  Preaching is more about reshaping people's worlds rather than about describing the world. To Paul, the center of preaching is Christ's cross and resurrection.  In other words, preaching is not about being rational or a case to be made. The content of preaching is the foolishness of the cross, which is not honoured by the world.  Yet the Holy Spirit can use one's preaching to change people.  Preaching is not the only authority of the church (1 Pet.).  The word of God is scripture as interpreted.  Preach for the glory of God rather than ourselves.
There are different gifts among preachers. Look for mentors and then leave them behind.
Preaching is:
1. Biblical.  We are once-removed from the witnesses.  The Bible points us to the witnesses. The Bible is where Jesus is found, but don't worship the Bible. Preaching points to the Bible.  A good sermon uses only a few passages, rather than ten.
2. Occasional.  The purpose is not to make general arguments.  Preaching attends to particular circumstances. 
3. Personal.  Preaching is addressed to real persons.  Think about the 'so what' question. Also, the preacher is a real person.  The Gospel refracted through me is unique, and will reflect my personality.  This does not mean that the sermon is confessional (about my personal difficulties).  Nor am I the hero of the sermon.  There should be a congruence between the me they know during the week and the me preaching.  Be there, but don't have it be about me.
4. Communal.  What is preached comes out of the life of the church: what the church confesses. Preaching should honour as well as stand against my tradition.  The community is both our gift and our problem.  Preaching shapes the congregation.
5. Oral Communication.  Don't use essay words.  Use words which are meant to be spoken. Think about how I talk rather than write.
6. Sacramental.  Preaching 're-presents' the passion. Like the sacraments, it is a means of grace.
7. Multifaceted. Circero: perform, persuade, and delight: functions of oratory.  Preaching can build up through the weeks.
8. The Gospel.  Preaching is Good News.   Don't have many 'oughts' and 'shoulds'.  Preaching is news. A once-in-awhile major announcement.  This alone should have the power to change lives.

9/12/95: Round Table

Sermons due the end of next(not this) week. Buy a vidiotape.

Move away from intellectual demonstration to reflective inquiry.  A sense of power and conviction.  Allow listeners to make discoveries. Preachers themselves can become broken and transformed but said from a distance (not talking about oneself).  Be yourself.  Preaching is not about the Bible.  It is about how the word is manifest in me. Find your own voice. Don't try to sound like the people I admire. Pay attention to the drama in one's own speech. Don't tell folks what they should believe.  Tell them what I believe through stories: tell them what is important to me.  Pay attention to the digesting or fermenting before giving the sermon.  Preaching is a moment of grace in which God's voice is heard. 

9/14/95: Bartlett Lecture

On the influence of Scripture in Preaching:

Scripture has De facto authority in preaching.  De jure: scripture should have authority in preaching.  Barth, in Church Dogmatics, states that there are three forms of the word of God: Jesus (his story is our story), scripture (because it bears witness to Jesus Christ), and preaching (to proclaim Jesus and bear witness to him).  Scripture's value is that it witnesses Jesus Christ.  The primary access we have to the Bible is through preaching, to Barth.  Gadamer, in Truth and Method, states that every interpretation is a conversation.  What we find in the Bible is influenced by our own questions and interpretation.  Mk. emph.s defeat and Jn. emph.s victory.  So, there is conversation within scripture.  Different presuppositions, so not one clear meaning of scripture.  Also, a conversation goes on about scripture.  The great interpreters are not the scholars (doing exegesis) but the performers (re-present the text). 
Barth: three moves in preaching. 1. Explication: read the text in our own context. This comes close to exegesis. 2. Meditation. Think about its teaching and meaning therein. 3. Application to our context. 
Barth has a high view of scriptural authority.  Gadamer is less so, recognizing different roles.
The genre of the text can influence the preaching, making the preaching more various.  For instance, dense stories about Paul and poetic language about Proverbs. 
'Preaching' by the prophets: the prophets did not think of themselves as preachers but as oracles of God.  They see themselves as mouth-pieces of God.  They say what will happen if that which is problematic in the present is not rectified.  It is deeply imagetic poetry.  The life of the believer is mirrored in the life of the cosmos.  When one preaches on the prophets, don't take the role of a prophet vis a vis the audience. I don't have the right to judge and condemn others. Prophetic preaching need not be so.  What is prophetic is to lay hold of the world from God's standpoint.  Think of oneself as God's instrument. 
Preaching and parables.  Parable: something is juxtaposed against another in a story form. The story is there not just to illustrate a higher truth but because the story itself is part of that truth.  So, don't 'paraphrase' a parable into a list of teachings.  The story can be retold in modern dress without going so far as to paraphrase it.  Or, tell the story in biblical dress, being the characters asking our questions.  Or, one can do parables on parables.  'Its kind of like this'...   Don't turn a parable into a set of propositions.
Preaching on legal material.  Bartlett is weary of telling people that they should do.  So, consider that the legal material in scripture follows narrative.  Grace issues a responsibity. 
Preaching the Psalms:  See Patrick D. Miller's book.  Ps. 123 and 139 are usually relevant.  The psalms give us the opportunity to delight. Celebrating God's mercy.
Preaching Wisdom lit.:  Proverbs and says of Jesus.  It is the lit. of common sense in the context of God.  As pertains to social issues, this literature should compliment prophetic text. 
Preaching on Paul: he wrote densely.  Don't be a dense as he is.  Also, simplify because what was obvious to him and his community may not be to us.  Paul deals with the problems of real communities.  So, a good source to preach on church life.  Don't presume that I am Paul; maybe I am listening to Paul too.  Be brief on the context of the letters' communities and Paul's situation.  Find simplified words for Paul's.  Be careful of jargon. 
Don't slip Hebrew or Greek into the sermon.  Don't assume that the lectonary's cut-offs be definitive.  Think of the text in context. Read more of the bible than what is assigned in the lectionary.  Read commentary but don't rely on them.  Read broader books on the subject at hand.  Don't assume that I have different interpretations of a text than someone else.  Sermon's focus: the center of my thought.  Sermon's function: what do I hope the sermon will do.

9/19/95: Marshall Lecture

The lectionary: a planned appropriation of the entire scripture in the context of the church year.  The Common (Protestant) Lectionary is a slight variation on the Roman Catholic three-year lectionary.  There is not necessarily a 'golden thread' holding together the readings. Rather, one needs to look at the place in the church year to get a sense of the theme or context of the selections.  But even though the O.T. reading is selected to be relevant to the Gospel reading, the Epistle is not.  The Epistle readings are called 'course readings' which run like 'mini-courses' through a few weeks rather than being connected to the particular Gospel and O.T. readings of a given week.  So don't try to find a theme connecting the three readings; it would be imposed or projected by me.
On liturgical preaching: don't explain the scripture readings. This is not exegesis.  Don't use theological jargon or Greek.  Rather, consider how I receive these readings in the present context.  Keck, in his book on biblical preaching, states that a sermon is biblical when it has the same effect on me and the congregation as do the scripture readings--making the words real.

9/26/95: Bartlett Lecture

Plan your sermons in advance if in a parish so others can be prepared and so you can use ideas that cover more than one sermon.  Be wary of preaching too much on my favorate topics and texts.  Look for how the text and the parish context can compliment each other or when they go together.
Have set times and places to study for your sermon.  Read chunks of the Bible rather than just what I will use the next Sunday.  Read some newspapers and magazines so contemporary events/conditions can be incorporated or at least in the context of the sermon.  Movies can help too.  Find out what our folk watch and read.  Look at them. 
Have paper with me so I can jot down thoughts at any time.  Then, exegesis of the text.  Don't start with a commentary.  Read the text in its context (the chapters around it).  Exegete the congregation.  Know who they are.  Why do people come to church?  What is going on in the town?  Don't blame them for their business-base, whether it be tobacco or weapons.  Look at the demographics of the folks.  The sermon talk-back: have a group after the service. But be wary of being tired and defensive. Others may want to share their experiences with the sermon being the first testamony.  On issues on sexuality, economics, and morality, don't pretend that I have the answers; rather, open questions.  Bible study group can be used to prepare for the sermon.  Don't have your sermon already prepared before such a group and let folks know that the preacher is the final decision on what goes in.  But note that the group is self-selective and not representative of the people.  They tend to be more churchy. 
Sermons need fermentation.  Let the spirit work in me.  Let it come into my mind.  If one writes the sermon, work it through before hand.  Have a focus and a function.  The focus is the theological thesis.  Have only one per sermon.  Put it non-theological, non-biblical language.  The function of the sermon is really the hope that you have in testifying.  It could be not just a change of thinking or theology, but on a change in feelings or action. 
Structure of the sermon: start with the focus and function.  In other words, when the sermon gets to the right place, organize from there.  Don't be afraid to revise; that which got me started on the sermon may not make it to the final draft.  Introductions and conclusions can be helpful.  Don't be too formal with it.  Second, a verse-by-verse sermon can be useful. Third, tell a story.  Don't say: 'This means...'  Get an image or a problem to center the story on.  Fourth, talk on a problem vis a vis the scripture.
See: David Butler, Homiletic. Stay on an idea long enough for people to get it without going off on a tangent. 
The language: oral speech.  No long words or sentences.  No jargon.  Use active rather than passive words.  Don't use theological language.  Avoid numbers (how the sermon is organized); rather, pause between points.  Don't say 'finally'.   End with an ending that has power but not necessarily volume.  Help people make transitions.  Recognize sensitive issues implicit in the sermon.  Give attention to them.
Test the sermon.  Use a tape-recorder.  Find a test-audience. 
When I begin to preach, there is a gap between what I wrote and what I want to say to them at that moment.  Don't depend on the text of the written sermon.  If I write a sermon, use notes; a text can be too much like an essay or a speech.  For some preachers, not using notes is good.  But it can be tempting to use gimicks.  Different styles for different sermon topics or contexts.  Use eye-contact, but don't stare them down or stare down.  Don't preach something unless I believe that it is very important. 

10/10/95: Ward Lecture

Communication in Preaching:
Reflection should come out of one's own experience.  Religion is about God's self-communication (among other things).  How is it that God communicates within the preaching event?  What is the role of the preacher therein?  The theological question for preaching is in the latter.. Is the preacher's concern represented or is God's represented?  Is growth possible through preaching?  If so, how?  Effectiveness  as defined is to an extent culturally determined.  What might be effective in one culture may not be so in another.  We suffer from a literate culture that is passing.  We assume that literate categories are operative, even though we are really in an electronic culture.  Literally, 'to effect' means to bring into existence an intension or result.   This highlights the intentionality in the sermon.  Thus, it is created within.  The audience and preacher are waiting for something to happen; they are waiting to become disciples.  They are struggling with the apparent emptiness--a lack of meaning.  What is being affected is an absence...a tension which is to be resolved.  What is that which is missing? 
So, there is an intersection between theology and communication. 
There should be a congruence between the voice within us and the outer voice in the sermon.  This involves taking care of one's well-being, listening to ourselves to learn about the voice within.  Don't use preaching to proclaim something I wish I had (or am).  Discontinuity between who I am and what I say I am is not effective.  How do I experience the truth of a particular message.  Also, don't misread the situation; there should be a continuity here as well.  Hidden objectives in preaching: will I succeed?  I shouldn't be up here preaching.  Listen to this hidden voice. 
How doess one achieve congruity between the inner voice and that which speaks in the sermon?  Know myself, my message, and this listener.  The apologizer places undue emphasis on the listener.  His inner voice is saying 'I don't deserve to be here'.  Or, the message has lots of 'may' or 'mights'.  Not clear where the speaker comes down. Exhibitionists rely on their natural gift of speaking without much prepartion.  These speakers put undue emphasis on themselves.  Computers put undue emphasis on the message.  The context doesn't matter to them.  In these types, there is a discord between the inner voice and the preaching voice.  Attention to the preacher, the message, and the audience is not in balance.  We preach because we like it.  We are dependent upon the relation we have to the listener to come out in the preaching event.  I should become available in the sermon.  In the event of speaking, I am available to the Spirit of God. 
Energy is important here.  Did the involvement in the listener match the intensity of how something was said.  Concentrate the energy of the speaker into the listeners.  Energy must be matched with intentionality.  Look at the introduction, for instance.  It should start a fire.  In the main body, doI identify the transitions in the sermon?  To sustain energy, be aware of where I am making a shift during the sermon, so when it happens, I can gain energy from it.  
Awareness: was it just statements or pronouncements?  If so the listeners were probably not contacted.   Vocals and body language get at this.  Be aware of the listeners. 
Strength: in what ways does my language or body-language convey the message?  Where did the clarity of the sermon come from?  How is the personhood of the preacher perceived.  Did the preacher seem to be saying one thing and actually feeling otherwise?
Preachers develop a niche from their culture.  Because what is authentic (style) for one often exceeds that niche, one's ability to preach can grow by bracketing one's niche (world-view from one's tradition) and trying out another style which will be new but within our authenticity (who we are).  It might even enlarge who I am.  This is a way of breaking the monopoly that my voice has in my sermon.    

10/17/95: Harry Adams Lecture

Illustration:
There is pressure to speak the language of formal theology.  C.S. Lewis: translate theology into vulgar English.  Theological jargon is not the language of preaching.  So don't stay with thinking in abstractions; articulate a story. 
Why it is important to use illustrative material:  First, biblical preaching requires specifics.  In the sermon on the mount, for instance, there are fifty-four metaphors.  Very specific objects are included.  In the parables, there are stories.  Use specifics of human experience as a metaphor.  Losing a sheep or a coin, for instance.  He found his material from the people around him.  So, use the present context as grist for illustration.  Stuff of ordinary life.  Specific and concrete language.  Second, illustration involves the whole person.  We are more moved by picture than by rational argument.  In preaching, speak not with ideas but with images.  So rather than giving  a lecture on ethics, tell a story.  Third, illustrations prompt interest. People like a story.  People are interested in gossip--the language about people.  Fourth, there are two poles of the preaching event: biblical and current times.  Illustration can bring these two into a dialectic. For instance, the theology of the incarnation--God is not an abstract principle but is discerned primarily by what He does in the world.  God came into the world. One can understand the meaning of a term far more by seeing what is done with it than with being told what it means.  Repitition of a word is not sufficient; it has to be embodied.  Don't give me a definition; show me.   What it looks like.  Fifth, illustration helps people to remember.  A vivid metaphor rather than three points. 
How do I use illustration?  Don't use too many.  A sermon can be one narrative.  But a series of stories can be too many.  Simplicity is a virtue.  Be sparce about illustration.  Don't drag out the contextual details.  Use some judgment on the use of sentiment.  Avoid the strange. Don't try to liberate an audience by offending them.  Don't streach a distort a story to make my point.  But one can create a story that fits my point.  But don't pass it off as if it really happened.  If you have to explain a story, then it really didn't work.   Avoid repeating my favourite story.  Use words that are specific and concrete.  Something pointing to a thing one can taste, smell, or see.  I can see a frying pan but not a cooking utensil.  Be careful about adjectives.  'Good' and 'nice' can be too broad.  Watch the verbs because they carry alot.  Use 'he strove' rather than 'he moved'; more specific.  Poetry can be used, but it can be hard to grasp.  It is hard to read it.  On quotations: don't use them if for the following reasons: They show my arrogance.  They gain authority for what I want to say.  But just because someone said it does not mean it is more legitimate.  What the audience cares about is what I believe.  But, use a quotation--a brief statement--if it gets my point across very well and better than I can do using my words.  Humor is appropriate.  Watch the off-color humor.  Use humor upon meeting a new audience to get aquainted with them, but don't start off every speech to the same audience with it.  It will look fake.  On sources: avoid my family or personal life.  Rather, use ordinary life.  Don't overuse 'I'.  Be careful of confidence if the experience of others is used.  Even if I don't mention names, telling something confidential could but people off from sharing with me in the future.  Keep folders on particular themes or topics or seasons.

10/31/95: Harry Adams Lecture

Authority in Preaching:
What right do I have to claim the pulpit?  What kind of authority does the preacher have?  Where does the authority come from?  Law? Position? The will of the organization?  Force?  The person?  What is the range on that authority?  Fame extends the range.  What is the legitimate range of authority? 
A preacher's authority should be appropriate for the task of the preacher.   Inappropriate extremes: coming to the pulpit reluctantly to claim his authority, for instance.  'Come now, let us reason together'.  I don't really have anything to say so lets share...  Moreover, has preaching been a corruption of the Gospel over the centuries?   There may be good reasons to be reluctant to use the pulpit.  The emphasis on the ministry of the laity of late can minimize the role of the preacher.  The problem with this view: it minimizes the impact of what can be realized in preaching. Assumption: a failure to claim what is rightfully that of the preacher.   On the other extreme, preachers can take too much authority.  'When my church called me...'   Master of one's church.  I'm here to inform you and correct you rather than reason with you.  The problem with this view: it puts an impossible demand on the preacher.  It distorts the relationship between the people and the pastor.  It denies the appropriate responsibility of the laity.  It distorts the meaning of the faith. 
Adams: a middle position.  We all live by faith and so no one has absolute authority.  We live in a dynamic interaction of fields of authority, so we look to multiple sources of authority.  For instance, Scripture.  Preaching looks to it for authority and style.  But, who interprets scripture?  So, there is the community of faith as an authority.  This community is informed by and informs scripture.  Tradition is another source of authority.  The personal appropriation is also a source of authority.  Certain words of scripture, certain interpretations of the community, and certain traditions speak to me and others don't.  This complex interaction of fields of authority is where we find ourselves.  In the midst of these fields, we seek the Spirit of God.  Adams: authority is ambigious. 
What are the sources of the preacher's authority?  It comes from the community.  The community claims that the candidate is fit.  The faith of the community is a source of the proclamation.  Scripture is also a source.  Also, tradition and personal conviction.  Our own conviction is an important source of authority for the preacher.  The authenticity of our faith can serve as a source.  Our own self is an important dynamic in our sense of authority.  Pastoral care can serve as a source.  A preacher can do more radical preaching which is disagreed with after the congregaton knows that you really care about them.  The Spirit of God is a source of preaching. 
The style of our authority.  It ought not be coercive.  We are not policemen.  You can't scare people into your way of believing things.  So, use a persuasive style.  The authority is that of a vision of God in the midst of their life.  The style ought to be appropriate to the occasion.  Even Paul had a humble moment.  If it is a controversial issue, be humble.   There are other times when we can claim that this is the will of God.  Don't say 'perhaps' or 'maybe' in this context.  It follows that the mood of preaching is indicative rather than imperative.  It is the authority of the indicative that the preacher exercises.  The primary mood should be a witness to what God has done rather than what others ought to do.  The beatitudes are announcements rather than imperatives of behavior.  People work out the implications of how they ought to live.  So, the task of preaching is not to order people but to help them to know God.  It is not to pressure people.  So, give a vision, calling people to be who they are.  So, avoid the 'musts', 'shoulds', and 'lets'.  Instead, say 'you are able'.

11/28/95: David Bartlett Lecture

The Funeral Sermon:
Preach on a text rather than on the achievements of the dead person.  Preach the text in light of the life of the dead person.  Preach for the living; comfort them.  Preach for those closest to the dead person, rather than myself.  Be honest about them but don't be mean.  The purpose is to remember the person as a child of God.  This includes negatives.  Don't use the  funeral to do my grief work. 

Preaching on Social Issues:
Silence itself is a statement.  So, they can't be avoided.  If silent, then it is saying that that Church understands that such issues are personal and handled by each individual outside the door.  Preaching on particular issues carries with it a legislative aspect.  Preachers should attend to the different points of view in the congregation.  Don't shut out other points of view.  Assp: preaching unavoidably involves social issues.  The Gospel impells us to ask: what is God doing in history.  A dialectical relationship between the Bible and social issues; neither is definitive.  The New Testament was written for the marginized, but now the church is the powers that be.  The churches can effect social change.  Also, when we interpret the Bible, we always bring our own perspective to it.  Same holds with our view on social issues.  Need to acknowledge not only my view and those of others in the congregation, but other views, as well as those in the Bible.  With the latter, it's context needs to be distinguished from mine. 
On what text to use:  The Prophets.  Speciifcally, look at Amos.  In the prophets, the word stands over against us in saying where God is working in the world today.  Our limitations notwithstanding, we can still wrestle with this question.  Stand over against the Kingdom of this world and ask what God is doing.  Wisdom lit: it asks, what is the world doing, rather than what is God doing.  Preaching can help us understand what is going on in the world. Consult experts in the appropriate field.  The Beatitudes: 'Blessed is the...' implies action.  The Parables: stories involve us which means that we can look at the world differently from them.  For instance, the good Semaritan.  This is a story within the story of Jesus and a lawyer which in turn is in the story of Luke.  Jesus never says who the lawyer's neighbor is.  Rather, he tells him what to do.  The good Semeritan story: compassion is complex; avoidance is simple.  Who is the congregation in the parable?  Paul: issues of inclusivity are relevant: how open should authority in the church be?  The situation and the hope are in the already-not yet dialectic.  Pure love, or agape, is impossible here, but Paul is trying to work toward it.  Vision and reality in a dialectic.  How do we get along with our enemies? How do we get along in a group with folks who differ from us?
On the Community in preaching on social issues:  preaching builds congregations, not just individual faith.  Building congregations can involve the preaching of social issues.  What the preacher thinks is a clear-cut issue may not be so for others.  Don't pretend that I have a direct line from the Lord.  What are the issues on which I am willing to sacrifice my job. Not every issue. 
Pastoral perspective:  when do I risk my job?  Not in my first sermon.  The care I give to other individuals is relevant here in what I will be allowed to say.  Avoid talk of 'ought'.  It is a turn-off.  Also, don't say 'don't forget'.  We are invited to love our neighbors; we are not told to do so.  So, don't tell others what to do. 
Public and Private Grounds:  Christian vs. the Other.  Or, finding common cause in the light of common values.  Not everyone has to love Jesus before there is a better social order.