Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A bit more on the latter
I feel the need to comment on my last post. It is very easy to complain about the sermon one hears. It is much harder to write and deliver those sermons. I feel acutely aware that quite a few sermon-givers read this blog from time to time and I wish to be sensitive to that. I've never had to give a sermon. Especially not week after week. So I need to be careful when complaining. I just want to clarify that the majority of sermons at my place of worship are hyper-intellectual and belong in adult education, not in the pulpit on Sunday mornings. But this is just my opinion and I am one of hundreds of congregants in those pews. But this raises an important question. What is the role of the sermon? I suppose it's about balance. And about being open to the Spirit. About being bold, yes, but sensitive. Goodness...not easy.
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I've been meaning to comment for days on this. You're right, it is about balance. Some pastors, I think, feel that they have to do be heavy on education in the pulpit becasue the vast majority of folks don't attend any sort of Christian education class. I can appreciate that, and I certainly don't "dumb things down" in the pulpit. However, I understand preaching to be primarily proclaimation, the sharing of the good news.
I think in preaching we're supposed to go beyond what the scripture is "about" and proclaim what the Spirit is wanting to say to the church and to individuals. No, not easy, especially when I get in the way so often!
A colleague of mine wrote this in a Unitarian Universalist ministers' list-serv that I subscribe to. I haven't asked her permission to put her words out here on the internet (though I think she wouldn't mind), so let's just not give ME the credit for this, but know that a wise woman said:
"The preacher's one task in worship is to lift up that worthy of our devoted love so that we can see it in our imagination, feel the charm of its appeal, rejoice in its excellence, recognize and think through intellectually what it asks of us, and resolve faithfully to act accordingly.
The fine sermon will rehearse dramatic events, describe sensuously, compare with realities of lesser worth, bear personal witness, show right understanding, and summon loyalty to ways of worthy living."
I have typed that out and stuck it up on my bookcase beside the computer, to inspire me when sermon writing.
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