The Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the governing document of our denomination, begins with a Preamble that also serves as an affirmation of faith. It reads, in part:
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Within the universal church
we receive the gift of ministry
and the light of scripture.[1]
It’s a small turn of phrase – “the light of scripture” – but it is instructive in how Disciples have approached the Bible. Scripture is a gift received by the church, but the true gift is the light the scripture shines, making it possible for us to see the story of God’s work in the world.
In this project, I explore the role of scripture in Disciples preaching, particularly considering the reality that the sermon is the only time many listeners engage the Bible. How many people come to church, or watch online, and the only time they ever hear the words of scripture is when the preacher steps into the pulpit? How many people think of the Bible as an outdated book of rules that does more harm than good? How many people don’t know the Bible at all?
I am thinking of the people who lost touch with the Bible long ago, or who know the stories simply because of the cultural waters we swim in, or who have never read the Bible before, or who have read it but were clobbered by it, and find themselves skeptical, or curious, or hurt, or angry, or hopeful, or confused. Our sermons may be the only time they encounter the Bible, the only time they hear these ancient words.
How then, should we preach?
Context and Method
After serving in congregational ministry for almost 15 years, I now serve in denominational leadership as the Director of the Proclamation Project, a program to support and equip Disciples preachers which is part of the Lilly Endowment’s Compelling Preaching Initiative. Because my ministry context is rooted in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), I focused on Disciples preaching, though I believe my findings will be helpful to preachers of all traditions.
I approached my project by gathering information through a variety of methods: viewing and analyzing contemporary sermons by Disciples preachers; reading scholarly work on homiletics and biblical preaching; and feedback from a presentation of this material in an earlier form. I then developed a framework of five essential tasks of the preacher: to be convicted, to be a teacher, to be a poet, to be a host, and to be a guide.
Our Place in the Story
What I am suggesting goes beyond what we sometimes term “biblical preaching,” which often focuses on a particular and singular meaning of a text. I propose that we take a more expansive approach to the scriptural text, one that allows us to claim the authority of the Bible while finding our place in its story. Our call is to preach so that the Bible can speak – in all its varied, complicated, and contradictory ways – about the love of God for the world.
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This call also leads us beyond a concern for biblical literacy. The rich young man who comes to Jesus in Mark 10 has studied the scriptures his whole life; that’s not enough for Jesus. Knowing the scriptures was never the point. A transformed life, a redeemed world – that’s the point. Our goal, then, is not to produce biblically literate people. The goal is to help people find their place in the whole story of God.
The framework I’m proposing here is an attempt to help preachers claim the Christian narrative as one that can help us make meaning, inspire communities, transform lives, and even redeem a broken world. It is not a narrative that has all the answers, not a guidebook or a user’s manual for the way we should live. It is a divine love story, with all the complications of any great love. It is a story of an ever-expanding welcome, of a great reversal of the way things are, of a peace that passes understanding. Our task, as preachers, is to believe the good news, invite people in, show them what we’ve found, and help them find their place in the story.
Five Tasks of the Preacher
The preacher must first be convicted. That is, she must be clear on how she understands the authority of scripture and trust that the text can and will speak to her congregation. These texts have been entrusted to us. When we know that there are those among our listeners who have not yet fallen in love with these words, or have fallen out of love with them, or are hearing them for the first time, we have a sacred responsibility to take this task seriously, to bring to it the full depth of our conviction and our faith.
The preacher should then be a teacher who conveys to her listeners that the scriptures often come to life more powerfully when we understand their history, context, and place in the canon.
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Such teaching can happen at the time of the scripture reading itself, to set the stage for what the preacher will say later. Alternatively, the preacher can weave education into the sermon by telling the story in such a way that the literary or historical context is included. Another opportunity is to include a teaching moment at a different time in the service. To let the Bible truly speak, we would do well to give people the tools they need to listen to these ancient words.
She must also be a poet – not one who preaches in rhyming verse, but one who thinks carefully and creatively about the language she chooses. “Poetic speech” insists Walter Brueggemann, “is the only proclamation that is worthy of the name preaching.”[2] Even in our technological age of images, videos, and memes, words are still the primary medium of the preacher.
The challenging paradox, of course, is that anytime we try to convey the vastness of God, our ability to explain the good news is hindered by the limits of human language. Our impossible task is that we are called to use words to describe that which cannot possibly be described with words. We must, then, be poets.
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The preacher should be a host who invites people into the story and makes room, especially for those whose voices have not always been heard. A good party host makes her guests feel welcome, invites them in, shows them around, and lets them know they belong. What if that’s what a good preacher does too?
Tom Long writes, “We are called to proclaim… the gospel narrative, and then to help people let that narrative become the story that shapes, guides, and clarifies their lives and gives them their primary identity.”[3] To help people orient their lives to the gospel narrative, we need to be good hosts who invite people into the story, pay attention to those who are listening, acknowledge the wounds they may be carrying, and make sure everyone is included.
Finally, the preacher must be a guide who points to the divine mystery, makes space for curiosity and questions, and shows us a glimpse of the new world we find when we follow the way of God. We approach the text in such a way that we invite people to join us in something we have found meaningful and beautiful. We create a safe space to voice pain and doubt. And if we do this well, we open the way for people to glimpse the new world we find when we follow the way of God.
photo by the author
This final task of the preacher may be the holiest and the hardest. To serve as a guide to the people of God, pointing out the divine mysteries revealed in the text, opening up the scriptures so that our listeners can wonder and ask questions, to resist the urge toward certainty… all this can help us guide the way to the gospel good news that there is a different way of life God longs to reveal here and now.
Then, by the grace of God, the words will speak.
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Lee Hull Moses is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Proclamation Project, which seeks to support and equip Disciples preachers.
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