How to Preach a Curse

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A few years back, a colleague asked about how to preach a curse.

First Impressions

  1. You must always make sure your incense cauldrons are thoroughly clean to avoid stale odors that might turn off any seekers who come to your services. I have found Apple & Spice incense from DeMarco™ the best overall product that does not stain cauldrons yet is attractive to Baby-Busters as well as Generation X.
  2. Practicing such words as BrrrrrrrrrrrmStooone!!! In front of a full length mirror is helpful. In today’s modern see through pulpits, the GQ preacher needs to be fully aware as to how his suit looks when swinging his fist into the pulpit. Powerful curse words, like those above, seem to empower the voice with such spiritual fervor as to cause embarrassing positions. This is even truer for those daring preachers who use lapel mikes and no pulpit. When selecting vestments, black is the color of choice.
  3. Always make sure your sermon titles have a positive tone. Curses are best delivered as a surprise. Don’t let your title show your cards before you are ready to play.
  4. If your finger doesn’t naturally crook when you point it, a plastic surgeon will help. Dr. Dyincrook of Hellspont, NM, 1-900-555-1234, will give ministers a 32% discount on all surgeries of this nature. Remember, when pointing your finger during delivery, small children and young mothers will gasp the loudest. Do not hesitate to make full eye contact. For the mature preachers of curses, the two-finger gesture is a powerful weapon in the arsenal.
  5. Finally, when delivering a curse it is best to use Ouiji Board methods of biblical interpretation. Allow your finger, crooked if possible, to float above the biblical text for no more than 41 seconds. When the spirit takes control, you will be guided to the best proof texts available. This also is effective with US News and World Report and Rolling Stone. Further research needs to be conducted with other genres.

After preaching a series of sermons on curses, you may want to take a mental break so you can restore your creative juices. Suggested reading: Elizabeth Achtemeier, So You’re Looking for a New Preacher. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991.

Second Take

  1. Von Rad, Old Testament Theology, p. 392 refers to G. Bornkamm, “Das Anathema in der urchristliche Abendmahlstheologie,” in Das Ende des Gesetzes: Paulusstudien, Munich 1952, pp. 123ff. Von Rad compares curses with the anathema. See G. Bornkamm, “The Anathama in the Early Christian Lord’s Supper Tradition,” in Early Experience ET, 1966, 169-79.
  2. Closely related is a sermon by Willimon in Preaching to Strangers, p. 91. This sermon is from Amos 5:18 “Woe to you who desire the Day of the Lord.”
  3. I think you may want to balance curse with blessing in many contexts. Scripture maintains a dual look at judgment and hope.
  4. See Brichto, H. C. “The Problem of ‘Curse’ in the Hebrew Bible.” Journal of Biblical Literature Monograph Series 13. Philadelphia: SBL, 1963.
  5. See Westermann, C. “Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church.” Overtures to Biblical Theology Series. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978.
  6. Fee and Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All its Worth, pg. 182ff has a section on imprecatory Psalms as well as Osborne’s Hermeneutical Spiral, pg. 185. See also Fee and Stuart pg. 151-152. Kleine, Bloomburg, Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics state that imprecatory Psalms should be seen as hyperbole.
  7. Finally, the best source I’ve read is from chapter 7 of J. Clinton McCann, A Theological Introduction to the Book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah, Abingdon, 1993, is a longer treatment than given in the sources above.

For Example

1 Cor. 16:22 reads, “Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. Our Lord come!” I would keep the text in the larger narrative framework of the letter. Many warnings are given to those who do not conform to the teachings Paul presents in the letter. See 1 Cor 3:17; 5:4-5; 6:9-10; 11:29; 14:38. I would want to answer the question, “Is Paul cursing some at Corinth?” Or, “Is Paul calling upon the Lord to deliver divine judgment?” Either way, God will be the primary actor in the curse. Furthermore, each passage cited above is found in the larger narrative framework of Paul’s relationship with the church at Corinth, and God’s larger salvation history with God’s people.

For the OT texts, I would keep cursees in the context of covenant theology. Within that framework, I would not hesitate to preach a strong message of judgment. We cannot preach peace when there is no peace. With the dual focus of curse/blessing found in the OT, the sermon could easily correlate the message with judgment/hope. Many of the texts under discussion have in context conditional phrasing intended to offer alternative ways of being in God’s world. A helpful understanding for me comes from Blu Greenberg, “Deuteronomy 1-34: Hear, O Israel: Law and Love in Deuteronomy,” In Preaching Biblical Texts: Expositions by Jewish and Christian Scholars. Edited by Fredrick C. Holmgren and Herman E. Schaalman. Eerdmans, 1995.

From my notes above you will note my tendency to research how the genre functions within scripture. If you can think about complex texts like curses with wisdom and discernment, then those habits will serve you well throughout the homiletical process. While my “first impressions” might make sense to me when I draw upon my intuition and experience, my “second take” encourages me to seek out advice from those who have studied the issues. Therefore, when encountering any genre in scripture, always pursue the “second take” and research carefully the subject at hand.

Bibliography

[1] G. P. C. Hale, “Social-Scientific Research in the Many Uses of Dry Ice,” Hicksgeschick 176, (October 1954): 123-241, gives unverifiable and deniable evidence to the contrary that dry ice is 41% less effective than incense for audiences who earn more than $355,000.  Other demographics can be found that more accurately reflect your congregational makeup.

[2] See Johnny Sensing, “Let Your Fingers Doing the Walking,” Sensing  Enterprises -1 (Fifth Quarter 1999): 34-21.