HomileticalSensings

Blog

  • What is the Kingdom Like?

    Focus: The kingdom of God is revealed yet mysterious, hidden yet powerful seen in mustard seed ministries.

    Function: To provoke this congregation to start one mustard-seed act of love this week, trusting God, not their own skill, for its growth.

    Reading: Mark 4:10–13

    Now that is a tough passage. Listen again,

    ‘they may indeed look but not perceive,
    and may indeed hear but not understand;
    so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”

    Now that’s one of the more complex sayings of Jesus to understand. Jesus essentially says, “I teach in parables so that they cannot understand.” The parable collection of 4:1–34 is the longest Marcan discourse of the Galilean ministry, organized around the secret of the Kingdom. The disciples’ ability to hear does not depend on special perceptiveness; they too need further explanation (4:34). And sometimes, the simplest of stories push people away. How often the story of good news is the aroma of death to many. And wide is the road and broad is the gate for those who listen to the parables.

    And parables are tough to hear. They often call us to strange ways of seeing the world. The everyday American who operates via capitalism—the exchange formula of economics, where an honest day’s work for a fair wage will not pay the last day hour workers the same wage as the person who works all day. He would go bankrupt.

    • And the farmer does not sow seed on rocky or thorny ground.
    • The shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to search for one would be fired for reckless management for endangering the other 99.
    • The farmer who lets weeds grow alongside the wheat until harvest would be accused of neglecting his crop.
    • The businessman who entrusts his entire fortune to servants and leaves town without accountability would be courting disaster.
    • The judge who grants justice only because a widow refuses to stop pestering him would be criticized for failing to do his job. His verdict would be appealed to a higher court.

    Such lack of common sense, human logic, and basic economics makes the parables hard to understand and turns people away from the Gospel. This is not what you read in textbooks or learn at school. Why? Because the very story of Jesus is a parable.

    • In order to be first, you must become last.
    • In order to be great, you must become a servant.
    • In order to gain your life, you must lose it.
    • In order to be exalted, you must humble yourself.
    • In order to overcome your enemies, you must love them.
    • In order to inherit the kingdom, you must become like a child.
    • A king whose throne is a cross.
    • A Messiah whose victory is death.
    • A kingdom where the poor, the meek, and the persecuted are called blessed.
    • A Gospel in which death is the doorway to life.

    Foolishness! Paul says that the Gentiles call it foolishness!

    Christianity deliberately overturns the world’s common sense. Parables challenge our assumptions about how the world works. That is precisely what can make the Gospel either offensive and unbelievable or radically compelling. Understanding depends on relationship with Jesus. The hardening is descriptive of a refusal to attend rather than God’s decree of exclusion, and that is Jesus’ own interpretation in verse 22 “nothing hidden except to be disclosed.”

    So, parables do not decorate truth. Learning what the kingdom is like requires faith and discipleship. What is the kingdom like? It is like lamps and seeds. What might lamps and seeds promise us? Perhaps faith sprouting in hearts, ministries shining on lampstands, churches displaying God’s glory.

    And Today’s Text

    A Lamp under a Bushel Basket

    21 He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket or under the bed and not on the lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 If you have ears to hear, then hear!” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and it will be added to you. 25 For to those who have, more will be given, and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”

    The Parable of the Growing Seed

    26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.”

    The Parable of the Mustard Seed

    30 He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

    The Use of Parables

    33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

    The request comes to me about once each year. The last time was from my brother, an elder in a church in North Carolina. “Do you have a curriculum for us to reach out to the community that works? What is the latest program that will help us grow?” In many ways, this honest and sincere inquiry is asking for a magic formula or miracle cure. And the long history of Christianity pushes back. You cannot engineer the Gospel. And let’s be honest, the parables push back.

    Jesus says, the kingdom is about lamps because lamps shed light. AND disclosure—coming to light, shining the light (4:22), is the purpose of revelation. Jesus is not trying to hide the nature of the kingdom but to illuminate it; a lamp is brought in to be put on the lampstand. You do not hide it under a basket or a bed. Such a practice might end up burning the house down. God does not intend to keep his good news available only to a select few. Many ministries are like that too, plain, small, easy to overlook, never meant to stay hidden. The exhortation “pay attention to what you hear” (4:24) is key: the attentiveness of listeners is the real issue. This is Mark’s version of “ask . . . seek . . . knock” (Matt 7:7–8). God is willing to reveal the kingdom to willing seekers. And as God, by grace, gives you the kingdom, you best pay attention. With gratitude should come responsibility to nurture the faith that has come to them as gift.

    The measure (4:24–25): Jesus calls his listeners to pay careful attention to how they hear. Those who receive the word with openness and eagerness will gain greater understanding—”and still more will be given.” But those who refuse to listen will eventually lose even what little understanding they have. The disciples are blessed because they have received the news of the kingdom, but that receptivity also carries a responsibility: those who have been given much are expected to respond faithfully through changed practices, virtuous living, flourishing ministries.

    So, Jesus says, take seeds for example. The Kingdom of God are like seeds because seeds are full of promise! As any good gardener knows, one can plant seeds carefully, water, and fertilize, but the key transformation happens mysteriously, underground, beyond our observations and control. The tiny dry seed goes beneath the soil, time passes without any observable changes. Even here the farmer has so little to do with making the seed grow that in the parable the gardener sleeps through the process of sprouting and maturation. The kingdom of God is like a sleeping gardener. And suddenly a small green plant emerges and the harvest is great.

    Faith perceives the promise of the seed. Like the flourishing of the plant that sprouts from the seed, all creation flourishes by the power of our Creator God. The flourishing of the kingdom of God is God’s doing. Preachers can preach, teachers can teach, Christians of all sorts can provide good examples of faith and upright conduct. But conversion to Christian faith does not follow neat recipes. It happens, indeed, underground, in the heart, by the hand of God.

    There is no way to proclaim the kingdom that ensures its fruitfulness. Teaching about the kingdom is necessary, but neither parables, straightforward explanations, miracles, nor compelling sermons can guarantee its reception.

    There is promise in these parables—still the kingdom grows! Seemingly on its own the seed sprouts and bears fruit, though the implication of who gives the mysterious growth is clear. The kingdom will grow, but not by human design: not by the clearest communication, not by overwhelming proof, not by the greatest skill, and certainly not by force. You cannot legislate the Gospel. The promise of the harvest is in the seed itself. The Kingdom may come quietly, followed by the harvest (4:29). And when it does, it can be quite amazing and dramatic. A mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds in Palestine at the time, can produce a bush nine or ten feet high, a promise no farmer would have guessed by looking at the seed in his hand.

    As Daniel said, speaking about being in exile

    There was a tree at the center of the earth,

    And its height was great.

    The tree grew great and strong,

    Its top reached to heaven,

    And it was visible to the ends of the whole earth.

    Its foliage was beautiful,

    Its fruit abundant,

    And it provided food for all.

    The animals of the field found shade under it,

    The birds of the air nested in its branches,

    And from it all living beings were fed.

    —(Dan. 4:10–12)

    As Ezekiel said, speaking about being in exile

    Thus says the Lord God: I myself will plant a tender sprig on the mountain height of Israel, that it may become a noble cedar.

    Under it every kind of bird will live,

    in the shade of its branches every winged creature will nest.

    I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree;

     I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.

     I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it.

    (Ezek 17:22-24, excerpted)

    Daniel and Ezekiel both promised Israel a towering cedar, visible to the ends of the earth, the kind of tree an empire plants. Jesus takes that same exile hope and gives his people a common, invasive shrub instead, the sort of thing that spreads whether you want it to or not. The mustard bush is the one plant every farmer works to keep out of the ground. The Kingdom is not like the cedar of prophecy but more like a weed. And yet this weed keeps the cedar’s promise. Birds still nest in its branches. Shelter still comes, not from size or strength, but from a growth nobody can stop.

    Now the mustard plant is an annual plant. It needs planting each year anew. Its perennial promise depends on the life of the seed that is planted every year. When I use the phrase like lampstand ministries, or mustard-seed ministries, I mean a ministry defined by an ordinary act of love, planted again and again, small enough that most people never notice it, until someone finds shelter in it. So, even what others might consider small and insignificant, even unwanted, the Kingdom uses for God’s glory.

    What does a lampstand ministry look like? What does a mustard-seed ministry actually look like? Here is one that sticks with me.

    • I know a church where every child under two who enters the emergency room or is admitted to the hospital, for decades, received a “Care Bear” with a single tag that reads, “We Care!” —A Care Bear sewed together with hands of love. Dozens given away each week.
      • Now imagine Bobby with a broken leg carried by his anxious mother with tears into a frenzied, cold and bustling emergency room. The waiting room alone is frightening. So many other sick people with their coughs and groans.
      • Then the bear is given, taken to X-ray, taken to the room, taken home.
      • Imagine that bear, worn and torn, twenty years later sitting treasured on the shelf.
    • I know a couple who send newspaper clippings in the mail to every child at church who appeared in the newspaper (honor roll, sports notes, orchestra recitals, engagement announcements).
    • And a teacher who keeps $15 grocery cards in her desk for students who quietly say, “We don’t have any food at home.”
    • And the barber who gives free haircuts to people preparing for a job interview.
    • And the church that gives every grieving family a small tree to plant in memory of someone they have lost.

    Mustard-seed ministries are small acts of love that become larger than the person who performs it could ever see.

    I do not know your stories, your faithful examples, your mustard-seed ministries. But you do. We could stay here all afternoon telling those stories.

    Parables create a new way of seeing that could not have been said directly, and resist “curriculum” solutions. Remember, from a tiny, unimpressive seed comes the greatest of all shrubs.

    1. Because God is bringing the hidden kingdom to light like a lamp set on its stand, we are able to become attentive listeners by watching for the kingdom’s quiet presence in our ordinary days.
    2. Because God gives the growth of the kingdom while we sleep and rise, we sow the word generously and trust God for the harvest we cannot produce.
    3. Because God delights to raise the greatest of shrubs from the smallest of seeds, we are able to honor humble beginnings by tending the mustard-seed ministries no one else notices.

    The Kingdom of God is destined for victory. The Kingdom of God is glorious and powerful, but it begins in weakness and, as Mark’s story will show, apparent defeat and death of its King and Savior. It is not a product of conquest; it is small and humble. Understanding the character of the kingdom is vital for recognizing the character of its king. Through the attentive eyes of faith, disciples see the greatness of the kingdom in its humble origins, for faith perceives the promise of the seed.

    Do you have a mustard seed ministry that is acting as a lamp on a lampstand? Are you longing for your mustard seed’s cultivation and sprouting today? Do you have ears to hear? Are you subject to the Lord’s invitation to faith? Then plant one. This week. And see what God will do.

  • What Does It Mean to Preach?

    One Word Changes Everything

    There is a word that sits at the heart of what preaching is, and most preachers have never heard it.

    The word is attestation.

    It sounds technical. It is. But what it names is something every preacher has felt in the pulpit — and something every congregation has experienced in the pew, even if they could not name it. So let me define it carefully, and then let it go, and see if the reality it describes does not feel immediately familiar.

    The Definition

    To attest is to bear witness. Not to report, not to explain, not to argue — to witness. The difference matters enormously.

    When a reporter describes an event, she was not necessarily there. When a lawyer argues a case, he is constructing a position. When a teacher explains a concept, she is transmitting information. But when a witness testifies, she is saying something irreducibly personal: I was there. I saw it. I am staking my credibility — and in some cases my life — on what I tell you.

    That is attestation. And that, I want to suggest, is preaching.

    In my forthcoming book Preaching in the Present Tense: Scripting Transformative Sermons, I define preaching as attestation — the embodied witness of a formed person to a living Word addressed to a particular community in the present tense. The preacher is not a reporter delivering news from a distant country. The preacher is a witness who has been in the text, been read by the text, and now stands before the congregation to say: I have seen it. And I am staking my life on what I found there.

    Three Biblical Examples

    The concept is not mine. It runs through the New Testament like a thread.

    At Pentecost, Peter stands before the crowd in Jerusalem and does not simply describe what happened to Jesus. He confirms it, vouches for it, declares it from his own experience and from the testimony of the prophets: “This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses” (Acts 2:32). The crowd is cut to the heart. They cry out: “What should we do?” Something has happened that a lecture could not produce. A witness has spoken, and the Word has become present address.

    At the well in Samaria, the woman leaves her water jar — that small, telling detail — and runs back to the village. She does not deliver a theological treatise. She says: “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done” (John 4:29). That is attestation in its most elemental form. She saw something. She is telling you. Her life is the evidence.

    At Horeb, Elijah stands in the cave, exhausted and afraid, and delivers a careful account of his own faithfulness and the people’s failure. The angel does not dispute his facts. But the question that comes back is not about the facts: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9). The question reads him more truthfully than his answer reads himself. Attestation is not only what the preacher says to the congregation. It is what the text says to the preacher, before the preacher says anything to anyone.

    What Attestation Sounds Like

    Here is a simple list of what attestation feels like when it becomes speech. These are not synonyms for a technical term. They are the human voices behind it:

    I attest. I confirm. I bear witness. I vouch for this. I was there. I have seen it. I stake my life on it. I say this with my whole self.

    Every time a preacher steps into the pulpit, one of these sentences — spoken or unspoken — is the ground on which everything else stands. The sermon that lacks this ground is information. The sermon that stands on this ground is proclamation.

    Why the Word Matters

    Paul Ricoeur, the French philosopher whose work on testimony and witness runs beneath much of what I am saying here, describes attestation as a mode of assurance that joins belief and moral integrity — a confidence in the self that is capable of acting and being held responsible. It is not certainty. It is commitment. The witness does not say I can prove this beyond all doubt. The witness says I have seen it, and I will not unsay it, whatever the cost.

    That is the difference between a preacher who explains the resurrection and a preacher who attests it. Both may use the same words. But only one of them is standing on the ground of personal witness. And the congregation can tell the difference.

    The technical word for all of this is attestation. The everyday words are: testify, confirm, declare, vouch for, bear witness, stand behind, stake your life on.

    Use any of them. They all point to the same thing.

    The preacher who has been in the text, been claimed by the text, and now speaks from within that encounter — that preacher is attesting. And when that happens, something occurs in the room that could not have been planned.

    A Final Word

    Near the end of my book’s theology of preaching, after surveying what the traditions have said about preaching across two millennia, I arrive at this:

    Preaching is neither pure divine address nor merely human construction or correlation. It is partnership — a genuinely participatory event in which God’s living initiative and human response together become more than either alone.

    Attestation is the human side of that partnership. Not the human side replacing the divine side. Not the human side explaining the divine side. The human side bearing witness to the divine side — in words, in presence, in the life behind the words — so that the congregation hears not only what the text once said but what it is saying now, to them, in this moment.

    That is what preaching is. That is attestation.

    And when I get into the pulpit, I stake my life on it.

    Tim Sensing is Scholar in Residence at the Graduate School of Theology at Abilene Christian University. This post draws on his forthcoming book Preaching in the Present Tense: Scripting Transformative Sermons (Cascade Books, 2027). More sermons, articles, and resources are available at HomileticalSensings.

  • Musical Chairs

    Luke 14:1, 7–14

    Core Affirmation

    Because God has reversed the social order in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, therefore we are able to resist the competitive structures of our world by practicing humility, service, and radical hospitality toward those who cannot repay us.

    Plotline

    Every meal has a memory attached to it, and the memory reveals what we value. * We are all playing musical chairs—in schools, churches, and society—and we play to win. * The ancient world thought carefully about virtue and flourishing, and they never once listed humility. * Then Jesus comes along, and the rules of musical chairs are radically different.

    Script

    Introduction

    Every meal has a memory attached to it, and the memory reveals what we value. Grandparents’ tables. The kids’ table. Meals of celebration. Meals shadowed by grief. A dinner in New Jersey with a dress code and seating assignments you did not choose.

    You heard the text read. It is one of many mealtime texts in Luke. The Gospel of Luke uses mealtimes to emphasize social inequalities. People noticed where one ate (5:29), with whom one ate (5:30), whether one washed before eating (7 & 11), where one sat to eat (14), and who was invited (14). All these matters determined one’s social position in first-century Palestine.

    Every meal has a memory attached to it, and the memory reveals what we value.

    Episode 1

    We are all playing musical chairs—in schools, churches, and society—and we play to win.

    You know the game. Keep your eye on the chair—the prize—and your eye on the other players—the competition. And when it gets down to the last few chairs, there will be someone with an elbow here, a knocked-down chair there, and someone crying foul. It is the game where high society knows your status by the social graces you practice. Proper decorum and social conventions are indicators of your pecking order.

    And it happens in every segment of society. Schools: GPA, scores on tests, class rank, degree choice, school reputation, publications, tenure and promotion. Churches: numbers, dress, jobs, ministries, social and doctrinal standing, church reputation. All cultures, societies, clans, tribes, neighborhoods, and kinfolks know the rules and the standings.

    And to be honest, I get disgusted when I see schools and churches play musical chairs—unless I am the one playing, and then I have a vicious elbow.

    America teaches us to be assertive and self-confident: get ahead, win the prize, be noticed. In any context, we can learn the rules of the game to win. Taking the low seat because one is humble is one thing. To take the low seat in order to move up is quite another.

    And the rules of the game are even harder for the host. Read verses 12–14. Act in such a way that you receive zero benefits, zero gains. This parable is not good advice on how to be exalted. This parable is not how you teach marketing, management, or economics. In America, we read a story like this and know how to game the system. But God’s economy is different.

    We are all playing musical chairs—in schools, churches, and society—and we play to win.

    Episode 2

    The ancient world thought carefully about virtue and human flourishing, and they never once listed humility.

    Let me change my focal lens for just a moment. How would musical chairs have been played in the ancient world?

    Socrates devoted himself to the question of how one should live, maintaining that the individual’s eudaimonia—human flourishing—was the foundation of the good life. He argued one should care for the soul rather than seek fame, wealth, or honor (Plato, Apol. 29c–d, 36c). The path to eudaimonia is virtue (aretē). Plato developed the four cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, self-control, and justice. Aristotle continued the same thought, adding friendship, liberality, proper speech, and gentleness. The Stoics agreed. All of them saw the Greek polis—the city-state—as the context for individual flourishing. That is why justice led the lists: the good of the other.

    Humility is an odd virtue—especially when you compare it to the others. Pursuing humility. Achieving humility. Obtaining humility. What are the Seven Steps to Being a Highly Effective Humble Person? Here is the problem: humility was considered a vice in the ancient world, not a virtue. The great Greek philosophers never put it on the list.

    The ancient world thought carefully about virtue and human flourishing, and they never once listed humility.

    Episode 3

    Then Jesus comes along, and the rules of musical chairs are radically different.

    As we wake up tomorrow and engage in daily life, there will be many systemic structures designed around competing, advancing, achieving, and winning. Our faith lets us imagine a different way of being in this world—to live into a different set of virtues and practices: humility, service, and sacrifice. The rules of the game change.

    Jesus radically reverses the social order. For the guests at the party—the players of musical chairs—Jesus says: To climb the ladder of success, you step down. To win, you lose. To lead, you serve. To live, you die. To be resurrected, you are crucified. There are no reserved seats. There are no designated parking spaces. There are no corner offices in the Kingdom of God.

    For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted—and that, only by God at the resurrection.

    The Word of the Lord.

  • Are We There Yet?

    The following sermon was preached in July, 2002 at the Buffalo Gap Church of Christ. I present it here more than twenty years later because it is being referenced in a forthcoming book.

    Opening Song

    • #797 Lord We Come Before Thee Now
    • Announcements
    • Pastoral prayer

    Call to Worship

    The rich young ruler’s question was simple, “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  …

    [After a brief exchange]  Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

    At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

    Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

    The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

    The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

    Jesus looked at them and said, “With humans it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible”(Mark 10:17-27).

    Songs

    • # 41 Mighty Is Our God
    • # 578 We Will Glorify
    • # 141 O Worship the King
    • # 227 On Zion’s Glorious Summit
    • # 39 Awesome Power
    • Lord’s Prayer
    • # 522 O God, Our Help in Ages Past

    Scripture Reading: Zechariah 7-8

    Zechariah’s Gospel [OR] God’s Kingdom—Are We There Yet?

    Introduction

    The child is in the back of the car on a long hot day. The tablet is on the blitz, the snacks are eaten, and the road goes on and on. You have been in that car, haven’t you?  “Are we there yet?” How many times can one child ask the same question? “Are we there yet?” It is the constant question of a people traveling on a journey. “Are we there yet? What town is this? When will we get there?  How long has it been?”

     

    The exile of Israel ended with the return of God’s people from Babylon. Soon afterwards, when the temple was being reconstructed, Zechariah received night visions full hope and promise.

     

    The riders of the horses proclaimed, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and peace.” And God declared, “I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt … my towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.” “Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’” “Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the Lord.”

     

    • But the question persisted, WHEN? Are we there yet? When will peace and prosperity come again to the land?
    1. The tension of WHEN— runs throughout Scripture: In the life of Abraham and Sara wondering about not only when would their offspring be like the stars of the sky, but when would they have just one child. And in the days of Judges as they asked when will we get a king? Prophets know the tension of WHEN. The Psalmist and Habakkuk both sing the chorus, “How Long O Lord, How Long?” The woman at the well expressed the tension when she said, “I know the Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will proclaim everything to us.” And in the early church, they heard scoffers saying, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” The tension of WHEN is felt when those under Roman persecution cry out “Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus!” —Are We There Yet?
    2. And today we know the tension of WHEN—
    • Each time a baby cries in a neonatal intensive care…
    • Each time a husband calls the shelter stalking his wife…
    • Each time a mother receives a visit from the White House about her child who died for peace…
    • When hospice takes up residence in the next room…
    • Job contentment, marriage satisfaction, rebellious child, etc.
    • And in the church, when the gospel falls on deaf ears, when a community suffers a natural disaster and the church has no hands to help, when one speaks falsely about another, or when grumbling overtakes rejoicing.
    • We know the tension of WHEN. When will rest, peace, and the joy of our salvation return?

     

    1. When? Such a simple question—The question of when was also asked in Zechariah 7:3 “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
      • According the 2 Ki 25:8-9, Jerusalem fell in the 5th For 70 years, the lamentations and fastings have beseeched the throne of God on behalf of the land, Jerusalem, and the people. And during their exile, the prophets proclaimed a coming age of grace, a time when a remnant of the people would return to the land. Now with the return of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the temple itself was being reconstructed. And in the second year of that reconstruction process, about half way through, a delegation came asking, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” Or deeper still, “Is this the dawning of a new age?” If the temple is being rebuilt, then why are we still suffering the consequences of God’s judgment …  shouldn’t this be … but we see no evidence … “How long, O Lord, how long?” Such a simple question, “Are we there yet?” WHEN? But lingering underneath the surface, a complexity of issues.
    2. When we ask the question “WHEN?” we need to realize that God’s word still speaks. The oracles of Zechariah refer repeatedly to the “former” or “earlier” prophets.
      • In the former days, during days of prosperity, when Jerusalem and the surrounding towns were at rest, the prophets spoke.
        • However, the people did not listen in those former days. The God of the past who had brought prosperity also brought judgment. Consequently, the land of prosperity became desolate. [READ Zech 7:11-14].
        • They rejected the instruction of grace that would have created a healthy and whole community—A community of shalom. Why? Why would they reject instructions concerning compassion, hospitality, fairness, and mercy? Incredible! Both then and now. Concern for the widow, the orphan, the poor, anyone should be able to recognize that a community’s well-being is dependent upon the health of all its residents, from the least to the privileged. It’s incredible that people both then and now reject Justice, mutuality, and forgiveness. That’s what makes it all the more reprehensible.
      • And often that word creates tension between grace and judgment
        • On the one hand, God’s judgment comes as a response to our actions. On the other hand, our actions of truth and righteousness overflow from our response to God’s grace.
          • And to become such a community of renewal, we come to understand that God’s requirements are gospel. They come to us as gift. God’s requirements for just and faithful living make for peace that leads to our communal well-being. As such, God’s requirements are a response to his grace and are not a burden but a joyful possibility given to us by our God.
        • So the people sought to return to God during the exile. Primarily, God desired to return, to restore Zion, and to prosper his people again. “ The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. … Just as I had determined to bring disaster upon you and showed no pity when your fathers angered me, so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and to Judah. Do not be afraid.” [Vv. 8:12; 8:14-15.]
      • The word of God by the former prophets continued to speak to them about what God had done, was doing, and will do. Zechariah preached the word of the former prophets because that word was still alive. Their words still had power. It still spoke to his people.
      • So when we ask, when? “Are we there yet?” We recognize we are asking the question that people in covenant community with God, who have been traveling that road, on that journey, have been asking a long time. And his word of grace and judgment still speaks authoritative words to us. It is a word that is still living, active, and speaking today.
    3. Therefore, as a response to God’s grace, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’ … These are the things you should do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this, declares the Lord.” [Zech 7:8-10; 8:16-17] That Word still speaks!
      • A response to God’s grace creates a community that practices authentic justice, exhibits mutuality and compassion, does not defraud the socially vulnerable, and does not plot each other’s harm.
        • “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.” Love does not discount people because of the language they speak or the gray in their hair. Love does not honor one gender over the other and keeps no record of one’s economic value. Love protects the child and the disabled. And love is strong. Strong enough to bend at the knees and strong enough to extend the hand of welcome and of grace. Love never fails.
      • God’s grace calls us “to be strong.” [V. 8: 10, 13c.] As Zechariah calls his people “to be strong and not afraid” and not to interrupt the journey of rebuilding the temple but to continue to strive to join with God’s salvation, so too, God’s word calls us to partner with God’s activity in the world to bring about his kingdom reign on earth as it is in heaven.
      • These social practices give us, the community of God, the opportunity to respond in kind to the grace God extends to us. As God’s community, the church, we become a neighbor, mother and father; brother and sister, to the citizens of this larger society. However, if we reject practicing shalom, peace, we reject the grace that lies at the heart of God and in so doing become a people of desolation.
    • So finally comes the answer to the question asked by the delegation, or in reality not an answer but a reversal. Fast days of mourning will become seasons of celebration. “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem … The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there. … The fasts … will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.” [8:4-5; 18-19] In the past, God’s word involved a reversal from prosperity to adversity, but now the future involves a reversal from fasts to feasts. God’s return to Jerusalem inaugurates the beginning of the future now. Can you imagine what such a community would look like? How would the people around us respond if they saw? A vision of God’s coming kingdom will be like a public park, where old men and women can sit together, talk, and bask in the sun. And little children can play in safety with nothing to threaten them. No one lurking in the shadows to lure one of them with candy; no drug dealer waiting to peddle his poison to innocents; no child bruised or warped by abusive parents or stunted by poor nutrition or inadequate education; not even a bully among the group to terrorize the younger and weaker.
    • Children peacefully at play in a park—of such is the Kingdom of God. … This is a picture of this world made new by the coming of God—its goodness confirmed and restored to that wholeness that its creator intended for it from the beginning. … And when we think to join cause with God’s purpose for his earth, we need to ask ourselves if we are constructing a place where little children may play. … God’s Kingdom will not have come on this earth until its streets are fit for its children. But by the same token, it will not have come until its children are fit for its streets.
      • Maybe, just maybe they would join us on the journey. Listen to Zechariah envision what God’s kingdom would look like in the future. [READ Zech 8:20-23]. Imagine people coming to us … As a result of God’s restoration in Christ, we are renewed, and we become the light unto the nations. A true sign of the age to come is for a people who love truth and live for peace to be a blessing to the nations. And those about us would know we are Christians by our love as we live such inviting lives that people long to receive with us the blessings of the kingdom. And as they see us traveling the roads of the Kingdom, they will want to travel with us. Not to be with us, but to “entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty.
        • And no one will ask, “Are we there yet?” For the road itself will be a kingdom journey. And we will realize that it has always been more about the journey than the destination. Eternal life is an ongoing life, not a stopping place. The Kingdom to come, is already coming, and is now here—a dynamic place open with possibilities.
    1. Concretization of an act of justice. [I knew a church once… a church that participates in feeding homeless folks and victims of HIV …a church that nurtures and challenges through support groups those addicted to the clutches of sin … a church that provides shelter to unwed mothers and to families without a place to lay their head … a church that cares for children from MOPS to scouts; from clubs to classes … a church that reaches out with the gospel on mission trips, to prisons, apartment complexes, and by the air waves … a church that provides mentoring couples to newlyweds, pastoral care in abundance and prayer everywhere you turn … a church that gathers each Sunday to praise God, bless children, baptize believers, and feast at his table.]
      • “Are we there yet?” Yes. God’s Kingdom is very near now. Closer than ever before. And we gather every Sunday, around the Lord’s Table, and he opens his hands wide saying, “This is not a table of fasting, but a feast of grace. A table where everyone is welcomed without partiality until he comes” And people will say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’

    Conclusion

    When? WHEN will God deliver on his promises? When will peace and the joy of salvation fill our land, our churches, and our lives? Zechariah declares—

    • In Zechariah’s sermon, he teaches us that–What God is doing is too wonderful and simply unbelievable. The answers do not lie with us but with God. God’s promises redefine what is possible to imagine and believe. “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” 8:6 Or in the words of Jesus, “With humans it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
    • In Zechariah’s sermon, he teaches us that God takes action by his own initiative—“I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called The City of Truth, and mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called The Holy Mountain.” 3, 15
    • In Zechariah’s sermon, he teaches us that God proclaims salvation—“I will save my people … I will save you, and you will be a blessing.” 7, 13
    • In Zechariah’s sermon, he teaches us that God will do so because God is faithful—“They will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.” 8
    • When will God pour out his blessings? Look around! The future is now. The Kingdom of God is among you. Declares the Lord through the prophet Zechariah, “God is with you!”

    Songs

    • # 99 In His Presence
    • # 100 Holy Ground

     

    Communion—Comments based on a composite excerpt from Body Politics by John Howard Yoder, pp. 14-21.

     Luke tells us that they “remained faithful to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers” and “they met in their houses for the breaking of bread; they shared their food gladly and generously” … and “no one claimed for his own use anything that he had.”  … The text fulfills Deuteronomy 15:4: “There will be … no one in need among you.” … We read in Acts 6 abut the reorganizing of leadership structures in order that the distribution of bread should be equitable. …That basic needs are met is a mark of the messianic age. The “common purse” of the Jerusalem church was not a purse: It was a common table. … Some of the first Jerusalem believers sold their estates voluntarily and pooled their goods because in the Lord’s presence they ate together, not the other way around. … What the NT is talking about wherever the theme is “breaking bread” is that people actually were sharing with one another their ordinary day-to-day material sustenance. … That in the age of the Messiah those in bondage will be freed and the hungry will be fed…”

    • Prayer for the Bread
    • Prayer for the Cup
    • Song # 325 Boundless Love
    • Song # 129 Amazing Grace
    • Prayer for the Collection
    • Song # 664 Take My Life, and Let It Be
    • The Kingdom of God is Here

    Benediction

    The last word of a sermon does not close a door but opens a door for the future. The last word of Ezekiel foretells, “And the name of the city from that time on will be: The Lord is there.” And the last word of Joel is “The Lord dwells in Zion.” Today, do not think of the last word as the conclusion, but a beginning—The last words of Zechariah’s sermon remind us all that the God of the past is also the God of the present and the future. And people everywhere will say, “we have heard that God is with you.”

    “Be strong, all you people of the land,” declares the Lord, “and work. For I am with you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.”…“I am with you,” declares the Lord (Haggai 2:4-5, 1:13).

  • Singing with the Shepherds vol. 3

    The new edition of Singing with the Shepherds, vol. 3, is finally here. This wonderful devotional resource continues to shine as a guide through Advent. May your hearts be enlightened and souls refreshed. Also, Cantando con los Pastores, vol. 3, is available. Thanks to Drs. Mark Hamilton, Keli Bryant Gibson, and Omar Palafox for this timely guide.

    singing_shepherds_english_final_2025

    singing_shepherds_spanish_final_2025

  • Preaching as Sacramental Encounter: Hearing, Seeing, and Encountering Christ

    From its earliest centuries, the Church has understood itself to be constituted by both the proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the sacraments. Augustine captured this balance, insisting that when the Word is preached,

    “it is Christ himself who speaks,”

    while also distinguishing between the verbum audibile (the Word heard in preaching) and the verbum visibile (the Word seen in the sacraments). In his homilies, Augustine would remind congregations that they “see” the Word in the water, bread, and wine, while also “hearing” the Word in proclamation and reading. Both forms of the Word mediate Christ’s presence, though by different modes. This early distinction laid the foundation for all subsequent Christian reflection on how the Word and sacraments relate in the economy of grace.

    Practical Tip: When preaching, remember that your words and liturgical actions work alongside the sacraments. Preaching and sacrament are two channels of Christ’s presence, each reinforcing the other.

    Augustine and the Purpose of Preaching

    Tom Long, in Senses of Preaching, describes a common scenario: a preacher shaking hands with congregants after the Sunday sermon. What do you hope they will say? Long draws on Augustine’s guidance in On Christian Doctrine:

    “To teach is a necessity, to please is a sweetness, to persuade is a victory.”

    Augustine would be pleased to hear, “That was a nice sermon” (delight), happier to hear, “That was a nice sermon. I learned something today” (delight and teach), and most satisfied with, “That was a nice sermon. I learned something today. I am going to do something about it” (delight, teach, and persuade).

    Practical Tip: Craft sermons that delight, teach, and persuade. Always ask: How will this message shape the listener’s week and actions?

    Orthodox Theology: Preaching as Icon in Time

    Eastern Orthodox theology approaches preaching through the lens of the iconographic economy, wherein both spoken word and visual icon participate in the same sacramental logic of revelation. John of Damascus explains that just as icons make the invisible visible, preaching makes the eternal Word audible in time. The Orthodox understanding of theoria (contemplative vision) encompasses both seeing and hearing as modes of encountering divine reality.

    Alexander Schmemann emphasizes that the homily participates in the “sacramental transformation” of the Divine Liturgy, moving worshippers from this world to the Kingdom. John Zizioulas stresses that preaching, like icons, mediates Christ’s eschatological presence through the work of the Spirit.

    Practical Tip: Treat the sermon as part of the liturgical movement. Every word participates in the worshipping community’s encounter with Christ.

    Roman Catholic Perspectives: Homily as Quasi-Sacramental

    Karl Rahner characterizes preaching as quasi-sacramental, observing that the Word of God proclaimed in the Church mediates grace in a manner analogous to the sacraments: it is a human action through which God is present and active, while retaining a qualitative distinction from the dominical sacraments.

    Vatican II’s Sacrosanctum Concilium affirms:

    “Christ is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church.”

    The Catechism emphasizes that the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist together form one single act of worship.

    Practical Tip: Connect your sermon to Eucharistic preparation and participation. Show how the Word heard opens hearts to the sacramental presence of Christ.

    Lutheran and Reformed Perspectives: Preaching as Means of Grace

    The Lutheran tradition, following the Augsburg Confession, affirms that

    “through the Word and the Sacraments… the Holy Spirit is given, who works faith.”

    For Luther, the preached Word is the viva vox evangelii, the living voice of the gospel that accomplishes what it promises. Calvin likewise describes preaching as the “external means” by which God draws people into faith, calling it a “kind of sacrament.” Preaching and sacraments are mutually interpretive: the Word explains what the sacraments signify, while the sacraments confirm the Word.

    Practical Tip: Preach with the understanding that your words are divine instruments, participating in God’s work of faith and transformation.

    Barthian Theology: The Word Made Present

    Karl Barth asserts that true Christian preaching is a theological and spiritual act in which Jesus Christ is both the content of the sermon and the “real presence” of the speech act. Scripture witnesses to the Word, and preaching becomes the event in which the Word is proclaimed anew.

    “In preaching, the Word of God comes to the congregation, not merely as human speech but as the divine address.”

    Practical Tip: Preach with expectation of encounter. Christ may speak through your words—prepare yourself spiritually and exegetically.

    Anglican Insights: Formation and Transformation

    The Anglican tradition emphasizes the inseparability of Word and Sacrament. The Thirty-Nine Articles affirm that the Church is “the assembly in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered.” Julia Gatta notes:

    “Through the eucharistic liturgy we are always being formed and reformed into the body of Christ… Preaching tries to do just that.”

    Practical Tip: Use the sermon to connect Scripture to communal formation, guiding the congregation toward both understanding and practice in the context of liturgy.

    Modern Theological Perspectives: Preaching as Symbolic Mediation

    Contemporary voices highlight preaching as symbolic, participatory, and transformative. Ruthanna B. Hooke observes:

    “Preaching is a sacramental event of communion with the triune God … Preaching draws participants into Christ’s dying and rising, and hence into a mode of power known in vulnerability.”

    Similarly, Robert Smith Jr. notes that in African-American homiletics, preaching is an exegetical escort into God’s presence, experienced as liberating and transformative. Cleophus LaRue emphasizes the hermeneutic power of preaching grounded in lived experience, while Victor Anderson highlights African preaching as inherently liturgical and encounter-oriented.

    Practical Tip: Consider preaching as participatory and embodied. Invite congregants into active engagement, not passive listening—letting them experience God’s presence in the act of worship itself.

    Conclusion: Preaching as Sacramental Encounter

    Across Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, and contemporary traditions, preaching is consistently recognized as a conduit for Christ’s presence. Terminology differs—sacramental, quasi-sacramental, sacrament-like—but the conviction is universal:

    • Preaching is not mere instruction; it is an encounter with the living Word.

    • Preaching integrates with Word and sacrament, liturgy and life.

    • Preaching mediates transformation, formation, and encounter with Christ.

    Final Practical Tip: Prepare sermons as spaces of encounter—delighting, teaching, and persuading—where the congregation experiences the living Christ, shaped by Spirit and Word. Preaching is sacramental in efficacy, attesting to the presence of Christ and forming the Church into His likeness.

  • Theological Reflection

    My theological core identity forms and informs my theological method. If the purpose of theology is to generate an understanding of faith that transforms communities into the image of Jesus, then my theological method should function coherently to lead to such transformation. As people live out their faith, theological reflection enables them to engage in practices and godly lives that honor God. My understanding corresponds with Elaine Graham’s proposals about theological reflection. “First, theology informs the processes that enable the formation of character. Second, theology assists in building and maintaining the community of faith. Third, theology enables the relating of the faith-community’s own communal identity to the surrounding culture, and the communication of the faith to the wider world” (Graham, Elaine L., et al. Theological Reflection: Methods. Vol. 1. Norwich, UK: SCM, 2005).
         Most theological reflective methods rely upon some form of an action-reflection model. A consistent pastoral practice of action-reflection that leads to further intentional action will transform people over time into a community that engages the life of God for the sake of the world. Ministers become proactive learners and risk takers by moving into the center of the learning situation. Expertise is reflexive, problem-based, intuitive, and synthetic. It is always contextual to and contingent on a particular situation. Becoming a reflective practitioner is a strenuous and ongoing journey, but that process can become a natural part of everyday thinking, deciding, and acting. Over time, the twin assets of sapience and habitus emerge.
         In order to examine experience, I will need detailed access to primary data that allows for examination. Verbatim accounts, critical incident reports, case studies, journal entries, field notes, interviews, questionnaires, and other qualitative data provide ample evidence for consideration. Critical reflexivity sees the polyvalent aspects of motives, outcomes, influences, interpretations, etc. Examining the layers, sharp corners, and textures of a community’s lived experience will bring to light aspects that are often marginalized or rationalized by simplistic thinking or hegemonic motives. Faith and its practices are not objects to be examined, but are embodied. Practical theology reflects on faith as a performative and embodied act, that the gospel is not simply something to be believed but also something to be lived. Human experience is a place where the gospel is grounded, embodied, interpreted, and lived out. The beginning point for reflection is lived experience.
        The second angle or source for theological reflection is the particular context or location where I live or the church dwells. Context includes examining the diverse intercultural settings that surround us.
         The third angle or source for theological reflection involves various theological resources. Scripture, church history, creeds, ecclesial traditions, and personal faith not only inform my discernment but also transform how I interpret my experiences and the culture around me. My method requires that these resources be aware and respectful of each other. My theological convictions call me to respect the theological resources carefully as an invitation to see God more clearly. Theological resources provide a vision for the future that is based upon the ongoing story of God’s working in the world. This angle offers God’s grace and challenge.
         The triangulation of the three angles of interpretation emerges as the key aspect of how my theological reflection model works. The three angles enter into a trialogue with one another.

    Trialogical Model Image

         After the trialogue with experience, context, and theology, a person makes a decision that leads to action. I define action as beliefs, habits, and practices. These actions will lead to new lived experiences. And the cycle continues. Over time, this becomes a way of seeing and a way of being in the world. Throughout the process, I keep my theological core identity present: practicing faith to transform communities of practice into the image of our Triune God for the sake of the world. When I think explicitly about “what theology” I am doing, it is a constructive ecclesiology as a contextually performative theologian. And whether I am talking about preaching, counseling, leadership, or another ministerial practice, I am playing the tune of practical theology as enacted faith. My reflexive self will allow a heuristic process so that method shapes identity and identity forms method. Effective ministers will have a theological method that engages in a triadic reflection that leads to action that establishes practices for the sake of the world. And in time and location, God’s glory is revealed.
         The local community can engage in the same “action to reflection to change” model that I have described for an individual. Communal theological reflection that is intentional will move the congregation to the telos of being transformed into the image of Jesus. In other places, Paul would describe the process as sanctification. Eventually, the intersections of inconsistencies between beliefs and practices will be transformed into highways that lead to lives that honor God and churches that are glorious to behold.

  • Practical Theology as a Practice

         Is “practical theology” an oxymoron? The debate often states that theology deals with “theory” while practice deals with “real” life. Subsequently, practical theology gets a bad rap—sometimes referred to as “hints and tricks” of the trade or orthopedic shoes for the minister, merely methods, techniques, and strategies. And many practical theologians carry an inferiority complex whenever they enter academic conversations.
        The conviction that theory and practice are divided has some ardent supporters. Sometimes it is all about who you footnote to support a hypothesis. And when you can footnote Aristotle as an advocate, you tread cautiously when you disagree. The theory-practice divide is in our bones. The theory-practice divide is part of our DNA. In many times, in various places, and in multiple ways, the theory-practice divide is assumed. And that which is assumed is taken for granted, unarticulated, and unquestioned. Amnesia leads to silence. That which is assumed is forgotten.
        “Practice” is a key term for practical theologians these days, for it expresses a robust understanding of the holistic nature of our task.
      • Like a pianist playing the scales, practicing leads to being an artist — a way of being.
      • Medicine is a big word — Doctors have a practice.
      • Law is a big word — Lawyers have a practice.
         Dorothy C. Bass defines a Christian practice as a formative activity that “Christian people do together over time in response to and in the light of God’s active presence for the life of the world in Christ Jesus.” In other words, “a way of life” or the patterns of people’s lived experience. Bass lists four key components:
      1. Practices are meaningful clusters of human activity (including the activity of thinking) that require and engender knowledge on the part of practitioners. Practices resist the separation of thinking from acting, and thus of Christian doctrine from Christian life.
      2. Practices are social, belonging to groups of people across generations—a feature that undergirds the communal quality of the Christian life.
      3. Practices are rooted in the past but also constantly adapt to changing circumstances, including new cultural settings.
      4. Practices articulate wisdom that practitioners keep even though they do not think of themselves as theologians.
        There is a robust harmony between theory and practice. Harmonies do not have “either/or” polarities but “both/and” melodies within congregations. Theology is not merely the pursuit of an intellectual vision but a compelling account of a way of life in God. Beliefs and practices are intertwining functions. Miroslav Volf talks about all this regarding “belief-shaped practices” and “practice-shaping beliefs.” To separate the two, if possible at all, is to do a disservice to both. Theology is to be known, lived, and experienced by a particular community.

  • Preaching

    I love preaching. I preached my first sermon when I was 13. The congregation let me preach any Sunday night I wanted, as long as our preacher read every sermon before I preached it. A deacon used to drive me to nearby towns so I could preach.  Others in the congregation affirmed and encouraged me. And because of my home church, I heard my calling. My home church birthed and fostered my love of preaching.
         I admire good preaching. I spend more time thinking about preaching than any other subject. And I am thankful that ACU gives me the opportunity to teach preachers how to preach, to be able to help students grow in their professional and personal identity formation.
         While I teach in a school, preaching cannot remain in a laboratory. Preaching is not a “solo performance” or a “spectator sport.” Preaching is a communal activity. One voice cannot be the only voice that reverberates for the whole community. Preaching involves listening to the many voices that make up the Body of Christ. Listening does not lead to fragmentation or a discordant cacophony, but through communal discernment, pastoral care, and context awareness, preaching becomes a living witness to God’s activities among the congregation. In dialogue with Scripture, Church, and Community, a new and living word is possible. Otherwise, preaching is mere talk about the same old things in the same old ways.
         And preachers develop different styles and voices. My primary objective is not to force preachers to preach like me but to find their own homiletical voice. Even I do not preach with the same style to a congregation of 2000 as I do to a congregation of 20. A Metroplex preacher will sound different from someone from the East Coast. Someone with a teaching voice may exemplify one way of doing the task, while someone else uses a testimonial voice. Preachers come in all different shapes and sizes. And the church needs them all. While I might compare and contrast those styles so that my perspective is clarified, I’m not seeking to dilute or deform anyone’s gift or cast suspicion on another’s faith. My primary gift to teaching preaching is my ability to hear the what and how of the homiletical moment. I might even critique a famous preacher like Craddock or Willimon, but only for the pedagogical objective of letting the student’s own homiletical wings take flight. I might, through hyperbole, swing the pendulum one way, but only so the student can intentionally choose the arc their own style will swing.
         So, how do people learn to preach? The short answer is: “They just do.” However, people do not “just do it.” They have to “figure it out” to “get the feel” of preaching for themselves. William Willimon compares the teaching of preaching to the teaching of woodcarving and the making of biscuits.
         So there’s a sense of which I still don’t know a lot about teaching preaching. I mean, I realize that seeds are planted, were planted in me, which didn’t bear fruit until years later. I realize that it’s more like learning how to carve wood than it is a technique of first you do this, second you do that. You’ve got to get the feel of it. You have to – it’s more like learning to make biscuits than it is how to write an essay on something.
         Learning “how-to” is more easily and safely negotiated if it is not undertaken alone. Let’s take biscuits, for example. Studying a cookbook or watching an infomercial does not miraculously produce master chefs. Total recall of principles and propositions that follow the recipe line-by-line will not necessarily produce melt-in-your-mouth biscuits. Somehow, the “knack” is missing. But when Grandma stands over your shoulder, another experience altogether occurs.
         Good preaching pays attention to the rubrics governing exegesis, interpretation, and communication. But knowledge of exegesis, hermeneutics, and rhetoric do not themselves produce good preaching. Some unschooled people (like the apostles) seem to “know in their bones” what preaching involves, while some educated people seem never to learn and are a pain to endure.
         As students mature in Christ, they become authentic persons with passion, conviction, and character. This is not done overnight nor through a set of classes arranged in the curriculum. It begins with the parents in the home and in collaboration with the Christian community, the church. Students develop spiritual disciplines that mold them into people of character. And throughout the process, models and mentors play a vital function. In this sense, the church gives birth to preachers. The teacher functions merely as a midwife for what the church has conceived. And the student preacher will be given back to the church for service and continued growth.
         Preacher education does not stop with a diploma. Continuing education, exploration, innovation within a changing culture, and continued growth in actual experience in the life of the church need to be cultivated. Older ministers will function as mentors, wise elders will shepherd, and gracious congregants will patiently draw forth the best. The life-long journey of becoming a preacher is always an unfinished work that requires continued construction.
         I love preaching because I love preachers and I love the church.

  • The Lectionary

    Origins of the Lectionary
    The origins of lectionaries are hidden and obscure. The custom of reading a series of biblical lessons in worship is an ancient tradition and has always played a prominent role in the Church. Jewish tradition traces the practice back to Moses (Deut. 31:10-12; 2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3) and Ezra (Neh. 8). Unfortunately, the evidence is from later Judaism (tenth to twelfth century C.E.). All that can be said for certain is that the origin of lectionaries and the original pericope selections by the Early Church is an ancient one.
             Many seek NT evidence for the practice. For example, Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching (1 Timothy 4:13).  John also speaks about a single reader before an audience saying, Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it (Revelation 1:3). Luke 4:16-30 offers one of the earliest traditions of a possible lectionary use in the synagogue. Jesus opens the scroll and found the place. The text in Isaiah 61:1-2, it is argued, was a “prescribed passage” previously marked.
              In Advent 1969, the Roman calendars and lectionaries for Mass (Ordo Lectionum Missae) were adopted by the Roman Catholic Church. No one could have predicted its widespread ecumenical appeal and adoption with necessary denominational revisions by various Protestant denominations, including the Episcopal Church (1970), Presbyterians (1970), and Lutherans (1973). In 1974, contributing denominations (excluding Episcopalians and Lutherans) adopted both the Consultation on Common Texts (C.O.C.U.) Lectionary and a common liturgical year. This successfully brought together fifty-nine lectionary systems. This three-year lectionary included readings from thirty-three books of the Old Testament and twenty-four books of the New Testament. Next, they adopted the Common Lectionary in 1983. Finally, in 1992, the Revised Common Lectionary was accepted. Each revision has made its attempt to improve the original Roman Lectionary that remains unchanged. Revised Common Lectionary. You can follow the lectionary @ http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu.
             The Common Lectionary follows a three-year cycle that concentrates on Matthew in Year A, Mark in Year B, and Luke in Year C. John is used in all three years. Each of the three years has its character determined by the emphasis of the individual Evangelists. Each of the Gospels sets forth a particular theological emphasis. Preaching from only one Gospel will bring theological and thematic unity to the entire year.
           The Old Testament lesson is chosen to reinforce, give background, or provide contrast to the Gospel lesson. During Eastertide, Acts is substituted for the Old Testament lesson. The framers of the lectionary primarily intended the Psalms be used as a responsive reading in the worship service.
    Origins of the Christian Calendar
    The Liturgical Year, in its cycles and feasts, celebrates a Christian understanding of time. First, there is an “incarnational” understanding of time rooted in the mediation and disclosure of God in the world through Jesus. Second, there is an “eschatological” time which views time as moving forward to Christ’s return, yet aware of the past and present.
                Originally, every Sunday was a “little easter.” It was the week rather than the year that constituted the primary unit of time for the first Christians. The resurrection changed everything. The first believers began worshipping on the day of the week on which Jesus rose. Many of the Jewish Christians may have still observed the Sabbath; they simply added “The Lord’s Day” to their weekly observance. Though there were variations in local customs, the usual worship service included reading of scriptures, preaching, several kinds of prayers, singing, and the Lord’s Supper.
                The Liturgical Year evolved from three festivals: Epiphany (recalling the advent and baptism of Jesus); Pascha (the passion and resurrection of Jesus), and Pentecost (which included Ascension and celebrated the gift of the Spirit). These celebrations were not reenactments of history but rather a participation in the action already accomplished by Jesus.
                The Christian Year is divided into two parts. The first half begins in Advent and extends to Pentecost. The emphasis during this time should stress the life of Christ. The Year reenacts the life of Christ in the following ways: (1) Advent looks forward to the first and second coming of the Messiah; (2) At Christmas we join the shepherds in worship and adoration; (3) During Epiphany we bring our treasures with the Magi; (4) Throughout Lent we join our Lord for forty days and nights in the wilderness; (5) Holy Week and Eastertide brings us into fellowship with the sufferings of Christ in full assurance of the glory to be revealed. This reenactment of the life of Christ is not simply a biography of Jesus or a celebration of past events but an opening up of the Church itself to the memory of the Jesus story in such a way that the risen Christ is disclosed even now.
                The second half of the Year is the long season of Pentecost (twenty-seven Sundays) that stresses the teachings of Jesus. This emphasis balances the earlier seasons that emphasized Jesus’ life. These teachings cause the Church to look at the earthly Christians and see what the Spirit-filled community began to do and teach as they responded to the life of Jesus. The response of these early Christians is reflected in Acts and the Epistles. The question is asked, “What is God’s Spirit saying to us today?”
                Easter was the first great event to be celebrated by the Early Church. All the imagery of the Jewish Passover was brought into the rite, namely, the Exodus, the Passover, and the entrance into the Promised Land. The Church does not delimit the celebration of the Lord’s resurrection to Easter Sunday but continues it until the day the Lord sends the Spirit.
                Whether the formal celebration of Easter began in the apostolic period or in the second century is uncertain, but from the beginning, it was a commemoration in a single feast of both the death and the resurrection of Christ. Hippolytus gives a description of the ceremony, indicating that the celebration originated in Rome before 215 C.E.
                The Easter liturgy, following a day of fasting, consisted of a vigil of readings and prayer throughout Saturday night, with the celebration of baptism and the Eucharist at dawn on Easter Day. The Church used this time to bring new initiates into the fellowship. Baptism, symbolizing the death, burial and resurrection, has had long historical and theological roots connecting it to Easter.
                The Easter story brings continuity to the entire Christian Year. The early Christians celebrated Easter every Sunday, at every baptism, and at every Eucharist. The Easter story is not merely a recounting of past events, but it also celebrates the present reality in the hearts of faithful believers and anticipates their future consummation.
                The historical approach to the liturgies of Holy Week was also applied to the Great Fifty Days before Pentecost. The Sundays following Easter continue the same Easter proclamation. On Easter Sunday, the congregation “proclaims and declares” the truth of resurrection. The Sundays that follow are opportunities for the preacher to deepen the congregation’s understanding of the resurrection’s meaning and significance. The preacher can show how the resurrection fits into God’s plan for our redemption.
                Pentecost is the season of the Church Year when preaching explores what it means to live as members of Christ’s body. The season celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church and reflects on how God’s people live under the guidance of the Spirit. What does it mean to be members of God’s new covenant people in Christ? The preacher will need to focus on a realistic attitude of Christian living. Ascension Day emerged as a separate celebration around the fourth century.
                From Easter, the period of discipline developed known as Lent. This was a time to strengthen one’s devotion. The earliest celebration began around the period of the Council of Nicaea (325 C. E.). Its origin probably lies in the formal and final period of preparation of candidates for baptism at Easter, with which those undergoing penance rapidly became associated. It slowly developed into a preparation for Easter for all. The season of Lent consists of forty weekdays. The six Sundays during Lent are exempt from the fasting and penance because they are to remain days of celebration of the resurrection. This season begins on Ash Wednesday and continues to Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday). Lent is a mixed season of mourning for sin and anticipated joy of the triumph over the grave. It is a preparatory time to move the community toward Easter, therefore, Lent is an annual renewal that is not to be bogged down in penance. The themes during Lent are: (1) Temptation; (2) Repentance—renewal, not remorse; (3) Sin; and (4) The offer of forgiveness. Lent has a movement toward Holy Week. The preacher needs to help the congregation bridge that gap.
                Christmas and Epiphany emerged in the fourth century. The origin of these two seasons is clouded in mystery. Many hold to the opinion that the celebrations of Epiphany and later of Christmas were attempts to counter the pagan festivals surrounding winter. December 25 was a day set aside for the pagan celebration of the birthday of the sun, Natalis solis invicti, in 274 C.E. The Roman Chronograph of 354 C.E. indicates that the city acknowledged Christmas just sixty-two years later. Epiphany is a season marking the manifestation and revelation of God’s gift of himself to all. The Epiphany season begins in January and extends to Ash Wednesday (four to nine Sundays depending on the year). The traditions of Christmas first developed independently of one another (Epiphany in the East and Christmas in the West). Although Epiphany began as a tradition to celebrate the Lord’s birth on January 6 and his baptism, due to the overshadowing of January 6 by December 25, Epiphany is now a celebration of his baptism and the visit of the Magi.
                Advent was the last season to take shape around the fifth or sixth century in Gaul and was originally modeled after Lent. It is intended to be a period of preparation for Christmas and Epiphany. Originally, Advent contained six Sundays, but today that number has been reduced to four Sundays before Christmas. It developed from the period of fasting and worship prescribed for those who were candidates for baptism on Epiphany. The Christian calendar today begins in Advent. Advent speaks of the promise of God coming into the world. Believers are expectant that God would reveal Godself both in the incarnation and the second coming. The second advent points to our future expectation and hope for the coming revelation of God.
                Liturgical preaching, although rooted in historic faith, is not content with mere description of the way things were. Liturgical preaching addresses the present reality of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the lives of believers.
    —Excerpts from Tim Sensing, “Strange Encounters of the Lectionary Kind.” Restoration Quarterly 37 (Fourth Quarter 1995): 227-46. See also, “Wholly Bible.” Leaven 12 (First Quarter 2004): 35-40.