Preaching Out of Season: A Homiletic for Those Who Dare to Take to the Pulpit During the Demise of Democracy, part 2, by David Albert Farmer
This really should not be a radical notion, but it is for many of us with roots in any traditional connection to institutional Christianity even if our theology was or became progressive or liberal: stop basing your sermons and structuring your worship services on or around the Bible (Judeo-Christian scriptures). The reason I propose this (and I adhered during the last decade or so of my pre-retirement pastorate) is, foundational, that the Bible has been turned into something none of its plethora of writers ever intended or imagined. Along with that insurmountable difficulty there are companion challenges related to the processes of biblical interpretation.
Yes, it would be better for us to think through this in personal conversation over Fair Trade coffee or wine from sustainably harvested grapes, but this medium is what we have now.
Biblical teachings should be considered impressionistically, not prescriptively. If the parables of Jesus are any kind of paradigm for preaching (an idea I heartedly endorse), let me ask you a question? When did he read a passage of scripture to kick off and/or give authority for his message? We know of an instance when he was the scripture reader during a synagogue worship service, but there was mention of a sermon paired with the reading.
Jesus in his teaching and proclamation (he may not have differentiated between the two) was concerned not with indoctrination but with charging up hearers’s imaginations so that they could own a practical life lesson—not every hearer will necessarily arrive at the same destination. To that Jesus said, “Chag!” (Aramaic for celebration). Passive acceptance of a mandate was not what he wanted from his hearers. Rather, he wanted his hearers to be involved actively with the parabolic parameters and in the process devise a truth by which they could live.
This is a good place to remind ourselves that preaching was never supposed to be a map. It was to be an invitation to join the journey.
To that end, consider using portions of scripture now and then (a lot needs to be tossed for your sermon’s sake) along with readings and references from the boundless supply of written and spoken sources that illuminate spirituality and give insights into dealing with a life challenge. Even though the writers of what came to be regarded as “holy scripture” represent divergent ethnicities and cultural experiences, there is much more. In any given sermon, the superior has the opportunity (responsibility!) to use quotations from as many quarters as time and relevance allow: not just white heterosexual privileged men, but also women, all ethnicities, LGBTQIA folk, prisoners, abusees! How rich! None of your hearers ever needs to wonder how someone like her or him is part of the journey you are asking them to take with you in this sermon experience. You never again need to major only on perspectives of those who have knowledge of your subject but no personal experience. Huge difference!
Often neither the preacher nor her or his congregants understands the socioeconomic or political milieu from which a writer or community of writers spoke. Truth and inspiration can come from a variety of sources, and not all scriptural teachings are reliable or ethically sound.
For example, in a time when even the First World has begun to see slavery in action, right under our noses, we need to let go of the confusion of using the Bible, which contains pro-slavery tainted sources (why Paul didn’t speak out point blank against slavery), to condemn without hesitation or reservation slavery on Epstein Island and in corporate America and through the political efforts to force women into subservience to men and call for its unequivocal eradication.
Harriet Tubman: “Slavery is the next thing to hell.”
William Wilberforce: “So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the slave trade’s wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for abolition.”
Lucretia Mott: “I have no idea of submitting tamely to injustice inflicted either on me or on the slave. I will oppose it with all the moral powers with which I am endowed. I am no advocate of passivity.”
Imagine your liturgists reading or reciting these comments in a worship service ahead of your sermon! Imagine expounding upon those in your sermon instead of a passage the lectionary tossed you for a given Sunday.
Coming up next: omilia and the rise of homilies and homiletics: why conversation rather than classical rhetoric should prevail in contemporary preaching
