Advice for preachers.The Day of Pentecost--Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Series B "So, what advice would you give preachers today?" I've been asked this question repeatedly during the last few months--in my classroom, at continuing education continuing education: see adult education. continuing education or adult education Any form of learning provided for adults. In the U.S. the University of Wisconsin was the first academic institution to offer such programs (1904). events, even at a cocktail party. The question comes from interested lay folk as well as from pastors and seminarians. I sense a growing consensus that preachers today need advice. "What advice would you give preachers today?" My standard answer: Preach good news! I join David Bartlett The Honourable David John Bartlett is the Minister for Education in Tasmania. He is a Tasmanian Labor politician and member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly in the electorate of Denison. and many others in contending that "preaching is always good news. Preaching is news; it is fresh, involving, surprising. It is not the repetition of tired formulas or one more self-serving plug for [some] program.... It is always the herald's announcement of God's victory" (What Is This Good News? [Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2003], 2). After all, we are called to preach the gospel. Bartlett observes that some congregations may need to hear more about the freedom of the gospel and others may need to hear more about responsible living under the gospel. But the preacher's task is always to discover and proclaim the gospel--God's good news. "So, what advice would you give preachers today?" While I did not pose this question to our contributor, reading through this series of Preaching Helps I find that George C. Heider offers sage advice for preachers as well as keen exegetical ex·e·get·ic also ex·e·get·i·cal adj. Of or relating to exegesis; critically explanatory. ex insights for the pericopes from Pentecost through Proper 13. Although Heider did not--and I'd say would not--use this term, I found myself compiling a collection of preaching "correctives" as I worked my way through these pages. I find these correctives particularly helpful, because they put into words things I know to be true but sometimes forget. I snatched some of them out of his reflections and bring them together here as additional advice for preachers, myself included. I summarize Heider's advice in italics and add my own comments. Pentecost calls us to preach the corporate as well as the corporal dimension of new life in Christ. In a culture and even a Christian tradition Christian traditions are traditions of practice or belief associated with Christianity. The term has several connected meanings. In terms of belief, traditions are generally stories or history that are or were widely accepted without being part of Christian doctrine. that so focuses on the individual that we can be tempted to claim a personal relationship with Jesus that makes no demands on our relationship with the world, the Spirit of Pentecost permits us to hear the gospel challenge contemporary speech that distinguishes between church and state, personal and social, public and private, sacred and secular as Christ makes all life new. As it was for the crowd that listened to the apostles APOSTLES. In the British courts of admiralty, when a party appeals from a decision made against him, he prays apostles from the judge, which are brief letters of dismission, stating the case, and declaring that the record will be transmitted. 2 Brown's Civ. and Adm. Law, 438; Dig. 49. 6. , Pentecost is a time to question our assumptions as the Spirit opens us to God's new speech. Preach about the Holy Trinity not as God in se but as God in relation to humanity, as God in relation to us. What difference does it make to these people on this day that we know God as Triune? What is the good news in each Person of the Trinity? Rather than explaining a doctrine, celebrate our God! When we pray "Thy kingdom come," what do we think we are asking for? And is that what we really want? My immediate answer is No. To be honest with myself, I want God's reign as I want it, as I envision it. My confession leads me to Scripture, where I can wrestle again with the reign that Jesus embodies and proclaims, with what I need to give up, and how I need to change. Only by engaging in this struggle can I rightly pray, let alone preach, "Thy kingdom come." The answers we get depend upon the questions we ask--of Scripture, of the Christian faith, and of life. I hear a lot of anthropocentric anthropocentric /an·thro·po·cen·tric/ (an?thro-po-sen´trik) with a human bias; considering humans the center of the universe. an·thro·po·cen·tric adj. 1. preaching. Preachers seem to be asking lots of questions about "us." If the questions we ask are about God ("What is God doing in this text?"), our preaching will be more theocentric the·o·cen·tric adj. Centering on God as the prime concern: a theocentric cosmology. , and the result will be the gospel. John Wayne theology ("God helps them what helps themselves") is not Christian theology Noun 1. Christian theology - the teachings of Christian churches free grace, grace of God, grace - (Christian theology) the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God; "God's grace is manifested in the salvation of sinners"; "there but for the grace of God go . "Bear one another's burdens" (Gal 6:2) is. I wonder what other theologies are running around our congregations (and our church) today: everything happens for a reason: faithfulness leads to (and is measured by) success; we can build the kingdom of God; this expression of the church must continue forever. It is integral to both the biblical and the American tradition to speak truth to power. Amen!--so long as the truth we speak is God's truth and not our own agenda. And when we speak truth to power, we need to be prepared to face the consequences. I worry about preachers eager to assume the prophetic pro·phet·ic also pro·phet·i·cal adj. 1. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy: prophetic books. 2. mantle and then shocked when wearing it costs them. George C. Heider has served as a pastor in The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod for 26 years, primarily in the higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. ministries of the church. He currently is Visiting Professor of Theology at Valparaiso University Valparaiso University, known colloquially as Valpo, is a private university located in the city of Valparaiso in the U.S. state of Indiana. Founded in 1859, it consists of five undergraduate colleges, a graduate school, and a law school. in Indiana, where he teaches Bible, Old Testament, Hebrew, and the Freshman core courses. In addition to advice for preachers and solid exegesis exegesis Scholarly interpretation of religious texts, using linguistic, historical, and other methods. In Judaism and Christianity, it has been used extensively in the study of the Bible. Textual criticism tries to establish the accuracy of biblical texts. and thoughtful insights for your preaching, you will find scattered throughout these pages his commentary on the Revised Common Lectionary The Revised Common Lectionary is a lectionary of readings or pericopes from the Bible for use in Christian Worship, making provision for the liturgical year with its pattern of observances of festivals and seasons. . "What advice would you give to preachers today?" If we preachers asked this question of our hearers, what do you suppose they would say? Craig A. Satterlee, Editor csatterl@lstc.edu |
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