Realigning life.

Proper 13--Proper 21, Series C

Mary W. Anderson, the author of this series of Preaching Helps, observes that the scriptures in August and September call for a realignment of our lives as we define and refine our discipleship. She writes, "How disciples realign themselves from vain emptiness to the fullness of God is the subject matter for these August Sundays." Mary offers the Prayer of the Day for Proper 13 to set the tone: "Benevolent God, you are the source, the guide, and the goal of our lives. Teach us to love what is worth loving, to reject what is offensive to you, and to treasure what is precious in your sight."

Mary makes the point that, from the world's perspective, a realigned life, a life in line with the gospel, is craziness. Among other things, the gospel calls us to live in order to be ready for Christ or the kingdom, which in all likelihood will not come in our lifetime. In fact, the gospel calls us to be ready for something for which there is no evidence of advent. And the gospel calls for action as well as attitude. We are to change our priorities, redefine our relationships, reassess how we use our resources, and recognize where we find real meaning. And the guidance the gospel gives us on how to do this is crazier than the task. But still we pray, still we try, still we struggle to align ourselves with Christ.

The issue is not works righteousness. We do not realign our lives in order to come into relationship with Jesus. The problem is that we are in relationship with Jesus, and Jesus has this way of turning everything upside down. Jesus creates a crisis with his presence and his preaching. He will not encourage a peace born of oppression and violence, a faith that does not show itself in daily living, or a church that does not exist for the sake of the world. Christ's presence and preaching, which turn things on their heads, lead us to realign our living away from worldly vanities to kingdom values. So the question is not what we should, must, or ought to do but how God in Christ is realigning reality and what that means for both our lives and how we live them, and the church and how we live and serve together.

One way we can help our people to realign their lives is by realigning our preaching. I served as Mary's thesis advisor in the ACTS Doctor of Ministry in Preaching program, and I find hints of her work in these pages. Mary realigned her preaching from her strong Christian upbringing and all the assumptions that go with that by engaging skeptics, seekers, and folks on the fringes of her congregation in conversation about sermons, texts, the faith, and their lives. Her first discovery is that they are eager to talk when preachers are eager to listen. Her second discovery is how much they have to teach us. Her third discovery is that sometimes sermons provide answers to questions no one is asking, while overlooking or sidestepping what is on everyone's mind and heart. So, as you read these pages, keep alert for the people that Mary invites us to realign our preaching with, and, as you prepare to preach, find ways to seek these people out yourself.

Some of the best preaching advice I ever received came from my friend Fred Meuser, Trinity Seminary's president during my years there. Fred told me to go into the nave as I practiced my sermon and sit where one of my parishioners will sit when I preach it. Read the sermon aloud, he said, and consider how that person will hear it. How will Mabel or Roy or Jim or Rachel hear this sermon? The next week, sit somewhere else, in someone else's place, and hear the sermon through that person's life. Now that I no longer live next door to a church where I preach, I really miss this practice. Sitting in my study isn't quite the same.

Mary's work takes Fred's advice one step farther. Mary asks us to hear our sermons through the experience of those who may not be sitting in church as we preach, or who are there after being away a long time, or who aren't sure why they are there, or who are afraid to be there and are ready to spring from their seats. When we engage in these conversations and reflections, our preaching will be realigned and, through our preaching, over time and by God's grace, our congregation will be as well.

Mary W. Anderson is the senior pastor of Incarnation Lutheran Church in Columbia, South Carolina. She previously served St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Evanston, Illinois, on the ELCA churchwide staff, and as pastor of St. Mark's Lutheran in Prosperity, SC. She is a graduate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and holds a D.Min. in Preaching from LSTC.

Three books that you may find helpful as you realign your preaching are Jim Nieman and Tom Rogers's Preaching to Every Pew (Augsburg Fortress, 2001), Joey Jeter Jr. and Ron Allen's One Gospel, Many Ears (Chalice Press, 2002), and Christine Smith's Preaching Justice (United Church Press, 1998). Each goes about the task differently, and all are worthwhile.

Preach Good News!

Craig A. Satterlee

Editor of Preaching Helps