We discussed four Biblical ways to use the Bible: word, image, oral reading in the community, and dialogue. I have considered how I use these four ways in my preaching. My word muscle is strong. I take great pleasure in reading, writing, and storytelling. My Reformed heritage values the Bible as the Word. I am “word-biased,” and it is no surprise that I have thrived on traditional forms of preaching, e.g. a twenty minute sermon based on careful exegesis of a text, the findings communicated logically to a listening congregation.
My image muscle is weaker, but I do not anticipate this being a hard muscle to build up. While Presbyterians have a history of mistrusting images, we also love story, and story thrives on word images.
Dialogue and the oral, communal reading of the text are the weakest muscles for me. These muscles are weak in part because I have been trained to be a passive learner. This style of learning fits the modern context well. In the search for Truth, it makes sense to trust the “experts” who have learned all they can about a particular subject. Applied to the Bible, we look to Biblical scholars, theologians, and preachers to tell us what the Bible says, because they have the training and time for study. My Master of Divinity training reflects this bias. I have learned to study the Bible carefully to discern its meaning, reading the texts in their original languages and using the tools of Biblical exegesis.
I believe this training is good. Not all meanings gathered from Scripture are equally true or good. I have tools that help me discern the truth of a proposed interpretation. As a pastor, I have time to study the text carefully, to pray about its meaning in my context and the context of my community, and communicate those findings and reflections to the community. However, I am not the holy “expert” who knows all. I have my blinders; I am a redeemed sinner like everyone else, and I struggle to live the text in my everyday life. It is ironic that the Reformed tradition, which places a high value on the priesthood of all believers, i.e. on the value of community, also places such a high value on Biblical experts. What does it mean to truly be the body of Christ if only the pastor really understands the text that shapes the community?
Dialogue emerging from the communal reading of Scripture is a way to actively engage the community. It moves us from being passive to active learners, not relying solely on the experts, but understanding that God speaks through the text to each community member. As the seminary trained individual in the community, I have knowledge to contribute to the conversation, but my voice is not the only one that creates the community’s shared meaning.
My ego is slightly bruised at this realization; I have invested money and time into my seminary education, and I take pleasure in people attending to my ideas as I preach. But, I am also relieved, for as the pastor, I am not the only one responsible for discerning the meaning of the text for the individuals within the community. Because we place such as high expectation on our pastors to be the experts, we can be extra hard on them when their words do not help us or at the very least entertain us. Learning to live the text within the community gives every member an opportunity to discern what it means. It respects the community as a whole, recognizing the pastor as one member of that community contributing to the conversation.
I am intrigued and encouraged by this discernment of the text via dialogue within the community. However, I expect to pastor congregations who have been trained to be passive learners. Engaging these communities to be active discerners of the text will take time. Nevertheless, I have gleaned ideas from this class that I plan to try as I teach my communities to be active engagers with my preaching:
1. Engaging the voices of the community as the sermon is shaped:
- I plan to find forums for engaging the text with the congregation as I study and prepare to preach, whether via email dialogue or small group time of quiet reflection on the text via lectio divina or Dwelling in the Word.
2. Engaging the voices of the community as the sermon is preached:
- I would love to train up the congregation in which I serve to be able to offer reflections and feedback in the context of the sermon itself. However, that won’t happen right away. Perhaps the more I engage multiple voices in my sermons, whether the diverse voices of Scripture itself, differing voices of interpretation, cultural voices, or the voices of the congregation, the more comfortable the community will become engaging in a dialogue in the context of worship.
3. Engaging the voices of the community as the sermon is digested:
7 comments:
ibrgvYour thoughts seem really well-formed around preaching and how you intend to teach a congregation. Quite honestly I would love being a part of the congregation who received sermons in a way that invited feedback in a variety of ways. Also I'm impressed at your desire to expand how you preach to include images and stories. However, I wonder if you would one day be comfortable letting the "sermon" part of Sunday morning be simply meditating on a Scripture, then reflecting that meditation in an artistic way. You've discussed your desire to diversify your preaching, and I wonder if someday you might not end up expanding your idea of what a "sermon" should be.
Honestly, a lot of your post reminded me of Lucy Atkinson Rose's ideas regarding a roundtable church atmosphere. I would simply encourage you to go even farther in making sure there is no head or foot of the table in this sermon experience.
"Preaching in the Roundtable Church" Lucy Atkinson Rose, p. 4
I connect in a profound way to your comment concerning an apparent disconnect between the Reformed tradition’s teaching of the priesthood of all believers and its deference to education. I too value my education and am grateful for all that God is revealing to me at Fuller – but I am skeptical and afraid that I will view myself in a priestly way. Even worse, if I view myself as a priest, how then will I view those who God calls me to minister to?
A passage in Rose’s book hit me in the face and showed me just how far this idea of the new priesthood has come. Speaking of the traditional theory of preaching, Rose states that, “The preacher has some insight or belief that the congregation needs to understand and accept.” She goes on to say that, “The preacher is thus the conduit between the Word of God, the Bible, the ecclesiastical tradition, or the Spirit, on the one hand, and the congregation, on the other” (Rose, 15). Assuming that Rose is speaking fairly of this view, it seems that not only have we reaffirmed the new priesthood, but we have inserted ourselves into the Trinity as well. I hope that we are able to walk that fine line of searching the scriptures for a better understanding while realizing that the difference between us and God is that God doesn’t think he is us (pardon the patristic term – just trying to be faithful to the quote). Good luck and may God bless you in your future ministry.
Rose, Lucy Atkinson. Sharing the Word: Preaching in the Roundtable Church. Louisville, KY. Westminster/John Knox Press, 1997.
I suppose there are a variety of ways to look at pastoral ministry, and i'm glad to know that those pursuing this avenue are looking closely at the diversity of needs in this context.
my strong muscles happen to be image based. It's more in my engagement and having relationship to text that i tend to be clumsy and weak. I don't work out my leg muscles much when at the gym, and they're my foundation! it's kinda the same way i relate to scripture and the preaching of the word. i don't engage them much.
your post reminds me that God's word, by way of scriptural text is an essential relationship that i have neglected.
i am reminded by Henri Nouwen that my relationships to time, people, and nature show a great deal about my effectiveness as a minister of the gospel. Spending time with text is vitally important. Contemplation is so important to understanding what God is doing in the midst of his creation. Knowing people is not optional. we udnerstand the Incarnation of Christ by recognizing and sharing gifts in and with other people. So i've got some reading and listening to do. I've got some engaging with text, people (preachers, and scholars even) to do...
Nouwen, Henri J.M. Contemplation and Ministry, Sojourners 7, pp 9-12. , 1978
Rachel, I very much appreciated your comments during class. I am particularly taken here by your thoughtfulness regarding “engaging” a congregation, encouraging it to add its own tapestry of voices within a give-and-take together with the pastor which “creates the community’s shared meaning."
Your plan to “engag(e) the voices of the community as the sermon is shaped” recalls to my mind the audiotape we heard of Brian McClaren which demonstrated his skillful on-the-fly invitation to a congregation to become AND live the text. Of the creative, endless ways we might plan to invite community participation and shared meaning, Olive M. Fleming Drane reminds me to also use rituals (like the Easter toast to the Giver of Life at Steve’s church). I wonder what ritual(s) you might design to draw your community, including children, into the collective discernment of scripture…
Olive M. Fleming Drane, Spirituality to Go: Rituals and Reflections for Everyday Living, 1-8, 103-104 (for example) and throughout.
Rachel,
I think that it is great that you were able to assess yourself in the area of effective communications. I am sure the more you attempt to utilize each skill the more proficient and comfortable you will become in applying each particular skill to each appropriate situations.
I agree with your point “Not all meanings gathered from Scripture are equally true or good.” There have been many social injustices done toward humanity because of the misinterpretation of the text. Having community engagement is great, however there should be good exegesis as well when understanding and teaching the text. It is great to have a persons input about their understanding of the text as long as they are open to hearing other perspectives and be able to make the right judgment based of the information that were presented.
It is good to be open to the opinions and perspectives of others. This may allow you to come to some revelation that may not have been obvious to you and your interpretation. However, we also must remember that the text is ancient text which uses ancient language. They may fail to understand that language is limited, bias, historically conditioned (Rose p.90). Others may be interpreting the text according to a modern mind set. I agree that we as preachers and teachers need to be discerning when trying to understand the text and apply it to the context that we are seeking to impact and build a stronger community.
I believe that as you will become an excellent preacher as you utilize the tools that we have been given to becoming an effective communicator.
Rose, Lucy Atkinson. Sharing the Word : Preaching in the Roundtable Church. 1st ed. ed. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997.
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