West Camel, Sparkford, Corton Denham
Fifth Sunday of Lent, 22 March 2015
You will probably have heard the one about the young curate preaching at a service attended by the bishop. After the service was over, the curate shook hands with the bishop and asked him, "How did you like my sermon, Bishop?”
"Young man, it was like the peace and mercy of God," the bishop replied. "It was like his peace, in that it passed all understanding, and like his mercy in that I thought it would endure forever."
It is said that the best sermons should start with a good joke, and end with a good joke. And they should be as close together as possible. [1]
The sermon is the subject of many jokes in our culture - reinforcing the point of view which goes in and out of mode in church circles, that the sermon is an outdated form of communication, which turns people off coming to church.
Looking at our society, certainly the days are long over when people would flock to assembly rooms and theatres in vast numbers to hear public speakers expound on the issues of the day. But look again - at the continuing popularity of Thought for the Day on various radio stations; the influence of YouTube and Facebook as a means for people to get out spoken messages to a watching online world; the rise in popularity of forums such as the Ted Talks, a global set of conferences run under the slogan "Ideas Worth Spreading”, in which speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can, and address a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture, often through storytelling. [2]
In church, the ‘sermon slot’ should take account of the changing ways in which people in our society are presenting and receiving ideas; but we who practice sermons and who listen faithfully to them in our churches can be encouraged that there is still a place for them today.
Now past Ted Talk speakers have included Bill Clinton, Gordon Brown, Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates, Bono, the founders of Google and many Nobel Prize winners. And we can learn from these great orators of our times. But the ultimate model for Christian preachers is Jesus himself, who went about the countryside teaching and preaching to the people – telling them about his father in heaven, explaining the Old Testament scriptures to them, explaining how he was the fulfilment of those stories, introducing to them the new idea of what has been translated the Kingdom of God, or God’s reign, which he inaugurated.
Jesus spoke in the synagogues as well, and it is possible to see in the gospel narratives how he changed his style of speaking as well as his subject matter according to the places where he spoke, and the people in his audience. Jesus used a mixture of scripture references and parables or stories to get his message across in terms that the people would understand and could relate to. This reminds preachers that our first task in preparing for a sermon is to consider one’s audience. It’s common sense, and essential to ensure that the sermon will be relevant and accessible.
You have to be adaptable. As a curate in suburban Liverpool I was also chaplain to an independent school, my main task each week being a three-minute talk at a formal assembly on a theme set each term by the headteacher. I found it a healthy challenge to find the most stimulating and relevant ways to address some of the brightest teenagers in the city on subjects such as Courage, Witness, Citizenship, and Sacrifice. [3] But then I moved to a church on an outer estate where the people were extremely well educated in life but did not necessarily have the academic learning of my Bluecoat scholars. So many of my sermons there were in the form of conversations and storytelling, which better fitted the culture and learning-style of the people there. And boy, did I learn too - when you begin a sermon with a question to a congregation which is more than ready to share its forthright answers, you soon get to know how to think on your feet.
Here in this benefice our sermon styles differ from service to service. From the formal presentation at a formal service such as this to the more open style, like that adopted at Sutton Montis during the informal morning worship, when the leader might give a thought or two of their own, but then opens it up for general discussion, when everybody learns from each other, each sharing their own understanding of the reading or topic, and we all grow through this in our depth of knowledge – the leader included.
The preacher’s second task is to decide on a theme. Sometimes preachers will follow a predetermined set of themes - such as we are currently doing in this series of Exploring Worship. Largely what we do in our churches, in common with a large proportion of Anglican churches and sister denominations, is to preach on the Bible readings which have been set for the day and published in the Lectionary, a three year cycle of readings, covering not just Sundays and special days, but every day of the year. [4]
The Lectionary offers a set of readings for each service, one from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament Epistles, one from the New Testament Gospels, and one or more psalm. We print these in the centre of our pew sheets each week, for you to read during the service and take away with you to look at again through the week, along with the notices and other information. The preacher makes a further selection here, since we usually read only two of the readings during a service - so how to choose which two? Which two readings will compliment each other? Is there a contrast between them which suggests and interesting theme? Will the talk focus on just one, or both readings, in full, or even just one small extract?
This is where the preacher must discern two things: what is God saying to me through these scriptures which I can share with the congregation? And, from my knowledge of the congregation, the circumstances of their lives and events which have happened in this community this week, affecting them, what might God be saying to me through them? And then the preacher begins to weave together the story of the people with the story of God, in ways which stimulate and enlighten.
My usual practice is to start the new week - on a Monday - by reading the scriptures set for the following Sunday, to reflect on them to see what initially springs out of them for me, and then to carry them with me through the week, to hold them in the background of every encounter, every occasion, every reading of the news and every walk through the village, to get an inner conversation going in my head between the meanings and message of the scriptures and the context of the people. I’ll do a bit of background reading too - and like every preacher I’ve my favourite sources of inspiration and reference. By Thursday I’ve usually got a strong idea of where my sermon will be headed, and on Saturday morning I’ll get it all down on paper, which is my preferred method - though I know other preachers in this benefice prefer to preach without notes, and on occasions I will do that too. Interestingly it’s often on Fridays - which are my usual day off - when ideas for the sermon come together in my head. Which makes for an early start on a Saturday to get them all down on paper while they’re still fresh.
In the best acts of worship there is some continuity between the readings, the sermon, and the other elements - the prayers, the liturgy, and particularly the hymns. It is helpful for the preacher to take the lead in choosing the hymns, as their choices can really help to set the theme, to create a cohesive service that fits together, so that each part compliments the rest.
Can you recall a preacher who consistently engaged you, educated, enlightened you? Or perhaps one particular sermon which made a deep impression? My inspirations in communicating the gospel include great orators of the faith, humbler expounders of the word who faithfully preached God’s truth to me week by week in my formative years, and also other great communicators from outside the faith - growing up in Liverpool in the 1960s the great lyricists of that city, its songwriters and performance poets had a great impact, whose phrasing and delivery was inspirational, memorable; and today I could also add politicians I’ve heard making great speeches at rallies and hustings, playwrights, filmmakers, and especially comedians, who are great models for preachers because they have perfected phrases of speech, and styles of delivery which are spot-on, having immediate and sparkling effect. [5]
Some preachers like to use props or visual aids to get their message across. And so, rather like these High Density Solar Eclipse Viewing Spectacles, [6] a preacher is the filter enabling the people to look on the dazzling light of Christ, to see with clarity the shape and motion of the glory of God in the world.
And sometimes in reducing the gospel message in this sort of way preachers can fall into the mistake of over-simplification, come across as condescending or patronising. If we do, I hope you’ll tell us.
For, finally, the sermon should be an interactive process, just as prayer and the eucharist are interactive processes. The work of the preacher is to interpret God to the community, but the community must take responsibility in responding to what it hears.
Jesus once had a conversation with his followers imploring them to learn ‘how to interpret the present time’. They wanted him to tell them exactly how they should be thinking, they wanted it all handed to them on a plate. But Jesus said to them, ‘Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?’ [7]
There should be conversation between the preacher and the hearers in the presence of God. That’s why I enjoy those conversations at the church door after a sermon, talking over people’s responses to it together. That’s why I invite further reading and discussion of my sermons by posting them online. [8] That’s why preachers encourage us to read the scriptures at home, to reflect further on them alone or with others, through the week.
Ultimately ‘preaching is about the teaching of a new language - the language of the Christian faith’. [9] Preachers are here to help us learn this new language; but if we want to learn it as best we can, then that’s something we need to do together.
Notes
This is my adaptation of an original sermon by Rosemary Rymer for our Exploring Worship series, session 4 - Preaching, Teaching and Lectionary.
[1] Thanks to the internet for these two opening standards.
[2] Wikipedia: Ted (Conference); www.ted.com.
[3] See John Davies, Talks given at Liverpool Blue Coat School Assemblies.
[4] The full range of Lectionary readings, in various forms, are available on the Common Worship website.
[5] ‘No-one you can save who can’t be saved’: Rae Morris’s gorgeous 2015 rendition of All you need is love illuminates the timeless virtuosity of The Beatles; other great Liverpudlian influences on my preaching range from Ken Dodd to the Christian broadcaster and poet (also, I’m pleased to add, a friend) Stewart Henderson.
[6] Preached a few days after a solar eclipse, I had a pair of Jodrell Bank solar eclipse glasses to display at this point.
[7] Luke 12.56-57.
[8] John Davies - Notes from a Small Vicar: Sermons and Talks.
[9] Leonora Tubbs Tisdale, Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art, p.126
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