Was It a Sermon?
A few weeks ago I was invited by a pastor to join him in a dialogue sermon. I’d never done that before, but I’m always talking about the need to experiment in our preaching and so figured it was time to put my money where my mouth was. We met ahead of time and talked through the contours of the biblical text appointed for that day and how it might lend itself to this kind of dialogue. While we worked through the major moves and anticipated turning points of the conversation, we left the content of the conversation largely unscripted.
We also talked about the need to make sure we didn’t just talk about the text but proclaimed the Gospel through it. One of the hazards of dialogue sermons is that we never move beyond our immediate conversation to address the congregation with the promise of the Gospel, and we wanted to make sure that didn’t happen.
On the whole, the sermon and whole worship service went very well. Judging by the attention folks gave to our interaction and what they said afterward, people seemed to be very engaged, learned a lot, and in fact heard the gospel proclaimed.
One gentleman, however, wasn’t so sure. On the way out, he said, “I really enjoyed that. It was very interesting. But the bulletin said there was going to be a sermon.” The critique was implicit: we all know what a sermon is, and this probably wasn’t one. I understand where he’s coming from and think that both his question and concern were quite legitimate. A sermon in our experience is pretty much always one person talking to another. And, quite frankly, we’re not sure what to make of it when what happens in church varies from that norm. We’re not even sure if it really is a sermon.
At the same time, I have this gut sense that what has always worked in the past isn’t working anymore. At least not quite the way it worked before. And so I think we need to experiment, innovate, even invent new ways of communicating the gospel that, while they may look different from the established norms, nevertheless accomplish the same ends.
By that I’m not saying that we need to throw tradition out. I am saying, however, that we need to put our traditions and cherished practices on the table and examine them in light of the imperative to proclaim the gospel in a way that will reach people today. Who knows, perhaps preaching in the coming years will look a lot like it has for the last few decades. Or perhaps it will include some relatively minor adaptations and innovations like we tried with this dialogue sermon. Or maybe it will look a whole lot different and we haven’t even begun to imagine just what. I honestly don’t know. But I know we have to try.
So what have you heard on Sundays lately that made you wonder? Or what have you tried by way of invigorating the sermon so that it speaks today? Ultimately, I don’t know if what we tried that day was really a sermon. I hope so. But I do know that grateful to have colleagues who are willing to risk, to experiment, even to fail for the sake of the gospel.
Post image: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Altarpiece of St. Mary’s church (city church) in Wittenberg, Germany (middle pane, reversed). For additional information on this historic painting, see this article on the painting itself or this excellent piece about how art “pictured” the gospel in the Reformation more generally.
At a Methodist Church here in Asheville, the pastor has a dialogue sermon each week with the congregation as the dialogue partner. He gives it direction and poses questions, and allows rime for responses by many. I have found it liberating to see the Gospel come alive, crossing boundaries such as class, race, etc. Check out the Haywood Street Congregation: http://haywoodstreet.org/
Thanks for your thoughtful reflections!
Thanks for this tip, Michael. I’ll check it out.
David,
Where can I find commentary on the painting displayed with today’s, 3/11/12, devotional? It appears like Jesus on the cross between Luther and his listeners. A thought-provoking picture!
It’s by Lucas Cranach the Elder and is the middle pane of the triptych that hands in the Wittenberg City Church. It’s been a very important painting in picturing the Reformation concern that all preaching point to Christ. I put a couple of links at the bottom of the article if you want to read more.
At First Lutheran in Kennewick, WA. we look forward every Sunday to our Pastor’s sermons. She happens to be a former student of yours, Kristen Kuemple, and you taught her well! She very often will ask thought provoking questions to be answered by raising hands or speaking out. She usually has a special twist to share and we love it!
Every other time I’m scheduled to preach I do a dialogue sermon with the congregation, having carried the appointed readings in the Newsletter with a series of questions to prime the pump:
1. Is there anything in this passage I don’t like or that troubles me?
2. Where does this passage touch my life today?
3. What intrigues me?
4. How do I feel after reading this passage?
5. How is God inviting me to change?
It has worked exceedingly well, and the Gospel is always proclaimed.
Final comment: the original meaning of the word “sermon” is “talk,” or “conversation.” It only came to connote a monologue much later.
Do you have a link to a dialogue sermon between 2 pastors that I could what they did, as another pastor and I are thinking of doing in a few weeks?
I don’t. Sorry. It wasn’t recorded and I don’t know of a place where others may be recording theirs.