Dear Partner in Preaching, The first line of this week’s reading really grabbed my attention: “As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John….” What I find fascinating is not actually how John responding to all this attention; rather, I’m intrigued by the wondering and perhaps murmuring and even hoping among the people about whether John might be the promised Messiah in the first place. And that got me to thinking: “Are our people still expecting a Messiah?” Or, perhaps more accurately, “Who are our people looking to with...

I love John’s audacity. I know, I know, I said the same thing about Luke just a few weeks ago, but hear me out. Luke is an audacious historian; John is an audacious author and theologian. Take, for instance, how he begins his Gospel: “In the beginning….” Sound familiar? Of course it does. These are the opening words of Genesis: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth….” (1:1). So think about that for a moment. John is writing his story of Jesus and decides to start by quoting the beginning of Genesis or, really, the whole Bible. It would be kind of like if I wanted to write a novel and decided to begin,...

Dear Partner in Preaching, A word of advice as you prepare your Christmas Eve sermon: keep it simple. I know, I know, there’s a lot of pressure to pull out all the stops. It is, after all, Christmas Eve, almost everyone’s favorite Christmas service with special music, favorite carols, lighted candles, and more. And the church will be full. Or at least far more full than usual. With folks you haven’t seen for a while and all kinds of visitors to boot. And then there is the excitement that accompanies the coming of Christmas. The church has been preparing for it for almost four weeks now, and the culture since just after Halloween. So...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Would you consider, on this Fourth Sunday in Advent, omitting the sermon in favor of a hymn sing? I know that’s a lot to ask, and I’ll explain why in a moment. But first I should say that even if you don’t want to omit the sermon – and, trust me, I get that, even admire it! – at least consider keeping the sermon shorter than usual in order to give more room to the hymns of the season. So…why my advice to privilege singing over preaching this week? Well, let me suggest Luke as my example. Have you ever noticed, that is, how often Luke employs songs in the first several chapters of his story about Jesus....

Dear Partner in Preaching, I was interested to see a brief segment on the Today Show about what values we want to teach our kids. Honesty topped the charts (43%), followed by kindness (29%), a strong work ethic (11%) and a variety of others. What struck me as interesting about this survey was that it lines up pretty closely with John the Baptist’s preaching in this Sunday’s passage from Luke. This is, as you’ll recall, the second Sunday in which we are spending time with John. Last week, Luke introduced us to the adult John the Baptist, taking pains to anchor John’s preaching in the historical context of the day. We noticed that Luke...