In seminary, they tell you that preaching is “The Word of God mediated through the preacher’s personality.” That sounds so egotistical! It is, however, quite a responsibility: to be true to the text from which you’re preaching (for me, it’s the Bible), to be true to your understanding of who God is (remember! God is nicer than you think!), and to be true to the experience of your congregation.
So you write this manuscript (some preachers don’t do this, but I do), and you stand up in front of a bunch of people and preach. You don’t read the text. You emote the text. Sounds weird, eh?
And something strange happens when you preach, too. People hear things differently than you say them. I can’t tell you how many times people come up to me and say, “I really needed to hear it when you said, ‘______________’” and you look back on your manuscript and realize that you never said that. Now, I think that’s God. Because I certainly don’t have the right words most of the time.
I have two favorite ways of thinking about preaching. The first is as an event. Preaching a manuscript is not like a speech that you want to be read again. There is inflection and emphasis that you just don’t get in a written speech. And my goodness, the humor doesn’t come across in writing, either.
My second favorite way of thinking about preaching is as relationship. Preaching is one way that a congregation and a pastor get to know one another. It’s one type of conversation in that relationship. And just like a relationship, there’s room for change and growth, and it takes place over a long period of time. At first, when you preach to a congregation, it’s with timidity, but as you get to know them, and love them, your words are geared to them. Your sermon (when done best, I don’t always do this!) meets them where they are because you know where they are. At it’s best, I believe that preaching is pastoral care.
The words in your sermon are not meant to be universalized. They have to be heard in the context of a congregation and in the moment.
When I post sermons here, I worry. Not all of my blog readers have a relationship with me to understand where I’m coming from. Not all of my blog readers want to continue the relationship. And sometimes I say stuff that I don’t want to represent me for the rest of my ministry.
Jeremiah Wright is a good example of this difficulty. His preaching has to be understood first in the context of his relationship with the congregation to whom he was preaching. Second, he has to be understood in the context of African-American preaching. And third, his preaching has to be understood in the context of a WHOLE sermon. If you take just six words that he said in one sermon, say them over and over again, it’s just not fair.
I would never want to be judged on one phrase in a sermon. Just like most of you wouldn’t want to be judged on one conversation with a person that you have a long conversation and a long relationship with. Can’t you think of one phrase you spoke to a friend, that if it were repeated over and over again, you’d hate it?
I’m going to continue to post my sermons here, but sometimes they’ll be edited. They’ll be edited for private information and they will be edited for phrases that could be held against me, out of the context of a relationship and out of the context of an event.
Thanks for reading!
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Jeremiah Wright