Tag Archives: Prophetic preaching

It’s Not Easy Being Purple

11 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by in Current Events, Pop, Social Justice

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

lightning-on-the-sky-1294229

I’ve been looking ahead to texts that I will be preaching in the next few weeks.  After recent news stories, I feel that many texts that I’m coming across makes me want to run in the opposite direction.  “Too divisive!” I think to myself.

And some of these texts are as simple as “Love your enemies.”  These are sentiments that have come out of the mouth of Jesus, and all I want to do is avoid them.

Some of you reading this will think to yourself “You aren’t doing enough to drive this issue!  You must preach on this!”  Some of you reading this will think to yourself “You’ve done too much.  Back off this issue!”

Welcome to the purple church of the twenty-first century!

As I overanalyze my sermons, prayers, posts, conversations, etc., I ponder if I’m living into my calling by God.  “Be strong and courageous” as God says to Joshua.  But I feel less than confident preaching anything that relates to something that sounds remotely like we’ve all heard on the news.  And then I remember what Karl Barth said:

Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.

Which makes me feel the need to address the following…

To some, the scripture may seem too political.  And your pastor probably has had a good talk with God on why this is part of the lectionary for THIS. PARTICULAR. WEEK.  Or maybe they have begged God not to call them to preach on a particular text.  And God laughed and them and still called them to preach on the text.  Unfortunately, some issues are too relatable – whether it happened during the time of Jesus or the Babylonian Exile or now.  The whole situation may seem like they hand-picked all of this out and wanted to speak specifically on a subject.  Yet sometimes the text leads the preacher to the subject, and there is no where else to go except preaching through and wrestling with the text.

Some of these texts appear to speak for themselves.  Take care of the foreigner?  What more should we need to say?  The struggle is that we may see immigration laws differently.  Yet, a text like this asks us to ponder “How are we treating our refugees while they are being detained?”  Does separating children from parents and not allowing doctors to administer free flu shots to refugees in detention centers mean that we are properly caring for the foreigner?

You will probably feel like your pastor has gone too far one way from time to time.  And they may have.  But they’re trying to figure all of this out as well.  They are trying to be as faithful to the scripture, to where God is calling them, and to create a loving world.  They are trying to say what they believe God is calling them to say in ways that is not over the top.  And there will be times in which they must speak out against an injustice which is creating hardship and oppression in the lives or well-beings of people.  There were pastors who did this in 1930’s Germany and some who did not.  Ultimately, your pastor must live with themselves, and not speaking out against oppression is not always an option.  It may seem partisan and political, but for them, it’s Biblical.

Your pastor has personal views that they may express in other spaces.  They are allowed to.  They are expressing themselves because they want to see God’s kingdom here on earth.  You never have to agree with them.  Yes, they want you to treat your neighbors with love and dignity.  But it doesn’t mean you will agree on how to make health care more affordable or reproductive health issues.   This is where dialogue comes in…

Dialogue is crucial.  If you are struggling with anything they said during a sermon, Bible study, or outside of church, have a conversation with them.  Understand why they believe what they believe.

Your pastor’s job is not to avoid what is happening in the world and make all of this easy.  It’s not easy.  It’s a tough time.  Part of the congregation feels extreme hope by the person occupying the White House.  Part of the congregation feels extreme despair by the person occupying the White House.  And part of the congregation doesn’t care or is trying to avoid this altogether.

For people at churches with more-unified perspectives – WONDERFUL!  You have the opportunity to have the luxury of hearing what you want to hear in church and not worry about what your neighbor thinks. But for those of us in purple churches, we must work together, to be an example to our country on how to communicate with one another when we disagree.

Ultimately, we are all connected.  We are still part of the Body of Christ.  Republican and Democrat.  Liberal, Moderate, and Conservative.  We are connected.  And we must remember this covenant, knowing that when heaven and earth have passed away, all of you will be part of God’s loving energy together.

Pastorshaming

17 Sunday Jun 2018

Posted by in Church Life, Current Events, Pop, Religion, Social Justice

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

IMG_9190

We’ve all heard it and seen it: “If your pastor doesn’t preach on (fill in the blank), then walk out.”

Undoubtedly, people who are posting such statements have never served a church with truly different perspectives.

I’ve personally only had experience being a pastor in churches where there are people to the far right and far left and everywhere in between.

So while my message may be focused on hot topics of the day, I have to say things in a way that as many people as possible will listen to the message- because if I seem like I am siding with one perspective, then some people will close their minds and hearts to my sermon and to where God may be directing all of us.

And the message will not reach the people who have not yet heard it from another angle – especially if the news they watch are biased towards the other perspective.

Yes, it is our calling to be prophetic as well as pastoral. It’s our call to love all of the people in our pews. We can’t completely shy away from the subject, but we must speak words that will be considered. We must evaluate the time and space in which our message will be delivered.

So friends who are prophetic and shaming your fellow pastors into mandatory preaching on subjects: please stop it. Please stop putting extra pressure on colleagues. We are all trying our best in our unique contexts. Additionally, we must preach according to the Spirit’s call – not from the pressure of our clergy colleagues.

And to friends reading this who may disagree with your pastor- please give them a break. They are trying to be faithful to the Gospel. They are trying to share the Good News. And it may sound the opposite to what your favorite politicians may be saying. This is not the time to automatically side with your favorite politicians. This is the time to engage in discussions and dialogues on why people believe what they believe. This is a tough time to be in the pulpit because. Please extend grace to your pastors and one another.

To my fellow pastors who serve diverse-perspective churches: let’s keep working together to scatter the seeds whenever possible. We are called to preach the Gospel, and it’s tough. So let’s work together to lift one another up.

If your pastor doesn’t preach on (fill in the blank) this week, have a conversation with him or her. Please do not leave. This is a crucial time for us to dialogue our way through the wilderness.

It’s a Tough Time to Be in the Pulpit

06 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by in Current Events, Life, Pop, Social Justice

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

pulpit 2

Theologian Karl Barth claimed “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”  Each week, many of us preachers adhere to this advice.  We review the Scripture which we have chosen (often from the lectionary), attempt to understand it from the context in which it was written, and then apply the text to today’s world.

Unfortunately, I find it more and more difficult to hold the Bible in one and the newspaper in the other.  Engaging in this practice requires me to address the world today.  And often the lectionary texts with which we are preaching feature Jesus radically attempting to change the world.

For instance, this week’s text featured Jesus turning over tables in the Temple.  Jesus is protesting the powers-that-be and the corrupt commerce practices of the time.  And he doesn’t just voice his concern but decides to physically disrupt the exploitive dealings.  Like I mentioned in my sermon this Sunday: it’s interesting that we criticize people who are protesting today and yet we don’t criticize Jesus for protesting very radically during his time…

As I hold Biblical texts like this alongside recent events, I cannot ignore the speeches and marches by students who are standing against gun violence and for gun control.  I cannot dismiss protestors who see a members of the community unjustly targeted by community authorities.  I cannot forget the women who are speaking out against sexual abuse and harassment.

And yet, here we are in congregations which hold a variety of views.  As pastors, we are called to be prophetic, addressing the injustices of our time and pointing out in scripture where the prophets spoke out against gaps in the system.  Yet we must walk the fine line between being prophetic and pastoral, praying and searching for the best words to use and hoping that we present the issue with the appropriate amount of pressure for our particular congregations.

During my 45ish years, I’ve never seen so much division in our society based on political and theological beliefs.  As the Church, I believe we are called to find common ground between all of us and continue to converse on these subjects…

…But I must admit that on some Sunday mornings – when the text offers a prophetic tone and the issues of today are calling us to address – all I want to do is pull the covers over my head and stay in bed.  I do not want to be the one who stirs the pot.  The simplicity of brunch with friends or sleeping until 11am would be delightful.  And somehow, God has called many of us pastors to lead the conversation.  God has called all of us to leave our homes on Sunday morning to wrestle together – no matter how liberal or conservative our politics or who we voted for in 2016.

So let’s join together in this uncomfortably holy space- ready to experience God in the chaos of this time.  As we pastors approach the pulpit, we may have dry mouths or racing hearts as we wonder how our message will be received.  We realize that our message may infuriate some.  We understand that we are called to take up the cross and follow Jesus into the depths of radical love.  But know that we are trying to be as faithful as possible to God in this 2018 world, loving our congregations as we fulfill our callings.