Sermon's ...

Reading The Preacher King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the word that moved America at the moment. In it Richard Lischer chronicles Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, often using material others choose not to.

Not that far into it yet, but already discovering something of his influences in preaching. The man really knew how to preach - it was clearly a God-given gift. He was surrounded by good preachers, both sustainers and reformers within the African-American church, though he rarely spoke of them. What I know of his speech's (which really were always sermons) I am moved by, though in truth I actually know very little about the man behind these. I'm looking forward to getting more of an insight into this great nation changing man of God.

One thing is evident from the outset though - Martin Luthe King Jr. was a preacher and he was going to preach the Word of God no matter what. His use of language and abilty to convey truth with creativity is something I most definately aspire too. In the prologue Lischer says 'A sermon is a cultic performance of a biblical text among people who identify themselves as Christians.' I like that definition, though I'm sure already that King would say it was a cultic performance of a biblical text amongst people, whether they were Christian or not. While many view the word performance negatively when it comes to preaching and sermons, I don't. While you don't become a different person, you do in a sense do something different. A sermon is, at best, a point where something of heaven touches earth. It is a performance in that we bring the best of us at any given moment and then God uses us to convey His truth, His words, by His Spirit. And like at the end of any performance an actor will give, we have taken on and taken in the role and the message so much that we are spent at the end - exhausted yet exhilerated. What happens next, like with any performance, is up to the listener - those with ears to hear do, and those who don't remain deaf, unresponsive to the invitation to converse with the Almighty.

Yes, a sermon is a cultic performance of a biblical text amongst people, and what a performance it can be! I wonder what kind of cultic performance God and Mark have in store tomorrow ...