2015 Festival Journal - Day Four

Festival of Homiletics, 2015 – Denver Colorado

Day Four

Perhaps I spoke too soon.  Or too smugly.  Somewhere in the middle of the night, I woke with a pounding headache.  Decided that maybe all the warnings meant something after all.  So, I’ve been hydrating all day.  And so far, so good.

Anyway, aside from the nocturnal altitude lessons, the day began with worship again.  This morning I had the choice of the United Methodist Adam Hamilton preaching and lecturing at the Presbyterian Church, or the Presbyterian Dr. Craig Barnes preaching and lecturing at the United Methodist Church.  Wrestling with that irony for a while, I opted for Dr. Barnes.  

His sermon was based on the beginning of the book of Genesis. And to sum up a whole lot of stuff, he says that no one can do more damage to us than us.  But that from the beginning God’s plan was that God’s grace would be sufficient for us.  Not our successes or our failures.  Not our strength or our weakness.  God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.  And that no matter what, we can always choose gratitude.

Craig Barnes then followed worship with a lecture titled “The Soul of the Preacher.”  He began with an observation that I have heard in other places and am trying - trying mind you - to incorporate into my own thinking.  That the best way to do the job we pastors are called to do is to care for our souls as a priority to be able to care for souls of the congregations in our care.  “Nothing is more dangerous to the church than the pastor.  There is no such thing as a healthy congregation with an unhealthy pastor, at least for long.”

So, Craig presents some ideas for the care of the pastor’s soul.  The ones that seemed most telling to me are the toxic idea that we are more worried about God’s will than God is!  And on the positive end, a healthy idea is that for the pastor the day begins and ends by nurturing the first love, the love that brought them into ministry, the love of the savior.

There was of course much more, but I don’t want to weary you too much.  

I then moved from the United Methodist Church over to the Presbyterian one to hear the former United Methodist Bishop, Will Willimon, Who echoed some of Craig Barnes’ ideas when he said “the great thing about preaching is that you get to talk about something more interesting that yourself.  Or your people.  Or the church.  You get to talk about the always surprising, transforming God.  He then with the help of theologian Karl Barth, redefined the concept of election by saying it isn’t about God choosing special ones to receive grace or salvation.  No, election, Barth argues is God electing to be God.  A God for us, for creation, for redemption.  And then choosing us to be for God.  

The day ended with a lecture from Seminary president David Lose (a Lutheran this time - at the Methodist Church) who proceeded to look at the variety of resurrection stories from the gospels and asked us to rethink just what it is that we are doing as preachers and teachers of the faith.  Indeed what are any of us who claim to be following Christ doing?  He concluded by wondering is our job as preachers might just be to set people free.  Not about adding to burdens, not about naming sin, but about offering freedom.  Or in Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John, He came that we might have life and have it abundantly.

I had an abundant time here at the Festival.  It isn’t quite done, but tomorrow is both closing worship and presentations and departure, so finding time to write more might be problematic.  If there is something I want you to know, I’ll find a way to share it here.

And I have to be honest, there was another sermon I heard today.  And the main learning for me was that just because you can write about preaching and even teach preaching, doesn’t mean you can preach.  Enough said.

And sometimes what we need to do is to know when to stop.  I’ve wearied you with all this, I know.  I apologize.  But I also want to thank you for the opportunity to share a little of the joy that I have received this week.  It has been both affirming and challenging.  I often come away with the feeling that I should apologize for the preaching some of you have to endure from me week by week.  On the other hand, I was surprised by how often I have heard the themes I continue to proclaim repeated and expanded upon here.  So, maybe I’m occasionally on the right track.  If so, it is by the grace of God.

Shalom,

Derek