[Propertalk] [Goodsermons] Exegesis and sermon - Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 (Part 2)

[Joe Parrish]

REUSING AN OLD SERMON OR REVIVING A TV SHOW?
2010-03-08 by James Howell 

    Church members sometimes ask if I have a file of old sermons from which I retrieve one now and then, dust it off, freshen it up a little, and re-preach. They seem stunned that I simply don’t keep them. I used to – but then I’d hunt through for what I’d done on the lectionary text 3 or 6 years prior, and I’d blush or laugh out loud: it looked so thin, so dated. Plus I like working a text, thinking about it today, not excavating what I thought then, and in preparation to speak to these people, not those people, and in this particular moment in time, not ten or thirty years ago.      

   What does happen is this: I have a story, an anecdote, a terrific quotation, a slant, and it re-emerges, sometimes consciously, sometimes not: a few weeks ago my daughter said “Dad, you told that story just a couple of months ago.” Oops. This seems unavoidable (not the “couple of months ago,” but the re-deployment of an image or quote). But the whole sermon? 

    Looking at the Prodigal Son, it seems especially perilous to use an old sermon, because the text itself is old – not that it emerged in the first century, but it is just so familiar, like an old joke you’ve heard 173 times. The very reading of this text, marvelous and profound as it is, invites people to nod off: yeah, heard that one. A cardinal rule of preaching, to me, is that Whatever you think people expect you to say, you simply don’t say that. Partly it’s to keep folks from being bored; but really it is to capture the dynamic of the original text. When Jesus told the Prodigal Son story, people must have shaken at the knees, or cried out in apoplexy. How do we keep the “old” story as “good news”?    

   But like my listeners, I drift back to familiar thoughts on this text. I will never forget being in seminary, taking Greek and New Testament, when this Jesus of Nazareth TV miniseries (by Franco Zefferelli, with Robert Powell as Jesus, Olivia Hussey as Mary, also featuring Anne Bancroft, James Earl Jones, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Quinn – wow!) came out. I expected it to be hokey but was pleasantly surprised. The vignette when Jesus tells this story (watch it on YouTube!) is absolutely unforgettable: Peter (played by James Farentino) is railing against Jesus for going to the home of a tax collector, a sinner; he is appalled, raging… but Jesus goes. Peter follows at a distance, then peeks into the lavish tent where a raucous party is unfolding; he is mortified. But Jesus says “I have a story” – and he tells this one. The guests, who look like the younger son, are moved, as is the tax collector – but so is Peter, the quintessential older brother, lingering at the door. Jesus looks to him, urges him in, and Peter winds up embracing the tax collector. Wow. If you do movie clips, which I don’t, this would be unbeatable; but watching it, and especially Jesus’ tone, mood, pace, movement, and gestures, would be instructive for any preacher.   

   So do I think that through? I know another sermon that, when I was younger, sort of stood out as my “favorite” sermon. I’d had it published, and preached a version of it on The Protestant Hour 14 years ago; they didn’t do video or audio archives then, but you could read it if you’d like. I haven’t used it or thought about it in a while – but I am tempted now to go back (which I never do!) and see what was there. If I’m not mistaken, it grappled with Reconciliation, which I think will be my focus. Reconciliation is always needed, and my particular congregation is in a bit of a tussle right now, with a few angry people on the margins… I wonder if a sermon can help? 

Go to James Howell's Preaching Journal to see how he solves his homiletical dilemma.


<>
 
http://www.goodpreacher.com/



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20100309/ca51cb2e/attachment.htm>