Casey Barton – Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society

On the Willows We Hung Our Harps: Preaching the Lament and Hope of Psalm 137

A genre that poses particular difficulty for preachers is
imprecatory lament. Psalms that call for vengeance are often a
mystery as we plan and prepare to preach. Yet if we are
committed to preaching the whole of the canon we must be
willing and able to preach these hard and sad texts to our
listeners. This paper will explore imprecatory lament for
preaching, first considering different lenses for their
interpretation and adoption in worship, and then working
through one of the most violent, Psalm 137, in a covenantal
context as an image of how we might engage these texts for
proclamation. We can faithfully preach the terrible beauty of
Psalm 137, and other imprecations, by aligning with the
psalmist’s pain and anger within the context of God’s indelible
faithfulness. This is timely as we are inundated with news of
tragedy, injustice, and pain in areas such as pandemic deaths,
racial division and violence, mass shootings, and war. The
lament and hope of Psalm 137 gives the preacher something to
say in the midst of tragedy as he or she seeks to bring hope to the
congregation.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews (23-2)

Preaching to a Divided Nation: A Seven-Step Model for Promoting Reconciliation and Unity. By Matthew D. Kim and Paul A. Hoffman. (Reviewer: R. Larry Overstreet.) Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits are Hurting the Church. By Katelyn Beaty. (Reviewer: Scott M. Gibson) Preaching the Manifold Grace of God: Theologies of Preaching in the Early Twenty-First Century, Vol. 2. Edited by Ronald J. Allen. (Reviewer: Jared E. Alcántara) Preaching from Inside the Story: A Fresh Journey into Narrative. By Jeffrey W. Frymire. (Reviewer: Kristopher Barnett) Resonate: How to Preach for Deep Connection. By Lisa Washington Lamb. (Reviewer: Gregory K. Hollifield) Taking Kierkegaard Back to Church: The Ecclesial Implications of the Gospel. By Aaron P. Edwards. (Reviewer: Alex Kato) New Testament Rhetoric: An Introductory Guide to the Art of Persuasion in and of the New Testament, Second Edition. By Ben Witherington III and Jason A. Myers. (Reviewer: Thomas Kitchen) The Beauty and Power of Biblical Exposition: Preaching the Literary Artistry and Genres of the Bible. By Douglas Sean O’Donnell and Leland Ryken. (Reviewer: Derek Kitterlin) Gospel Witness Through the Ages: A History of Evangelism. By David M. Gustafson. (Reviewer: Todd H. Hilkemann) What Do We Do When Nobody Is Listening?: Leading the Church in a Polarized Society. By Robin W. Lovin. (Reviewer: R. Larry Overstreet) How to Preach Proverbs. By Jared E. Alcántara. (Reviewer: Matthew D. Kim) Divine Laughter: Preaching and the Serious Business of Humor. By Karl N. Jacobson and Rolf A. Jacobson. (Reviewer: Christopher Kearney) The Visual Preacher: Proclaiming an Embodied Word. By Steve Thomason. (Reviewer: Jonathan Nason) Speaking Across Generations: Messages That Satisfy Boomers, Xers, Millennials, Gen Z, and Beyond. By Darrell E. Hall. (Reviewer: Nicali K. Yeputhomi) Jeremiah and Lamentations: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching. By Duane Garrett and Calvin F. Pearson. (Reviewer: Francisco Cotto) Preaching: A Simple Approach to the Sacred Task. By Daniel Overdorf. (Reviewer: Kevin Maples) 1 & 2 Kings: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching. By David B. Schreiner and Lee Compson. (Reviewer: R. Larry Overstreet) Psalms, Volume 1: The Wisdom Psalms. By Charles H. Savelle Jr. and W. Creighton Marlowe. (Review: Joshua Peeler) God is in the House: A Fresh Model for Shaping a Sermon. By John Woods. (Reviewer: Timothy Y. Rhee) Galatians. By Matthew S. Harmon. (Reviewer: Fieldon J. Thigpen) Illustrating Well: Preaching Sermons that Connect. By Jim L. Wilson. (Reviewer: Mark O. Wilson) Charismatic and Expository Preaching: A Case Study of Two Preaching Methods within the Local Church. By Lewis D. Mathis. (Reviewer: Thomas Rho) Preaching: The Art of Narrative Exposition. By Calvin Miller; The Sermon Maker: Tales of a Transformed Preacher. By Calvin Miller. (Reviewer: J. David Duncan)

Article

The Role of Imagination in Expository Sermon Construction

While expository preaching is a biblically faithful model, this method of preaching can result in boring recitations of research. In order to bring life to expository sermons, this article argues that imagination serves an important and necessary role in expository sermon construction. First, this article presents an original definition of imagination as it relates to expository sermons. Second, a biblical survey of terms relating to imagination reveals that Scripture advocates for its use, as well as how to use the imagination. Third, this article addresses potential pitfalls when engaging the imagination and offers boundaries to ensure appropriate use. Fourth, this article addresses the level of importance of imagination to the sermon construction process. Fifth, every aspect of sermon construction benefits from imagination, as this section demonstrates. Finally, the reader will receive practical tips for improving imaginative powers.

Article

In View of God’s Mercy: Evoking and Invoking Gratitude in Preaching

Although gratitude is sometimes mentioned by homileticians as a motivator for discipleship, its place in sermons remains relatively unexplored. This article considers how preachers can intentionally evoke (draw forth) feelings of thankfulness and invoke (appeal to) these as the impetus for obedience. This gracegratitude- obedience pattern may be seen throughout the Bible; however, recent New Testament scholarship has underscored the extent to which, in the first century, grace demanded an active response on the part of recipients. This is evident in Paul’s letter to the Romans, particularly as he appeals to readers to offer their bodies to God in view of his mercy—i.e., in gratitude for the grace described in the preceding chapters. Preachers can follow his example in their own sermons. However, to avoid moralism, it is important that listeners are genuinely thankful to God. An interdisciplinary exploration of gratitude offers a framework for helping people feel thankfulness that can be used in sermoncrafting. The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola are examined as a model for evoking and invoking Christian gratitude by personalizing God’s love in Christ and calling for an active response. Finally, practical recommendations are offered, applicable to a wide variety of models and methods.

Article

Theocentric Therapeutic Preaching: Good News During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The global COVID-19 pandemic disrupted all areas of life including the worship practices of local churches. It caused trauma, breaking connections, and shattering assumptions about the safety of the world and (for Christians) assumptions about God. Forced to take their worship and ministry online, church leaders continued to support the wellbeing and spiritual development of their congregants, including through their preaching. This research analysed the online worship services of three churches during the first weekend of Aotearoa New Zealand’s March – May 2020 Lockdown. It drew on Neil Pembroke’s work on divine therapeia, exploring the theocentric and therapeutic messages that preachers communicated to their attenders. Each church demonstrated an integration between the theocentric and the therapeutic. The theocentric related to God’s character and attributes (particularly God’s love, attentive presence and faithfulness), and activity and power. The therapeutic was expressed by lamenting and acknowledging pain, offering words of comfort, and inviting response, including in care for others. For each church, the goal was towards human flourishing: shalom, or well-being even amid difficult circumstances. Three implications for the Church are evident. First, churches can be encouraged to include space for pain and lament alongside their talk about God. Secondly, the human need for personal agency might healthily be expressed in service towards others. Thirdly, the hopeful sense, experienced by many, that perhaps our church, community or world could be better post-COVID ought to be encouraged and explored. Suggestions for further research are also made.

Article

Why We Should Not Start at the Beginning But Instead Start at the Ending – In Preaching and Teaching the Biblical Doctrine of Man

This paper argues that preaching and teaching on human nature should not begin at the beginning, with Gen 1:26–28 and the Image of God––but with the ending––with Christ, the Second Adam, the true image of God, in whom the redeemed are being renewed, and in whom the redeemed will finally be glorified. A method of whole-brain sermon preparation is presented, in which narrative, conceptual, and visual tools are employed, with a view to engaging the listener’s mind, emotions, and will.

Article

How Did Lloyd-Jones and Sangster Use Scripture in Their Preaching Responses to the Outbreak of World War II? Trialling Analytical Approaches to the Homiletical Use of Scripture

Both D. M. Lloyd-Jones and W. E. Sangster are distinguished figures in evangelical history, looked to as examples of men who used their preaching to respond to the issues of their day, in particular the outbreak of World War Two. Their sermons in response to this traumatic event were published towards the end of 1939, but the preachers’ collections show an immediate disparity in the amount of Scripture being used. Analysing the use of Scripture is key when looking at homiletical exemplars in terms of learning from them. By the nature of any choices being both linguistic and theological, any approach must be interdisciplinary. So, in order to move towards establishing a methodology for analyzing how Scripture is used within the sermon, this article trials different methods to assess which may or may not be useful in constructing a way of systematically learning from successful preachers of the past. Using the example of Grounded Theory, which advocates the creation of inductive categories, a new framework enabling analysis of the use of Scripture within a sermon has been created, Scriptural Categorization Analytics, and is applied to the sermon collections of Sangster and Lloyd-Jones in order to investigate the effectiveness of this technique as a tool for studying the use of the Bible within sermons.

Article

Guest Editorial Reflections on Preaching Sin as an Act of Love

I still recall the first time I sang the hymn, God, Be Merciful to Me. The opening words of the third verse declare, “I am evil, born in sin.” As soon as the words left my mouth, my soul balked, accusing the hymnist of hyperbole, even harshness. Sinful? Yes. Evil? Hardly. But the word lingered, knocking about the back of my mind, humbling me, as my conscience questioned my reaction. “Why not call you evil? What part of you shines as holy as God? Does your heart not also display the corruption of Adam, your father?” Soon, self-defense turned to self examination, accusation to prayer, and defiance to repentance. I too think evil, speak evil, do evil. If “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, [and] slander” (Matthew 15:19), then my heart—the core of my being—is, in fact, evil. The stark, ugly truth, though hard to hear, forged in me deeper awareness of my own sin, and thus deeper appreciation for the Christ who overcomes it. Would you ever stand in the pulpit and say to your sheep, “You are evil, born in sin?” My experience with God, Be Merciful to Me has, over time, affected not only my awareness of the depths of my own sin, but also the manner in which I preach about sin. I have grown more direct, more probing, more willing to say hard things. The world, and some Christians with it, label preaching about sin “unloving.” But I have come to see that preaching the stark reality of sin, so far from comprising a loveless act, represents instead a profound act of love.

Issue Introduction

Angles of Preaching

This edition of the Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society is a demonstration of the various angles by which to understand and appreciate the breadth of approaches to the field of homiletics. The articles are from around the globe, including authors from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. The diverse contributions cover the use of scripture in the sermons of Martin Lloyd-Jones and W.E. Sangster at the outbreak of World War II, an analysis of theocentric preaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, imagination in expository sermon construction, preaching and teaching and the doctrine of humanity, and evoking and invoking gratitude in preaching. In addition, a guest editorial, and the appreciable gallery of book reviews, which includes a new feature—voices from the past.