Musings: Notes From My Daybook

I had the opportunity to hear Fred Craddock earlier this week speak to about 100 preachers about preaching. Listening to the sage words of this masterful preacher, New Testament scholar, and homiletics professor, who by his own account, now has the term "emeritus" attached to nearly everything, is a wonderful experience.

He clearly loves preaching and he loves those who care enough to preach. Only the preacher is left in our society who has not yet lost the place to say something true and important, says Craddock. Politicians, professors, business executives, all have abandoned the quest of speaking the truth. There stands the preacher (and I might add the poet and the writer) who still, in many situations is the only person whom many people will encounter who is willing to say words that really matter.

Craddock offered 13 statements about preaching. Here they are:
1. Respect and come to love the hours of study in the preparation of a sermon. The discipline of study brings freedom.
2. Pay close attention to words; study them, respect them, love them.
3. Have a clear grasp of anthropology. In other words, understand deeply your view of humankind. How you view people informs your sermon.
4. Create high expectations.
5. If possible--find a governing image or metaphor.
6. Build anticipation in all your ministry.
7. Be able to state the sermon in one sentence.
8. Faciliate conversation between the congregation and Scripture.
9. Be flexible with the many layers of Scripture. There is usually more than one way to understand and present a text.
10. Populate sermons with people--people with names.
11. Create materials to make your sermon more real.
12. Develop and maintain balance in your life.
13. Live with a understanding distance of God. Talking with God that authorizes taling about God.

Such a list does not convey the warmth and wisdom, the humor and the poignancy of Fred's words. But then, perhaps that is why God uses the preaching event--words made real through human voice--to annouce the gospel!