Tradition 11.30.2023

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we get our tradition on, don’t we? Families have holiday traditions. Schools have holiday traditions. Neighborhoods, clubs, and civic groups will have traditional gatherings and parties.  Some of the traditions we will share in a variety of contexts and complexities serve to make memories that will last a lifetime. Other traditions come and go, and we will have a good chuckle when someone says, “You remember when we tried _______?” 

    The best Advent and Christmas traditions focus as much as possible on the incarnation of Jesus and the Church's embrace of His motive and message. We are not our own. Having been brought with a price, even our traditions and celebrations should reinforce our purpose. Even the tree, tinsel, and trim and serve as an opportunity to draw attention to Jesus, if we gather to beautify the facility for visitors and neighbors who choose to worship during the Christmas season. Not that I am advocating the idea that anything and everything we do can be “baptized” and repurposed for the cause of Christ, but we are not talking about novel notions or ideas here. We are not the first celebrants of Christmas. We are not the first to be asked by our Children why we do all these things. 

There are some keys to making our Advent and Christmas traditions usable teaching moments rather than tired attempts to make the secular spiritual. I want to focus on these keys as we move from Thanksgiving to Advent, November to December.

Worship

    Christmas is a season of worship. Yes, I realize that we worship year-round, but Christmas gives an opportunity to reinforce some of the lessons we teach throughout the year. We will have visitors who know the songs. That is a little different. As post-modern worship has become more diverse and contemporary it has also become so innovative that, for many, the songs and practices are novelties. The hymns and tunes we sing during Christmas tend to the traditional. The arrangements and instruments may take their cue from Christian radio airplay, but at least the basic tunes and lyrics are recognizable. This is not always the case during the rest of the year. 

    In an attempt to be culturally relevant, Christian worship has largely gotten so far ahead of the culture, with new traditions and practices that it is no longer able to communicate in terms understandable to those who are seeking spiritual guidance. The Christmas season is an opportunity to dispense with the novel tribal traditions that have insulated us from our fallen culture. 

    During Christmas both the seeker and the redeemed can approach God, sharing well-loved hymns, carols, and choruses that exalt the incarnate God who stepped into human history to redeem the lost. For those who lead and serve in the Church, it is a good time to reflect on whether our Worship practices, in a misguided attempt to attract unbelievers, have instead become a barrier to the unchurched. 

Fellowship

Another focus during Advent/Christmas is fellowship. Life is built upon relationships and the Christmas season allows us to approach relationships with less rigidity than we might have during the year. The growth and prominence of social media deludes us into thinking that we have more and deeper relationships than we really have. A “like” on Facebook is not the same thing as a hug or a pat on the back. In fact, the pursuit of affirmation on social media is so juvenile that rather than deepening relationships it simply functions as a dopamine rush. We don’t need “liked” we need to be loved and affirmed. 

Christmas is a time for parties and hearty greetings. Many Churches, just like ours have already had the first such party of the season when we gathered for hanging of the greens. Christmas trees are not mentioned in Scripture. There is absolutely no theological benefit to having candles or a creche in the building—but we sure did have a good time enjoying the process and enjoying one another. And there is more to come!

Scripture

    There was a time when most people in our communities shared a minimal Biblical vocabulary. Even the un-churched understood that Christmas and Easter focused on Jesus and what the Bible says about His life, ministry, and saving sacrifice. That common vocabulary is not as widespread. It’s OK. In the first century, there was virtually no common ground between the Church and Pagan culture—and we got along fine. In fact, when it comes to the Bible, no information is better than misinformation. 

    One of our jobs during the year is to remind one another that we are a Biblically formed people and that our understanding of what we think the Scripture says, and what the Scripture actually says, are not always the same thing. Because both believers and unbelievers will be in Worship during Christmas, sharing fellowship and companionship with one another, the exegesis of Scripture and the preaching of the Word must be accurate and understandable. 

    Yes, this should always be the case. We need to remind ourselves that of all the Biblical stories that are partly known, or recalled from childhood, Christmas leads the parade. There are times when we will confirm what people know and understand about the story of Jesus. There will be other times when we confront and correct what people think they know about the story of Jesus. Like all good preaching, we are called to combine compassion, affection, and clarity along with doctrinal accuracy. 

Jesus

    Finally, we focus on Jesus. The Bible tells His story. The Church gathers for fellowship because we are His body. We worship to exalt His name and prepare ourselves for service week by week. It’s all about Jesus all the time. 

    There is an ever-increasing cast of characters that we enjoy around the Christmas season. It may have started with Santa Claus, but we have quickly moved from the “Jolly old Elf” to Buddy the Elf.  Talking snowmen, flying reindeer, and grumpy grinches will all bask in the seasonal glow. 

How did all this industry, all this hoopla, all this celebration come about? What kind of bizarre cultural transference moves us from Bethlehem to Whoville? How did we get from shepherds to Santa—from the babe in the cradle on a silent night to decking halls and yule-tide cheer?  

We will never know. It is what it is. Either we embrace it or reject it. What an opportunity! To tell the story of Jesus amid a culture so awash in stories of mystery and magic! Not to rail against the seasonal fictions but to ride on the coattails, taking the opportunity to reframe the dialogue with the truest story of all.

Thanks 11.23.2023

     The only music that Mrs. Beckman and I can universally agree to listen to when driving is that by the late pianist George Winston. We saw him perform at least three times and enjoyed every concert. If George Winston is not playing whilst we are driving one of us is probably less than enthused. Often, we don’t play any music at all. 

    When we were young newlyweds, she purchased me a stereo system for my study. She also gave me two CDs. One was an anthology of Baroque tunes, the other Autumn by the aforementioned George Winston. Since then, I have always begun to play Autumn in mid-September. I will keep it in heavy rotation until, right about this time of year when transitioning to Christmas music I switch to another George Winston classic, December. This transition moves me from Autumn and sermon calendar writing (I know, you knew I’d get that in there), to Thanksgiving and Christmas. The lads were in the building today putting up the tree so we can decorate it on Sunday evening. We moved the Nativity scene from storage to the front of the Church house. 

    The first track on the album December is entitled Thanksgiving. When I hear that tune, I know that the change is coming! One preaching calendar is culminating, and I am putting the finishing touches on the next. We have selected and will soon affirm our new Elders and Deacons for the coming year. Things are starting to feel and will soon look a lot like Christmas. And right in the middle of this transition is the need and opportunity to give thanks. 

    During the next several weeks I will spend a lot of time reviewing last year, reconsidering decisions and interpretive strategies, and revisiting camp lessons and workshops I prepared. I try to be a hard grader…but more than anything else revisiting these ministry opportunities fills me with gratitude. I am thankful for every person I have met this year, even those who were not particularly pleased to meet me. During 2023 good things happened and bad things happened. Some of the occurrences were expected, and other occurrences were surprises. Each circumstance we encounter and every person we meet is a chance to be thankful to God for who you have met and what has happened to make you a more mature disciple. 

    We associate Thanksgiving Day—the entire week really, with a bunch of cultural phenomena which don’t have any spiritual motive. Our media-driven culture will seek to cozy up to the so-called “spirit of the holiday”, though it is easy to discern other driving motives behind the acknowledgment of thanks. The mantra of food, football, and family can be transmuted countless ways into shopping or profit. 

    We won’t be traveling this year so it may be easier for me than for those who will be on the road. I will look back at the past year for the purpose of preparing for the next. I will count my blessings and count the cost. I will try and focus my thanks not on the material blessings that seem to get the most attention around the holiday but upon the immeasurable blessing of redemption in Christ Jesus through the message of the Cross. As I write these words I’m listening to Thanksgiving—the song, cultivating Thanksgiving—the attitude, uttering Thanksgiving—a prayer. I hope you have the same opportunity.

Time in a Bottle 11.16.2023

     If you are of a certain age then the title of this essay evokes a particular song, the voice that sang it, and the circumstances of your life when you first heard the song or began to identify it with some noteworthy circumstance or situation in your life. How human beings create associations between seemingly unrelated phenomena—and when someone says they remember “exactly what they were doing when JFK was assassinated” or “on 9/11”, those memories are memories of the full loop of the communication event. If you were not there, someone showed you and someone told you. How those connections become memories should be an important subject to any communicator. You, preacher, are a communicator. You and I help our listeners to make connections between Scripture’s witness to God’s work and their own lives. 

    As preachers, we tell a story to which we are not eye or ear witnesses. Our preaching is a part of the long chain of Spirit-led tradition, exegesis, faithfulness, and explanation. Like many other events which we consider to be true—any event that predated our own birth—we hold them true even though we were not present and are not historic witnesses. 

    The connection which is at the heart of preaching is the communal memory of God’s people. The Church is the collective repository of the redemptive story of God working in Christ to save His fallen world. Until the last century, no one ever thought that there was any other way to communicate the past besides and beyond a faithful chain of witnesses. Our cultural technopolyistc society deludes us into thinking that we can in some way, bear participatory witness to things far away and long ago. This trend has eroded our trust in the broader story-telling traditions which have conventionally shaped human belief and established the trajectory for the witness of the Church.

    Technology has always aided the proclamation of the Gospel. For the production and distribution of scripture, the Church adopted the new technology of the Codex rather than the conventional scroll as the medium of transmitting Gospel/Epistle/Apocalypse. In this format, the ongoing story of Jesus and His Church became our New Testament. At the same time, the Church incorporated a technique of abbreviating certain significant terms in these works in a fashion that came to be called Nomina Sacra. The entire textual memory of the Church is marked by these two “containers.” These are bottles in which time— the Apostolic memory of Jesus is kept. God’s word to us in a specific format, on specific materials read, recited, treasured, transmitted, and retold by the Church. In so doing we re-voice as well as incarnate the Word who became flesh, once again allowing Him to be known in every generation by the proclamation of His story. We tell the story not merely for personal reflection but for the distinct purpose of declaring the faith defined, defended, and proclaimed, from the very beginning of the Church. 

    And this Sunday you and I will join in this ongoing witness.  Paul exhorted us in words first written to Timothy— “Preach the Word!” In so doing we are filling the bottle of time from the deep well of the Church’s memory. Yet we do not merely save time in a bottle, we pour it out anew whenever we tell the story of Jesus, inviting others to share in the unfolding promise of His gospel. 

Talent Only Takes You so Far 11.9.2023

     I’m just going to assume that you are a good preacher. I am going to concede that you know how to properly exegete scripture. I will consider it a given that you know how to transform the fruit of your study into an engaging sermon. I believe in you and your capacity. I’m going to give your home or ordaining Church the benefit of the doubt. They knew you and your abilities when they set you apart for ministry. If you attended one of our Bible Colleges or one of the Biblically oriented denominational or independent institutions of higher learning—you were taught what you need to know and equipped with the right tools to enhance the leadership gifts bestowed by God’s Holy Spirit to strengthen His Church. 

    I have heaped all that praise on you and your abilities to get to this specific point. Talent will only take you so far. It is right and good to be confident in the gifts and abilities God has given each of us. Paul makes this specific point in Romans 12—

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (Romans 12:3 ESV)

God gave you the gifts to execute them. Paul is indicating that using those gifts confidently is simply an outcome of believing that they come from God, honor God, and contribute to the Church.

     Let me repeat myself. Talent only takes you so far. The talent if it is not toned loses focus. The tools, if they are not properly used, become rusty. The focus and intensity that we felt when we were young are eroded by time. Talent only takes you so far because talent unless it is developed has an expiration date.

    Much of what I write in these essays and post as my weekly blog is simply a prolonged campaign to help preachers cultivate both their talents and gifts. I have concerns about where we will get the next generation of trained and equipped preachers. Maybe the first step in guaranteeing that we have a next generation is empowering the current generation to do such an effective job preaching that the respect once held for the local preacher is restored. The key to calling and nurturing young preachers is helping them to understand, not only the need for challenging preaching but also giving them a glimpse of the satisfaction that comes from knowing you are doing the one, best thing God has called you to do.

Technique 11.2.2023

     You may not think of yourself as a “Technician.” You may hardly ever think about the process, procedures, and best practices you employ every week as you exegete, study, write, edit, and otherwise prepare to preach. Even if your “technique” is doing everything differently all the time, you have a process. Barely repeatable chaos. And my guess is that this kind of technique causes you (and your loved ones) quite a bit of stress. 

    This is not the best time of year for added stress. The holidays are coming on us like a stampeding turkey. At our Church, we are already announcing Christmas activities! The weather becomes a formidable consideration any time one must be out of the office, and we are within weeks of the beginning of a brand-new year.

    “Technique! Who has time to think about that?” Well, maybe it’s time.  The word technique implies skill, proficiency, expertise, and repetition. Let’s think about each of those concepts for a moment. 

Skill

    A skill is a learned behavior or activity. A skill is something we can improve. To get better at something requires repetition. Skilled labor, as opposed to unskilled, has traditionally been defined by differentiation and specialization. In a construction project, the general contractor organizes the work of the skilled trades which execute various aspects of the process. Adversarial conceptions of how labor unions function politically have caused us to forget that for much of their history, a more critical function of a trade union was guaranteeing the training and certification of skilled laborers. 

    In a sense, we preachers form a guild. As our Bible Colleges either close or experience increased pressure in the marketplace, the burden of certifying the skills and training of those who preach is returning to the guild itself. To that end we need to not only work to enhance our own skills, but we each need to help those around us to improve.

Proficiency

    Get good at it. Improve. Don’t be satisfied with mediocrity. We are in a profession that allows us to grow and improve over decades. We don’t peak in our early thirties. Our task is not dependent on good looks, nor does it require constant physical conditioning.

    Ministry is one of the few professions in which experience has a profound impact on performance. Despite all the cultural, social, and technological changes—preachers are going to preach every Sunday. We can evaluate what we write, how we speak, and the fruit of our study and become more proficient at the task to which God has called us. 

Expertise

    The goal is simple. The best sermon I can preach this Sunday in this place. With respect to the text before us, I have done everything in my power to be an expert in what the Biblical author says. I live in this community and my sermon on this text is not a vague, generic overview of Biblical truth is a message lovingly crafted for this community of faith, in this time and in this place. 

Repetition

    I have been the preacher in Grayville since May of 2016. That is more than five hundred sermons. All the prep for all those messages, not to mention Sunday School lessons, Camp Lessons, Seminars, this blog, and a book—is a substantial body of work. Repetition is key to improvement. Bad practice does not help us improve.  Best practice makes perfect. That is why I am incessantly beating the drum of processes and best practices. A preacher has every opportunity to improve but he or she must give repetition room to work by following those processes and practices which make improvement possible. 

Summary

    The number of points you use in your sermon should be determined by the text. Your persona in the pulpit, along with gestures and tone, will largely be a product of personality. Exegetical methods and use of tools will be impacted by where you were educated and your personal learning style. Many of those things thought of as being a matter technique, really are not. They are beyond our capacity to control. The central technique for becoming a better preacher is a passionate, dedication to the craft. This is a byproduct of faith and devotion to Christ. If you don’t have that—there’s not much I can teach you. If you do, the sky’s the limit.