sermons from contemplatives

I can see I’m going to get a lot of practice thinking in sermons.

This term, my Hebrew exegesis syllabus states we are to hand in three sermon points for each translation we are assigned. In theory, we get to do this after benefit of our class discussion, but in real life I suspect I’ll need to do this hard on the heels of the assignment… so far, each sermon-sketch has been a cold slap of memory even as I start to drop one class-topic for the next one.

My first trio? Repeating “proclaim!”s. How cool is that? What happens to a listener with an insistent set of “go shouts!” hitting the ear?

My next trio? The contrast of thirst so dry there’s no water in your breath with standing under waterfalls knee-deep in blue holes.

Are you noticing a trend?

If you’re steeped in the contemporary sermon practice of text-unfolded activity-personal action, are you noticing another trend?

Me, I noticed it during my Jan-term class: I forget to point out anything to do. Three essays weaving in and out of social justice, and what do I do? Hold up what I see, and say: look here.

I may suck at silence, I may be lame at intercessory prayer,

but I’m all about contemplation.

**

We’ll find out in May whether I’ll get moving to action, or whether that’s left as an exercise for the listener.

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