10 July 2006

In writing about theology, Joseph Sittler comments about the task of preaching in "Gravity and Grace."

I was lecturing on the magnificent statement in the Nicene Creed about the relationship of Jesus the Son to the Father. A student sat there watching me with gimlet eyes. When I came near the conclusion, he raised his hand. I said, "OK, what is it." He said, "You know, if it were true, it would do."
No that is as far as a teacher can go. I can't transmit my sense of the truth of the statement to him, like writing out a prescription and letting him follow it. I can only teach in such a way as to engender in him the questions, as if he were saying to himself, "If it were true, It's a big enough truth that it would pull me together." In a sense, that's what a sermon is for: to hang the holy possible in front of the mind of the listeners and lead them to that wonderful moment when they say, "If if were true, it would do." To pass from that to belief is the work of the Holy Spirit, not of the preacher or the teacher.

"To hang the holy possible in front of the mind of the listeners..." At other times, I've used the language of imagination to say something similar to this. When we gather to hear and speak of the life that comes within the realm of our faith, the story must be "big enough" to take us beyond all that we are and into a more profound and creative sense of what it is to be made in the image of God. Some storytelling does that....some does not. As Sittler points out, it is the Holy Spirit that takes people from the hearing to the believing...from the study to the life. Even stories that are "big enough" may not sound big enough for some people...but for others, it may be a story of utter liberation and renewal and joy. We must be willing to enter into discussions about what is at the center of our faith. For in those discussions, we are constantly searching for the stories that are big enough to turn our heads and give us a place to breath and experience the gracious presence of our God.

Connection: I know people are not to talk about the faith with other...like politics at a dinner party. But I would say "Go for it." In the stories of the "holy possible" we each must come to grip with where we are and what else might be needed to make our stories complete.

O Holy Spirit, take our hands and lead us into the adventures of our lives that are filled with the vision of your loving Reign. Inspire us that we will risk listening to stories beyond our grasp and yet within the wide expanse of our imaginations. Amen.