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I recently received a copy of Scott Gibson’s new book Preaching the Old Testament. This book is a compilation of articles, edited by Gibson, and offered in tribute to Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., former president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Clearly, the preaching of the Old Testament remains a challenge for many. Haddon Robinson, writing in the foreword to the book says, “Avoiding the Old Testament resembles strolling into the theater for the final act of a play and ignoring completely what the play is really about. It is to assume the playwright wouldn’t expect anyone to take the first two acts of the play seriously (14).” Robinson describes one such well-known pastor who admits to preaching entirely from the New Testament, using the Old Testament as illustration material. This attempt to preach “the whole counsel” fails on two points. “First,” Robinson writes, “it ignores the basic principle of illustration: we illustrate the unknown with the known. If an illustration has to be explained, don’t use it. … More important, however, reducing the Old Testament to an anthology of illustrations for sermons based on the Gospels or the Epistles slights the Old Testament authors who were theologians in their own right. (13, 14).”
This book, according to Gibson, “is intended to give seminary students and pastors the tools they need to preach from the Old Testament (17).” Contributors to the work, are all either former students or colleagues of Kaiser (see outline below). Together they sustain Kaiser’s concern for authorial intent as derived through a careful exposition of the text in its exegetical, contextual and theological location.
One example is Carol Kaminsky’s use of the Jericho story as way of showing how the text needs to be treated theologically. The Bible is one redemptive story, according to Kaminski. “If,” she writes, “you interpret the falling down of Jericho’s walls without the larger redemptive narrative in view, you might conclude that the main idea of the story is faith. As a pastor, you might encourage your congregation to live by faith, following the example of Joshua (59).” Yet, this approach would miss the primary meaning of the text. "While the walls of Jericho do fall down, God is not promising that our “walls” will fall down. …this exegetical fallacy, called personalizing, assumes that the main point of the story is its application to us. … While the story of Jericho clearly underscores the importance of faith, it is ultimately a story about God and his faithfulness (61)."
This is helpful. While I would maintain the value of reading Old Testament texts with an eye to the human elements, these stories are always about God more than they are about us. While the human features of a text allow us ways of connecting and relating, the focus must always be on God and what he is doing across time.
Preaching from the Old Testament create challenges for the contemporary preacher, but they are challenges worth engaging. This book can be a real help.
Outline:
1. Challenges to Preaching the Old Testament – Scott M. Gibson
2. Keeping Your Hebrew Healthy – Dennis R. Magary
3. Preaching from the Historical Books – Carol M. Kaminski
4. Preachng the Old Testament Narratives – Jeffrey D. Arthurs
5. Preaching from the Law – Douglas K. Stuart
6. Preaching from the Psalms and Proverbs – Duane A. Garrett
7. Preaching from the Prophets – John H. Sailhamer
8. Preaching the Old Testament in Light of Its Culture – Timothy S. Laniak
9. Toward the Effective Preaching of New Testament Texts that Cite the Old
Testament – Roy E. Ciampa
10. Preaching the Old Testament Today – David L. Larsen
11. Preaching the Old Testament Evangelistically – Robert E. Coleman