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I just finished preaching a series of sermons from the Sermon on the Mount. It is a relevant, though provocative section of Scripture that pushes the preacher to challenge the listener with its unsettling truths. For that reason, I was particularly pleased to receive a copy of David Fleer and Dave Bland’s, Preaching the Sermon on the Mount. I only wish I had received it while I was working on the sermons.
Bland and Fleer have edited a series of books that look at particular sections of the Bible, bringing together theoretical essays on the subject with sermon examples that try to work out the approach to the passage described in the essays. The first books in the series were published by Abilene Christian University focusing on the Psalms, the book of Romans, the epistle to the Hebrews and others. Recently, Chalice Press has bought the franchise, so to speak, and has published their latest offerings on the Sermon on the Mount and the Gospel of Mark.
Most of the contributors seem to lean toward a “new homiletic” approach, although that term is challenged by Fred Craddock in his excellent piece in Preaching Mark’s Unsettling Messiah. Craddock’s essay is worth the price of the book as he writes autobiographically, describing his personal journey as a young professor and preacher. This historical study from the key formative figure in “inductive preaching” is insightful. His take on postmodernity and its relevance for preaching is particularly helpful.
That I found these books to be helpful is not to say that the kind of preaching on display would serve as models for my preaching. I would want my own preaching to be a little more overtly expositional. Yet, there is value in perceiving these texts from the viewpoint of these thinkers. Like reading a commentary, one can very easily apply one’s own homiletical and theological approach while profiting from the insights of these others.
The writers take their texts seriously, applying them to contemporary realities in ways that sounded fresh to my ears. The writer’s approach to the Sermon on the Mount offered a challenge to think about how North American culture might resemble ancient, imperial Rome. The sermons demand us to think about how the kingdom is to be seen on earth as it is in heaven. The authors seemed to insist on calling it “Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount” which I found a little annoying. In the attempt to see the text from Matthew’s point of view, I wondered if they gave enough credence to the fact that this was Jesus’ sermon. At the same time, I found insight in the way the authors helped me understand Mark and Matthew’s composition of their texts.
Contributors include, Fred Craddock, Stanley Hauerwas, Charles Campbell, Robert Stephen Reid, Warren Carter, Morna Hooker, and many more.