Crafting Biblical Sermons The Connect with Our Culture (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2008), 288 Pps., $17.99; David Day, Jeff Astley, and Leslie J. Francis, eds. A Reader on Preaching: Making Connections (Explorations in Practical, Pastoral, and Empirical Theology; Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005), ix + 291 Pps., $34.95; and Michael Pasquarello III, Christian Preaching: A Trinitarian Theology of Proclamation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 220 Pps., $22.00.
The task of reaching people for Christ is an ever present problem for those who take it upon themselves to be Christ’s emissaries from the pulpit while on this earth. Attacked on every side, some patrons question if the gospel is up to the task of being relevant to twenty-first century inhabitants of the (post)modern world. Others, however, assert that the gospel can be made applicable to this age, with only little modifications to the method of its delivery. This review covers three recent titles that seek to give examples and guidance on this crucial task facing the church today.
Zack Eswine (PhD, Regent University) is assistant professor of homiletics and associate dean of ministry formation at Covenant Theological Seminary. In this title, he challenges the prevalent notion that preachers, in order to be effective in reaching non-Christian people, must discontinue expository sermons. Indeed, Eswine offers a way of preaching that embraces biblical exposition in missional terms. In fact, he gives preachers practical advice on preaching in a global context while remaining faithful to the Bible. Eswine’s book is split into three parts, the first of which attempts to re-orient the biblical sermon for a post-everything world, the second that lays out a way of using preaching postures in the bible to explore varying cultural contexts, and then the final part that highlights the task of cultural engagement and contextualization. The examples that he uses, notably, are limited to his Western context, though he believes them to be applicable to any context. Using this practical guide will help the novice and seasoned preacher alike to preach the word of God with an eye to the congregation, all the while not compromising doctrine.
In the second title, David Day (formerly Principal of St John’s College, Durham, UK), Jeff Astley (Honorary Professorial Fellow in Practical Theology and Christian Education in the University of Durham), and Leslie Francis (Professor of Practical Theology, University of Wales, Bangor), edit an anthology of twenty-nine articles by international experts in the area of homiletics. Contributors include: Walter Brueggemann, David Buttrick, Fred Craddock, Edward Farley, John Killinger, Richard Lischer, Thomas Long, Elaine Lawless, Jolyon Mitchell, Cheryl Sanders and Thomas Troeger. This title is practical without being merely a collection of tips for preachers; anyone who wants to take the art of preaching seriously will find more than enough material to feast upon herein, as no important issue has been omitted. Collectively, the title offers an introduction to the principles and processes, as well as the context and theology of preaching. It chastens those who make the sermon merely an exercise in motivational speaking, which afflicts far too many churches today, and encourages preachers to instead deliver impassioned, full-gospel sermons, ones that neither compromise the message nor the meaning of the biblical text. Notably, it highlights the import of preaching both narratives and parables, as they constitute the best means to make contact with patrons in an increasingly communicative environment, marked by a high degree of visual stimulation, because they have an inherent capacity to project powerful images.
The third title is written by Michael Pasquarello III, who is Professor of Preaching at Asbury Theological Seminary and has more than twenty years of pastoral experience within the United Methodist Church. As the title intimates, Pasquarello articulates a trinitarian vision for preaching. His presentation of preaching as a theological, traditional, ecclesial, pastoral, and Scriptural practice is illuminative and imaginative; it is acutely informed by biblical hermeneutics, creedal history, and liturgical theology. As the titles to each chapter (cited above) indicate, this text does not focus so much upon the techniques of preaching as it does upon the theological foundation of the practice of preaching. Notably, each chapter concludes with an example sermon that gives ‘flesh’ to the practical way that his proposal would appear in the pulpit. Pasquarello draws on Irenaeus, Augustine, Luther, and Wesley, in order to assert that poignant, effective, and pragmatic preaching entails theological engagement, and not mere ‘tickling of the ears’. As such, he sets forth a call for preachers to think theologically in all that they do and say from their office as pastors.
In sum, all three of these titles give ample demonstration to the idea that the study of homiletics and biblical exposition is vibrant. They collectively offer helpful aids to the pastor and preacher who is looking to reach a world that is not smitten to past forms of Christian exhortation. I would recommend without hesitation any of these titles for study by the practicing pastor. If readers of this journal would dare to read these texts and inculcate the principles found therein, the proclamation – and hence the extension – of the Gospel of Christ would surely benefit from it.
Bradford McCall
Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA