The sermon is not the word of God, but that is not how worship is set up

If you have ever walked into a protestant church then you may have seen the pulpit.  In fact one of the most impressive pulpits I have ever seen was in St. George's UMC church in Philadelphia.  I did see a pulpit that looks similar to this pulpit to the left.

The pulpit is where the sermon happens.  It is where the "action" happens.  Even Joel Osteen's pulpit is impressive.  

Pulpits are larger because that is where the "Word is proclaimed".  It has been my experience however that Scripture is not always read from the pulpit, but from the lectern (which might look like the one on the right).  

Regardless of where the sermon is preached or where the Scripture is read, no one walks out of Church and critiques the reading of Scripture.  Most people are talking about the sermon.  

The sermon is the meat of the protestant worship.  That is where most of the time is devoted to in the worship time.  Sermon is the center of the worship.  

The over emphasis on the sermon has gotten to the point of idolatry of the sermon.  

Click to enlarge

The sermon is an interpretation of Scripture, it is not Scripture.  The sermon is an expression of the Word of God, it is not the Word of God.

We need to stop with the worship of the sermon and reclaim the centrality of Scripture.  

With Scripture as the focus and the center it keeps God at the center of the worship hour and not the preacher.  

Another reason I prefer dialog sermons

Tony Jones spoke at a convention hosted by Brite Divinity School in the fall of 2010.  He spoke about how Christians in the west have done a wonderful job at abdicating hermeneutical authority to pastors and minsters for generations.  This has resulted in a Christianity that is heavily dependent upon a "good" minister or pastor in order to help people "understand" the scripture and teachings of Christ.  Effectively leaving full grown adults stunted in spiritual maturity because we have not taught people how to interpret scripture or the message of Jesus for themselves.

I mean why take the time when the minster is going to do that during the sermon anyway?

I know there are many people who do take time with scripture each day and wrestle with it.  I do know there are people for whom the Christian label is vital to their existence.  But I also know many people for whom that is not the case.  And sometimes I find myself in the latter group rather than the former group.

So for those of us who find ourselves lapsing in our spiritual disciplines, I offer up this metaphor to consider. It has helped me. 

No one pays a gym membership to work with a personal trainer only to watch the personal trainer lift weights and run on the treadmill.  No one expects to get into shape by only watching the "expert", the one who went to a special school, break a sweat as free weights are lifted over their head.

And yet many of us when we go to church and engage in worship do just that.  

We watch the "experts" work through the scriptures with little input.

Dialogical sermons are an opportunity for the minister to invite the members of the congregation to do some working out.  And even if there is not a physical dialog taking place in the sermon, there are a number of ways to engage people in the sermon moment.

May clergy in our beloved UMC across the world embrace once again spiritual formation that requires people to "work out" rather than just allowing people to watch us work out.  

Sermon bit - William Willimon

"Yet I suggest that we are better givers than getters, not because we are generous people but because we are proud, arrogant people. The Christmas story -- the one according to Luke not Dickens -- is not about how blessed it is to be givers but about how essential it is to see ourselves as receivers."


"We prefer to think of ourselves as givers -- powerful, competent, self-sufficient, capable people whose goodness motivates us to employ some of our power, competence and gifts to benefit the less fortunate. Which is a direct contradiction of the biblical account of the first Christmas. There we are portrayed not as the givers we wish we were but as the receivers we are. Luke and Matthew go to great lengths to demonstrate that we -- with our power, generosity, competence and capabilities -- had little to do with God’s work in Jesus. God wanted to do something for us so strange, so utterly beyond the bounds of human imagination, so foreign to human projection, that God had to resort to angels, pregnant virgins and stars in the sky to get it done. We didn’t think of it, understand it or approve it. All we could do, at Bethlehem, was receive it."


In this sermon Willimon imply the question to Christians, "What narrative drives your understanding of Christmas? A Christmas Carol or the Gospel?"

Click here for the entire sermon of Willimon.