Why we need sermons but not a sermon

The old rule of thumb for sermon writing is to spend one hour in preparation for each minute you are going to speak. Most Protestant churches are set up around the pulpit and the sermon. We write down lines from sermons and share them with neighbors and family. We even sometimes feel that the "point" of worship is the sermon, and everything else is there to support the sermon - the sermon is rarely thought of as supporting the music. 

As a preacher, I can say that for all this work and value we place on the sermon, the shelf life of a sermon is shorter than a peeled banana. I know this. Every preacher should know this. And you know, preachers should be okay with this fact because, truth be told, we do not need a sermon.

We need sermons. 

Any single sermon, even the greatest sermons of all time are still just one drop of water on the stone. One drop of water does not affect the stone very much. One drop of water is not what makes the Grand Canyon. As much as I would love for it to be, one sermon does not change the world. 

Even MLK's "I have a dream" sermon, did not change the world. It may have been a tipping point or a spark, but it surely could not have done anything without the hundred of previous sermons that people like MLK, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and the nameless pulpit preachers of the day.   

If we really desire to be formed by God and the Word of Christ, we do not need a sermon. 

We need sermons.  

The Bible as a lamp?

When talking with children about the Bible often there is a metaphor that is used - the Bible is like a lamp (or flashlight) because it shows us the way to live. We learn in the Bible how we are to love and how we are to live in peace with one another. We talk about the Bible as a tool that is for humans about humans, as though it were just another ethical document like Utilitarianism or Common Sense or The Virtue of Selfishness. 

While the idea that the Bible teaches humans some ethical concepts, the Bible as a lamp that shows us how to live metaphor is incomplete at best. 

The direct object, the protagonist in the Bible is not human beings but God.  

The Bible is a lamp that is more interested in showing humans what God is like.  

This is why the Bible has unique titles like "the word of God" or "inspired". These are titles that attempt to describe the Bible is unlike any other books. While other books are for humans to learn more about humanity, the Bible is for humans to learn more about God.

While the Bible may be like a lamp the Bible is not the Word (capital W). That title remains with Jesus.

Die to cool. Why the UMC won't talk about our faith.

Jesus tells us that we are to die to ourselves and in doing so we will find life. Preachers preach this and we all hear the words. Some of us even nod our heads when we hear it because we affirm this and know it to be true.

The message of dying to self cannot happen these days very much because most of our Christian faith is working hard to look coo.

We want buildings that look modern and sleek. We want our leaders to be young and hip. We want a tidy message with slick publicity that advertises the weeks "message". We want to be seen as a place that has answers and is really "nice". We avoid conflict (more people leave the church when they are angry than seem to stay and work toward reconciliation). We avoid being uncomfortable (even to the point of complaint if the sanctuary is too hot/cold). We make our spiritual growth a priority when we find it convenient and there is nothing else to do. We desire the church to be in service of our needs first. We ensure membership has "perks" like reduced rates for weddings. We allow our children to choose to be apart of religion but not formal education.

I could go on, but the point is we as a religion are generally working to ensure that church is a cool place to be. And this may very well be why the UMC has no idea or interest to be evangelistic with our faith.

We could come off looking like "those crazy Christians you see on TV". Or worse we could come off looking dorky, nerdy, or uncool.

In our efforts to be "relevant" what we really are saying is we want our church to be "cool". So, in a effort to be relevant we discard anything that might not be trendy, because let's face it if it is not trendy it is not relevant.

The perhaps the UMC biggest hurdle to sustainable growth is not our mission statements or lack of theological rigor or our in ability to retain clergy, but we Christians are very concerned about how cool we come off.

When we are more interested in inviting people to events than to relationships of meaning, we are worried about cool.

Die to self? How about we just die to cool to start with?