Hermetic Homiletics

29 May 2005, Part 1

The text for this week is here. I think I’ll focus on the Genesis passage

I mentioned that I want to involve different stages of faith in my sermons. Generally, I’ll target stages 3, 4, and 5. That means that instead of having a single point, I’ll try to weave three together.

So far, as I look at the passage, these stage-related thoughts come to mind:

Stage 3: The family sticks together to ride out the storm.
This stage resonates with group-forming language. Such things as “family,” “people,” and “grouping” speak to their life concerns.

Stage 4: God has made a mistake and is fixing it.
This stage resonates with what I will call “counter-teaching,” those messages that enable them to challenge past belief structures. In this case, the idea that “God doesn’t make mistakes” is the target. The introduction to God as making mistakes allows certain larger questions to arise, such as “who is God for me now?”

Stage 5: The ship that they’re on symbolizes the hope that the rain will end.
This stage resonates with symbols that speak to the messiness of life. God called Noah and his family to build an ark because the waters were coming. They did so, and while on the ark the ship that they are on is a reminder of God’s promised fidelity. They would know deliverance…eventually. I can tie together the images of the ark and the church building to which the congregations comes each week. The symbols of faith can anchor us in the storms of life.

Now, the big question is how to tie all this together into a coherent sermon. Can I pull it off?

posted by irreverance @ 3:07 PM