Sermon for Sunday - July 27, 2014: Sermons?

Dictionary definition of a sermon just doesn't give you the flavor for it.  As usual, I went to Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, and, as usual, came up with some better stuff.  I have some excerpts below.

A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. 

Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. 

Elements of preaching include exposition, exhortation and practical application.

The word can mean "conversation", which could mean that early sermons were delivered in the form of question and answer, and that only later did it come to mean a monologue. However, this is contradicted by all the examples from the Bible...

In modern language, the word "sermon" can also be used pejoratively in secular terms to describe a lengthy or tedious speech delivered with great passion, by any person, to an uninterested audience.

The first line I think we can all pretty much agree upon, as I also think we can agree sermons address the listed topics in both contexts.  However, I separated out the line concerning "preaching" because I want to address it momentarily.

"The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then have the two as close together as possible."

-- George Burns

A sermon can mean "conversation" at this is contradicted by all of the examples in the Bible.  Really.  Let's think about this from a writer's point of view.  I can write the entire sermon for you, complete with questions and answers, or, knowing that I have limited parchment or papyrus to write this down upon, at night by a flickering lamp; maybe I'll just give you the meat of the speech.  Who is to say that the oration wasn't including answers to questions not put down by the scribe?  Also, the Bible certainly doesn't list every little sermon given during the time period.  I think we need to be realistic and conclude that only the important sermons were included by the Council of Nicaea.  It is already fact that they left out much that was, and is, of interest because it did not serve their agenda.  So, I put forth that we should reexamine the very likely possibility that, Billy Graham orations in front of hundreds notwithstanding, sermons may have been conversations where questions and answers were the impetus driving the sermon.

Now, back to "preaching" which is of particular pain to most of us, and I wanted to include it for that reason in my discussion of the final excerpt.  For those that don't want to look it up, "pejoratively" means to use in derogative, contemptuous or a disapproving manner in secular, non-religious or spiritual, terms.  In non-religious terms?  Oh,  hell no!  I sat through all those sermons.  They were just as lengthy and tedious, and delivered with the same great passion by the Catholic priest to an equally passionately disinterested audience that was more interested in stopping by the supermarket on their way home for beer and dogs to watch the Sunday game with.  I think we can all agree we hate preaching.

"The best sermon is preached by the minister who has a sermon to preach and not by the man who has to preach a sermon."

-- William Feather (1889-1981), author

When I started my blog, The Path, I made it a personal goal that I would never preach.  I would say what is on my mind, my thoughts, as a way of stirring the emotions of others so they might make their own opinion and say what was on their mind and pass on their thoughts, and so on.  To me preaching is a way of trying to convince; you are wrong and I am right; you are sinning and I am not;  this is the path of Jesus and yours is, well... so not.  And, if you also feel this way, I am preaching to the choir.

"It is a poor sermon that gives no offense; that neither makes the hearer displeased with himself nor with the preacher."

-- George Whitefield (1714-1770), English clergyman

I have changed my Sunday Thought to a Sermon.  It is an oration delivered by a member of the clergy.  It is also meant to be a conversation, to be agreed or disagreed with, as you see fit.  The fact that you agree or disagree is evidence that you have thought for yourself about how you feel and, in doing so, formed your own opinion.  It may or may not be in concert with mine and this, in itself, is a good thing.  A conversation means that we have agreed to disagree; to the exchange of creative thought, hopefully with peaceful intent, in striving to reach similar goals while traveling our separate paths.

"A person's faith goes at its own pace," Owen Meany said, "the trouble with church is the service.  A service is conducted for a mass audience.  Just when I start to like the hymn, everyone plops down to pray.  Just when I start to hear the prayer, everyone pops up to sing.  And what does the stupid sermon have to do with God?  Who knows what God thinks of current events?  Who cares?"

-- John Irving, "A prayer for Owen Meany"