Homiletics

Presentation on pages 276-348

PREACHING FOR
THE INDIVIDUAL
QUESTIONS AND ANGLES
OF REFLECTION
 How much should the context
influence the shape and content of
the sermon?

Context =
the sermon's How to bridge the biblical world
and the context of one's listeners?
reference to
situation
How Christians have approached
this issue in the past?
Insights from the history of theology
M. Luther F. Schleiermacher.
Addressee-oriented sermon. The concept of "point of contact"
Become a children to communicate (Anknüpfungspunkt)
with them

Paul Tillich K. Barth

The method of correlation. Starting Revelation creates for itself the

from the questions of our culture necessary point of contact in man
Theological standpoints

Creation Incarnation Scripture

Humans are created as God himself took human Scripture was produced in a
responsive beings for form in order to reveal context and God's revelation
dialogue. We live in a himself happens in a particular
context context
 It is a matter of communication. The
Christian sermon has the task of
comprehensibility

Preaching Without contextualization, the sermon

degenerates into a fatal one-way traffic
in context speech

Too much contextualization and you lose

te gospel, too little contextualization and
you lose the audience.
The context and the text
Context is crucial for biblical interpretation; the meaning of a text
1
depends directly on its context. The sermon also speaks into concrete
life situations
The situation of the listener does not dictate the content of the sermon
2
in the place of the Word of God. Rather, it points to the fact that God
meets us where we are

Explication and application are not two separate elements. The

3
understanding of the text does not come appart from the context
 ON THE CATEGORY OF A
SITUATION-RELATED SERMON
Political aspects
Preaching in the face of delusion
A sermon is political because it is public speech in a specific context

A political sermon considers a person’s responsibility for the world

The church must not be indifferent to the injustices and the

suffering of the world

A prophetic sermon is critical of the evil powers of this world and

exposes their corrupted character
Pastoral care aspects
Preaching in the face of fear
A fundamental component which results from considering the
situations of the addressees
Against anxiety and for comfort, it accomplishes not only teaching
but healing, reconciliation, and deliverance
Personal, relational sermons. Authenticity, reliability, and
credibility are necessary traits
Four basic behaviors in a pastoral sermon: understanding,
accepting, encouraging, and authentic
Diaconal aspects
Preaching in the face of needs

There is people in need in every context

Healing the sick and delivering the oppressed are basic elements of
the gospel

The indivisibility of life. Listeners come with their faith and with
their needs
Aspects of ritual
Preaching in the face of life's vicissitudes
Ocassional sermons are tailored to concrete personal or family
events and processes
Let the ritual speak for itself. Sometimes rituals convey more
meaning than words
It is a unique opportunity to preach for both the people in the
church and the unchurched
In occasional sermons, the preacher needs to be acquainted with
the life of the person or the family
Minding the risk
1 2 3

The ground of The context Preach Christ not an

preaching is determines the shape, ideology, not secular
Christology as the gospel determines therapy, not legalism
revealed in Scripture the content
PREACHING IN THE
WORSHIP SERVICE
 It is a problem to confound rhetorical
and ritual communication. They have
their own rules and communicate in
different ways
The sermon
and the ritual
Ritual communication can accomplish
much. The preacher needs to depend
on God and give up stage-managment
Word and Table
Constitutive elements of the
Early Church's worship

Word and sacrament

interpret each other

Protestants have tended to

keep them separated but
there has been a resurgence
of its unity
Readings and
sermon
Preaching from the whole
canon

The importance of the

liturgical year

Telling the Christian story

through worship