February 2016
The Pastor’s Ponderings Pastor David’s cell phone—348-330-4170 and email address—fleeneda@gmail.com The sermon-writing process, as I learned it in seminary: Know your texts a few weeks, even months ahead of time. Give yourself time to plan out themes. Read. Work with Greek and/or Hebrew. Read commentaries. Read other works of literature as good examples of writing. Relate the text to your congregation and what’s going on in the world. Talk with colleagues and/or parishioners. Find one insight, summed up in a sentence, that encompasses our malady (sin), God’s goal for us, and the means God uses to get us to his goal (grace). Write a draft of the sermon by Wednesday or Thursday. Polish on Saturday. Ready to go on Sunday morning. The sermon-writing process, in reality (for me, anyway): Show up to Joe and Jesus (our lectionary study) on Monday barely knowing what the texts are. (If I’ve been proactive, I may have looked at
what the texts were a couple weeks in advance to draw out a comprehensive theme.) Talk with parishioners. Minimal Greek/Hebrew work, using Bible Works or Olive Tree. Try to think of a title (this congregation seems to like titles). Run through a dozen potential titles, drawing on a common theme among two or three readings. Pick a title. Throw out that title. Agonize. Free write. Agonize some more. Pick another title. Goof off on the internet. Do other pastor stuff. On rare occasions, have a draft by Thursday. Usually don’t. Procrastinate. Friday off. Saturday comes. Procrastinate more. If I wrote a draft on Thursday, more often than not the world will have changed by Saturday, necessitating a new sermon. Panic at about 11 on Saturday night. Decide to sleep. Wake up around 6 Sunday morning. Drink a half-gallon of coffee. Write, write,
Zion’s 2016 Council Members Elder & President ...................................................................... Jody Stanley Elder & Vice-President ................................................................. Larry Hile Secretary ............................................................................... Barb Hardwick Deacons ................................................................................... Scott Clamme Drew Walker Allen Stallsmith Trustees .................................................................................... Chris Stroble Tom Armstrong Mark Prout Treasurer ................................................................................. Max Langdon Financial Secretaries .................................................................... Tiann Coy Kathy Sharp
write under duress. Deliver sermon on Sunday morning, which is always not quite the draft I’ve written. Sometimes I’m amazed that God gets anything done through me, as deaf as I can be to his word at times. It’s a bit of a dirty secret among pastors, but few of us are the super-spiritual people that congregations think we are. At least I’m not. No, we’re just like everyone else. We struggle with the same sins like everyone else. The only difference between me and a person in the pews is a call to administrate an office in the church – the office of word and sacrament. And somehow, God gets the word preached and the sacraments administered through deeply sinful human beings like me. Every Sunday to me is a lesson in grace. And I continue to learn more about this community, more about God’s will for them and for me, and more about how God works “in, with, and under” my work, as sloppy as it may be at times. And of course, I learn more about how I might be more cooperative with God’s work! Surely God works in a similar way in your life, too. God works to bring grace, the good news of Jesus Christ, to the world through human beings like us. After all, God became human to save the world. Never forget your importance to God’s work in this community and the world. Love to you, Pr. David