ymCafe

I’ve been thinking recently about how to listen to sermons, and I imagine that both we and our young people struggle with this, too. I grew up in a tradition that valued expositional, verse-by-verse, 45-minute long preaching. These sermons were long but pretty easy to follow. There was information being handed out, so it was best to take notes.

When I went to seminary, I got introduced to the tight, well-written, 20-minute sermon. These were short-too short to take notes, really. I found it best to sit back and experience the sermon, and they usually packed a punch.

Since becoming an Episcopalian, I’ve had to struggle to come to terms with the loose, extemporized 10-15-minute homily. In comparison to my previous experiences, trying to follow an Episcopal sermon is like being “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind” in the priest’s head (cf. Eph. 4:14). What’s a parishioner to do other than suffer? The sermon is too short to take notes for content. The sermon is often too diffuse to experience in any kind of meaningful way.

Well, I decided to try to split the difference between note-taking and experience. I take notes now, but I only look for three things: One Gift, One Hindrance, One Task.

One Gift: As diffuse as any sermon might be, the priest is probably speaking about or around something great God has done for us in Jesus Christ. This last week, the gift was “Jesus, the Lamb of God, comes to us.” When I’m looking for the gift of the sermon, I’m looking for a sentence that stars God the Trinity or a Person of the Trinity doing something on our behalf.

One Hindrance: Or, “one sin.” Look for something in the sermon that specifically addresses your need for God. This might be brought into focus by reflection on the Gift. What keeps you from accepting that Gift? What problem in your life does that Gift specifically address? It’s important to be specific here, because that will aid us later in the service.

One Task: It’s a recurrent theme in Scripture that God blesses God’s people so that they, in turn, might be a blessing to others. Most sermons have an ethical edge, but that edge is usually diffuse and abstract. Take one of those ideas and wrestle it down to the ground so that, by the end of the sermon, you have something tangible to do in response to God’s gift. Mine last week was “Listen for opportunities to minister in other people’s lives.” It’s been an interesting week!

Now, the really neat thing is that these tie directly into and are reinforced by the liturgy. First up is the General Confession of Sin. In the silence between the bidding and the communal prayer, confess that Hindrance you identified and then receive the absolution with joy. Next, when you receive Eucharist, take it as an opportunity to receive with thanks the Gift of God given you in the sermon. Finally, have your Task in mind at the Benediction and the Dismissal and accept those words as God’s blessing and empowerment for the task.

Then, go in peace to love and serve the Lord!