Sivin Kit’s Garden

The last whole month I’ve enjoyed the chance (and the discipline) to speak based on four of the five Solas.  In fact, the pastors in our two districts in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor all did the same which I thought was a good idea. Here are the slides (in pdf) I used for each sermon I suppose minus me speaking the slides are like a jigsaw puzzle.  So enjoy them as well as your imagination!

Reformation 1: Scripture alone

As I was preparing for this message I was struck how often our discussions on the Bible are adventures in missing the point of the Bible … which is to me getting us or pointing us to hear the “living voice of the Gospel”.

Reformation 2: Faith Alone

What struck me is the paradoxical nature of faith in its simplicity of trust and complexity in our experience.

Reformation 3: Grace Alone

I was amazed how Bono could relate Grace to our times … Grace is such a hard “concept” to grasp but does wonders in our life experience and spiritual quest!

Reformation 4: Christ Alone

I confess I can run away from this re-occuring theme of the person and work of Christ in my own life and ministry.  While maybe to some the is an exclusivity in the tone of “Christ alone” which offends or at least hinders them, but for me even though I find some formulations of their understanding of Christ blocking people from appreciating his true mission and person, I’m constantly drawn to the concrete reality confronting me in and through Jesus Christ.  The theological and rational aspects are in constant evolutionary learning and even change (other times it’s mostly a second naivete), I can not and will not deny some very real experiential (and even mystical) encounters with him which stretches the intellect, broadens the emotional capacities and deepens one humanity and spirituality. For me, Christ is not the end of all questioning.  In fact, I think I’ve started more questions then finding answers.  And the answers lead to new questions …  I think a living relationship involves that.

I’m not too excited when Christians appeal to the Reformation to close down inquiry or shut down theological exploration. After the whole series, I think the best of the reformation is more about bubbles and even explosions of change and not the end of discussion.  We might prefer some form of security - which often is a false one. Reformation Day for me reminds me not to me too complacent and keep an eye out of stuff which either has domesticated the faith and rendered it meaningless or distracted us from its liberating power.

Anyway, I wanted to keep this post short. Bob has already wiggled into the mood with Reformation Day Arbitrariness. I also  stumbled upon this post (which has more to add on the reformation): A Decisive Moment Worth Singing About: Remembering The Protestant Reformation . My attention  was captured by a lesser known hymn by Luther in the post which I shall use as an ending prayer for now:

From trouble deep I cry to thee,
Lord God, hear thou my crying;
Thy gracious ear, oh, turn to me,
Open to my sighing.
For if thou mean’st to look upon
The wrong and evil that is done,
Who, Lord, can stand before thee?
With thee stands nothing but thy grace
To cover all our failing.
The best life cannot win the race,
Good works are unavailing.
Before thee no one glory can,
And so must tremble every man,
And live by thy grace only. . .

Although our sin be great, God’s grace
Is greater to relieve us;
His hand in helping nothing stays,
The hurt however grievous.
The Shepherd good alone is he,
Who will at last set Israel free,
From all and every trespass.

I’ve been waiting for Chris Erdman to kind of finish his posts then print it all out to read before I post anything up … but since I’m still trying to figure out how I lost my bookmarks and awaiting a miracle. I thought linking all the following will do me some good
Preaching on the Run: Toward Simpler Way to Prepare
The way I learnt how to preach in seminary was indeed complicated. The last 5 years of experimentation and refreshed reading/learning have brought some fruit though
A Different Kind of Preparation
Just because I don’t land up writing an exegesis paper doesn’t mean I’m sloppy right?

On Choosing Texts to Preach: Why We Use the Lectionary
though I don’t do it legalistically … but using the lectionary has been most liberating for me … as I grow in this area I find myself understanding the underlying “hermeneutic” found in the lectionary too and am aware of its limitations.

The Christian Year, The Lectionary, and Forming Missional Congregations
The Christian Year has become a non-negotiable part of my own spiritual formation since breaking out of the box of my so called “spontanous-see-what-happens-next” spirituality. Surprisingly, the rhythm of the Christian year has brought me deeper and more open to the Spirit’s work.

Exegesis for Preachers on the Run: Mondays
So often, I don’t want to do anything on Mondays …:-) but then …

On Tuesdays I Chase Words
Gareth just learnt how to say “Tuesday” last week … oh! my! It’s already Wednesday tomorrow!

LET THE STORIES CRAWL OUT ALL BY THEMSELVES
Chris says,“When you preach you must never tame the text. There’s been too much of that. These sacred texts that bear the Word of God are anything but tame.” What a gem!

“How?” is not the question that gets preachers up in the morning
That’s so true …and I’m growing to understand it’s the “whys” that move me …

Wednesday Exegesis—Reading the Agenda(s) of the Text
So often we’re already crowded with our own agenda(s) …

Thursdays Are for Writing: Exegesis for Preachers on the Run (cont)
I still struggle with writing …. I find myself drawn more to Mind-mapping … I do agree with Chris … on the importance of “seeing” the words on paper … I love the quote by Fred Buechner—that masterful writer— “After forty years of writing books, I find I need to put things into words before I can believe they are entirely real.” For me … I need to at least put it into a mind map.

On Friday, Preacher, Stop and Listen
These words from Chris are so crucial … “As the week draws toward its end, it’s time for the preacher to shift from the active, rational work of thinking and writing to a much more intentionally receptive and prayerful posture before the Word. Having focused on the text Monday through Thursday, the preacher sits before its Author on Friday and Saturday.” I’ll try to in some way practice he suggests and see what happens … but this Friday bit is one thing I don’t want to miss out …

What Chris Erdmans writes here is so liberating and real …. allow me to lift up some paragraphs …

I’d learned somewhere along the way that a good pastor spent his (and it was always “his”) mornings in exegesis and study, and his afternoons in calling and other administrative tasks. And a good pastor could not possibly preach on Sundays without spending at least 20 hours in this work–solid exegesis and the writing of a quality sermon. Hey, that wasn’t my life, no matter how much I tried to live up to it and no matter how I loathed myself for my failures. Maybe this just makes public my neuroses, but I’ve a sense that there are a whole lot of others who live under this kind of tyranny. And that’s true not just for mainline preachers, but those who are bullied by the requirements of Fundamentalist certitude as well as those wowed by the communication excellence of the nation’s mega-church superstars.

“If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly. Just do it.” Colin Brown’s words spoke to me of something real, a preacher’s discipleship for those weeks when a family-in-crisis, a staff conflict, and a weekend wedding all mean I can’t do what I once thought I had to do during the week to be a good preacher. “A little exegetical method for preachers on the run.” Walter Brueggemann’s words describe my life and I think are much more consistent with the way I read the Bible’s way of describing the preaching task. With prophets and apostles and Jesus too, it’s always done on the run.

Preaching is something lived. It comes out of who we are. Our task is simply to stay close to the text, stay close to who we are as a witnesses to Jesus Christ (in all of our unique and God-breathed mystery and strength and necessity), and stay close to my people among whom I am send to host this text week in and week out. I can do that on the run. And if I do, it’s always good–even if the message won’t ever appear in “Preaching Today.” I’ve come to believe that maybe it’s good precisely because my sermon won’t be printed in a book or recorded on a CD.

Now when my students ask, “How long does your sermon preparation take?” I answer, “A lifetime. No less, no more.”

It’s been sometime since I’ve been listening to lectures or a sermon online with RealPlayer. And this lecture series by Rob Bell Jr. from Mars Hill Bible Church is pretty refreshing … (don’t let the seriousness of the titles mislead you)

November 7, 2003 - “Communicating Christ in Contemporary Culture,” Staley Lecture Series, Rob Bell, Jr., Teaching Pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church, Grandville, MI
RealAudio

November 6, 2003 - “Communicating Christ in Contemporary Culture,” Staley Lecture Series, Rob Bell, Jr., Teaching Pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church, Grandville, MI
RealAudio

November 5, 2003 - “Communicating Christ in Contemporary Culture,” Staley Lecture Series, Rob Bell, Jr., Teaching Pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church, Grandville, MI
RealAudio

“People are not caught between a generalized good or a generalized bad. They are caught in the bind of two quite specific goods and two quite specific bads — or (perhaps more likely) among several options, none of which is good or bad.”

“The homilectical plot must catch people in the depths of the awful discrepencies of their world — social and personal. It is to these very discrepencies that the gospel of Jesus Christ is addresses.” (p. 25, The Homilectical Plot)

Here’s an interesting article ~ Is our preaching out of touch? but Maggi Dawn’s no-preparation sermon really got my attention
consider the following insights from her:
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What’s interesting, though, is the effect of the unprepared sermon. Instead of preaching, I’m simply talking, out of the breadth of my knowledge and experience, in immediate response to the readings. Instead of the security and superiority of a well-prepared message, I offer something in vulnerability: it’s not beatifully crafted, not perfectly ‘wrapped’; there are moments when I have to pause to find the right word, or go back over something and say it again because it didn’t come out right the first time. I’ve noticed a definite receptiveness to this kind of talking-homily; also a freedom for people to pick up the conversation later over coffee. Perhaps the very fact it’s unpolished gives people the confidence to take the conversation further.
___________________

“The beautiful thing about Movement preaching was that every sermon presented the possibility of a focused response. Because every sermon was an expression of God’s solidarity with the Movement, there was always something its hearers could do, hope, or suffer in harmony with this new Way God had unleashed in the South. “

For more see The Word That Moves: The Preaching of Marting Luther King, Jr.
By Richard Lischer

I just came back from the Scripture Union-Fellowship of Evangelical Students (SUFES) Bookstore and got a set of tapes by Martin Lloyd-Jones for just one Ringgit! Frankly, I don’t think I’d see myself that influenced by him theologically or practically and there’s much that I find myself differing in. However, I do remember I’ve only read one book by him –> Preaching and the Preachers and I like the phrase associated with him .. i.e. “Logic on fire!”. And it did spark some fire during my not-so-exciting preaching classes in seminary.

Here’s a quote that from the book …
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