Home » » Rural Economy » Opening New Horizons through Preaching

Opening New Horizons through Preaching

© Karl Evans

One small note about the Gospel. I believe the Gospel, and the Statement of Faith (if one is used) should be spoken with the congregation standing. After all, we stand for the flag salute for a nation. We stand for our marriage ceremony. We even stand when a corpse goes by. Surely we ought stand for the Gospel, the words by which God reveals Christ to us.

And every Christian service ought to include a lesson from the Gospel. It is the core of Christian faith. It doesn't have to be lengthy, and it is not critical that the entire sermon be built on a few words from the Gospel. But the Gospel does need spoken every time, I believe.

Now, what is the reason for this in relation to building a local economy? Why read from the same rather limited group of pages every time we get together? We often forget that, with most of our lectionaries, most significant passages are covered in the course of the cycle.

Suppose we use a lectionary with as many as 12 passage choices for each week, plus those for the days between the Sundays, and 52 weeks in the year, and some special days, and 3 three-year cycles, this works out to about 9,000 possible readings. Now, if you use them together in different patterns, this comes up to something like ... good grief, I have lost count ... It has to do with permutations and combinations and higher math. I think there are enough choices for most preachers and teachers. But still, why is a lectionary important here?

It is just this: To keep ourselves on track. We are followers of Christ, disciples of this person Jesus. His words and actions, his effect on other people and his very life are our reason for living. It is around these that we organize ourselves, motivate each other and give our very lives. We absolutely must keep this at the center of our being.

Now, if the local church can learn to operate this way, the participants can learn from their life in the church. If the church openly talks about operating according to its reason for living, individuals and families and businesses who come in contact with the congregation can learn from its life. In this way the congregation becomes a model for business development in the community.

Now, back to the lectionary. The whole package of the lectionary is a terrific opening to the pastor. I like to read and make notes on all the passages before I begin my service and sermon preparation. I often find that these notes themselves constitute the core of both the liturgy and the sermon.