springboard from which I gave examples that occurred to me at that moment. I find it important to say to you, the reader, that the sermon is different from the essay. The sermonic event is intended to be HEARD. It is not an essay to be read. Consequently, the preacher must craft it in such a way that it may make for clearer hearing. As a result, reading from these sermon notes is something that you may find to be quite difficult. So, as best you can, as you are reading these sermons, please try your very best to imagine them being delivered! In doing so, please recognize that these short phrases were delivered with the intention that the pacing of their delivery would be conducive to the hearer’s ability to absorb the words of the message. Simply put, each sermon is a message to be delivered through the unique means of communication that constitutes what we call a sermon. What might read more clearly in essay form might very well fail in a preaching context which is part of a service of worship!
At the end of each chapter, I also include discussion questions that I am hoping will be of value to you, the reader. Ideally, this book will be a resource for ongoing conversation and reflection upon the proclaimed Word expressed in these pages. In that way, what was a summer sermonic moment in Union, Connecticut continues to be living and active in the unfolding of the reader’s daily life, wherever she or he may be.
The questions selected for this sermon series represent real life human religious concerns as expressed to me a pastor over the course of several years, by people of different ages. In their selection, I recognized that I had identified a certain universality in the questions. These are issues that, while expressed by certain individuals, are hardly unique to those individuals alone and, in most cases, have been issues about which a considerable amount of theological and pastoral writing has been done over the years.
The series begins in Chapter One with the age old issue of why people suffer. Connected with this, Chapter Two explores how prayer fits into that question and what, in fact, the real purpose and effects of prayer might be. Chapter Three moves in a different direction as it considers the very future of faith in a pluralistic and changing world. Chapter Four delves more deeply into the very nature of who God is, which, of course, is connected to the matter of what, in fact, God does and has been doing for a very long time.
The occasion of a baptism in our congregation forms the basis for the sermon around which Chapter Five is centered. The fundamental question of where religion itself fits into human life and how so many religious approaches came to be is our matter for consideration in Chapter Six. Chapter Seven takes a different turn as I reflect upon the many questions I have been asked about what it’s like to be an ordained minister and move from those questions to a homiletic reflection on the priesthood of all believers. Chapter Eight contains the final sermon in the series, the one which deals with the ultimate question of what might possibly happen to us when these days of our earthly life are over, something we clergy are asked about quite often and which forms the basis for discussions within families as well as with our friends.
The reader should be aware that a funny thing happened on my way to the end of this series. Toward the end of the month of July, just prior to the preaching of the fourth sermon in this series, I received and accepted a call to be the pastor of a new church, thus positioning myself to leave this beloved congregation I had served for these nearly 11 ½ truly wonderful years. Consequently, this series took on a new tone. It became a series of shared reflections that played an integral role in this process of transition, both for me and the congregation. As it worked out, my final service in this congregation was delivered two weeks following the conclusion of this series.
You will notice that as we move toward the end of the series, some moments of poignancy clearly occur. What may be less apparent is the internal sense of urgency I felt as I drew closer to this moment of leaving. As I reread and reviewed these sermons I had written, I recalled this internal drive I was feeling, this deep desire to be clear about what I wanted to tell these people I loved so dearly, this need I felt to do the best I could to, yes, get out of God’s way and simply allow the Word to be alive in those who hear it.
A final note: If you are wondering about this title SO MUCH OLDER THEN and the epigraph you may have noticed before you started reading this Introduction, I am hoping that as you read the concluding chapter when you draw near the end of this book, that somehow the title might contribute to what you have discovered about yourself in these pages. I am also hopeful that, in your reading of these messages and your own reflection upon the conversations I describe, you will consider sharing your own thoughts with me as together we seek to both hear God’s word and to apply it to our very lives!6
1 In some traditions, e.g. Roman Catholicism, this is known by the title ‘homily.’
2 I was ordained a United Church of Christ clergyperson in 2002. I served as a Permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church from 1989-1998
3 Hebrews 4:12
4 The technical term for the study of preaching.
5 This is the concept of the ‘priesthood of all believers,’ a core concept of the Reformation. The Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church refers to a ‘priesthood of the faithful.’ The concept is based on 1 Peter 2:9
6 You may send a note to me by going to www.facebook.com/somucholderthen, by contacting the publisher, [email protected], by contacting me directly [email protected], or by sending me a message through Twitter @REVDRBOBL
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