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One of the more interesting books I’ve read on preaching recently is Chris Erdman’s Countdown to Sunday. I’ve read a lot of books on the subject. Not always do I find myself so consistently intrigued and interested. I found myself talking back to the book, sometimes out loud, and almost always in the affirmative.
The book is pitched as a daily guide for those who dare to preach, and it is all of that as Erdman leads the student through a week in the process of sermon development. The strength of the book, however, is in the opportunity to listen in as Erdman describes his thinking about a variety of homiletical subjects. The book is, for the most part, Erdman’s lectures to his students put in print. Judging by the content, he is undoubtedly a popular prof. Erdman’s thinking is challenging, compelling, and sometimes controversial.
His daily process is geared to “preachers on the run.” He begins on Monday with the choosing and reading of the text – as close a reading as time will allow in 30 to 60 minutes. On Tuesday Erdman turns to an analysis of the key words. Wednesday is given to discerning “the text’s agenda.” Thursdays are for writing. On Friday, Erdman counsels preachers to “stop and listen.” Saturday is for practice. Sunday, of course, is for preaching. Personally, I’d want to work a day off in there somewhere, but I do appreciate Erdman’s concern to let the text speak both in terms of its intended meaning, and in terms of its impact on the preacher him or herself.
That Friday/Saturday time for assimilation of the sermon is a critical aspect of getting ready, as far as I’m concerned. Erdman’s descriptions as to how to actually implement these various components in the process are not complicated. They are designed for pastors pressed for time, who nonetheless, want to preach an effective biblical sermon. This welcome sensitivity to the reality of the pastoral life reflects Erdman’s own double-life as both pastor (University Presbyterian Church) and professor (Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary).
All that is fine and good, but the real fun is in following Erdman’s mind as he riffs on a number of interesting themes. For example…
on perfectionism: “Our task is simply to stay close to the text, stay close to who we are as witnesses to Jesus Christ (in all of our unique and God-breathed mystery and strength and necessity), and stay close to our people among whom we’re sent to host this text week in and week out. I can do that on the run. And if I do, it’s always good. 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 or made available for digital download. (37)”
on violence: “Christian preaching was meant to be an alternative to violence. Jesus is God’s alternative to violence . . . and the church is to be his disciple. Some will say that all this isn’t what preaching is for. We say this only because real preaching hasn’t been dared. We say this only because our reliance on violence and our practice of offering our preaching in service to the state is a witness to our evangelical loss of nerve, that we really don’t believe in the power of the Word of God.” (57)
on the life of the text: “There is a real sense that these texts have a life of their own, a mischief they want to perform and that may differ from what you want done. They are not easily controlled.” (86)
on worldliness: “But if the church is wordly, secular in the sense that it is truly immersed in the pain and struggle and suffering and corruption of the world, without turning over its identity to the formative forces of so many other words, and remains a community whose way of life and outlooks can only be explained by the gospel it preaches, a people whose way of life is truly cruciform, then it will be truly like its Lord, the Word become flesh. (99)”
Erdman is well-known among ‘missional church’ leaders and brings that sense of purpose and intent to his preaching. His homiletic is immersed both in the Word and in the world. All of us should do as well.