Find below the introduction to my book on John coming in 2022. As we begin a new cycle of preaching John, I will be posting snippets of my book that apply to the coming preaching topic. My hope is that my colleagues in ministry may find something useful or inspiring among the words I push about on the page. Cheers!
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Introduction
John is not my favorite Gospel. I know, I
know ... this is the Gospel that has “John 3:16”, the story of the water
turning into wine, the encounter with the Samaritan woman, all the “I am”
statements and much more. But, John as Gospel generally had not ‘worked’ for
me. I mean, there is too much dialogue and too little action.
So, I probably have had an affinity for
the Gospels, from greatest to least, in this order: Luke, Matthew, Mark, and
finally John. Yes, John is in last place.
Perhaps
it is because we also find in John those “hard sayings” of Jesus that leave me
feeling a little 'meh' (to say the least). Like that of 'eating his flesh' in
John 6; And what about his seemingly endless speeches included in John 12-17? I
don't know, maybe I simply like a good narrative, and John simply lacks a lot
of narratives and stories while Matthew, Mark and Luke include them in spades.
John doesn't even have a good story of the birth or baptism of Jesus! What's up
with that?
In any case, the year 2018 arrived, and I
was following the “Narrative Lectionary[1]” in my
preaching at that time. From the moment the cycle had started in the fall of
2017, I knew that John was on the horizon, and I honestly did not want to
preach through that Gospel. But having to preach to John was a good thing. Let
me explain.
One of the benefits of following a
lectionary (i.e. : 'a reading list for the church year'[2]) is that it “forces”
preachers away from their favorite passages. John is not a Gospel that I have
often preached from or about. But because I was following the Narrative
Lectionary (many others in my tradition follow the Revised Common Lectionary),
I was now faced with having to preach something that I was not
comfortable with or very enthusiastic about.
But this is good!
I need to be pulled out of my comfort zone
from time to time and face the challenge of preaching something that is not
easy for me. A lectionary often forces us preachers to grapple with something
we prefer to postpone or avoid. So now I was facing the ‘Gospel of the year.’ I
would fight with John; I would endeavor to “suck the marrow” out of the bones
in this book ... even if only reluctantly.
I was also just starting to become a bit excited to
preach this Gospel. Just before this time arrived in the lectionary season, I
was reading J. Philip Newell's book, Listening to the Heartbeat of God: A
Celtic Spirituality (Paulist Press)[3], in which the
author indicates over and over again that John is the Gospel of the Celts (or
those seeking a Celtic worldview). I should mention here that my roots are from
Scotland, and I have an interest in all things Celtic. Well, Newell argues that
John is more in tune with the God who speaks through nature, the God who is for
everyone, and I was excited to see if I could find traces of the ideas Newell
put forth. This gave me a little more interest as I dove into my studies and
sermon preparation.
Also, as an exercise that I did not
normally practice, I prepared the sermons by writing entire manuscripts before
preaching them (I usually prepare only an outline). This collection of essays that
follows arises from that process of search, study, writing, preaching, and
reflection. The essays that form the following chapters are now far more than
the sermons I preached some years ago—in many cases, the layout has been
re-ordered, new examples have been brought in, and new ideas that have come
along since have been woven into the fabric of thought.
Allow me to be very clear here as to the purpose
and structure of the pieces in this work: I simply want to share what I found,
what I discovered in my studies, the things that God revealed to me in this process,
those things that were new or surprising to me. And, I present them as essays
for the reader's reflection and as fuel for their devotional fires. Perhaps my
thoughts may even contribute to some pastor’s future sermons or to a teacher’s
future lectures. I hope my ideas may be useful and helpful to those who love
John ... or who want to know more about this Gospel.
At the beginning of this
great effort, I was clearly in the second of these two groups—I just wanted to
know more, to see if there was anything salvageable. I really hoped that
studying, reading, and preaching through the Gospel would give me an
understanding, an appreciation and, yes, a completely new love for the Gospel
of John.
I’ll let you know it went. Let's get
started....
[1] The Narrative Lectionary serves as an alternative to the Revised
Common Lectionary, and in addition it provides a more contiguous
narrative of Scripture, something many find desperately necessary in an
increasingly biblical-illiterate culture, even within the Church.
See more here:
http://www.workingpreacher.org/narrative_faqs.aspx
[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lectionary
[3] Philip Newell. Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A
Celtic Spirituality. New York, Paulist Press, 1997.
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