It's been a fulfilling day at the Festival of Homiletics in Minneapolis. The morning began with worship at Central Lutheran (CLC) and a sermon about the importance of the content, not the vessel by Walter Brueggemann. He told of a Canadian diocese that went bankrupt. The bishop's response? "A Book, a Towel, a Table and a Cup are all we need."
Then a quick walk over to Westminster Presbyterian (WPC) to hear a talk about digression as a way to create sermons with Wil Willemon. He said that digression is just a form of imagination and that our daydreams just may be when God is getting to us when our defenses are down. And "pay attention to the seemingly insignificant details in scripture" when asking the age-old question, "How does God want me to use this text?"
Back to CLC for worship and a sermon that reminded us that "God dwells in deep darkness" and that "some of God's best work happens in the dark" by Barbara Brown Taylor. She reminded us that though "dark" has a bad connotation, we do have dark chocolate and dark beer! A bonus: getting to sit with a couple of my peeps, and then out to the food trucks for lunch and good conversation.
We headed back to WPC to learn more about Darkwood Brew's unique television/internet (darkwoodbrew.org services at 5 p.m. CST on Sunday nights) ministry; a great message based on Philippians 1-18a and a Q&A with Anna Carter Florence who told us "you cannot preach to people you don't love."
One last stop for the day at CLC for a lecture on preaching the Blues by Otis Moss III who said, among other fantastic things, "sermons are built at the intersection of Life Avenue and Biblical Boulevard."
In a little while I will head down to Brit's Pub to learn more about Lydia's Place, enjoy bluegrass music by the Fleshpots of Egypt and spend a little time with my guy!
Tomorrow will be another homiletic adventure!