Contextual Reality:
An Introduction The urgency of the Church and preaching to dream a Preaching Renaissance is evident within the present context of the global socio – political and economic realities. A combination of religion, politics and the economy has resulted in social issues that threaten human rights and the rights of the earth. Migrant communities all over the world have been the most vulnerable group, struggling to live wholesome lives in the face of violence and death. Unexpected and unaccepted dislocation of people in the boundaries of helplessness and unaccepted relocation in a land not of their choice have led to maladjustments and loss of any feeling of worth sitting at the receiving end of hatred, ill treatment and discrimination. In India the brutal deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns announced by the government without giving any relief, confirm the perception that ‘India lives in her villages, works in her cities and dies somewhere in between.’ Forced migration and untold stories of ethnic cleansing, human trafficking and enforced labour are an everyday reality within and across the borders. The rise in suicide rates of young people due to unemployment and stressful work environment is noted in many parts of South Asia. The surge in violence against women, especially the girl child is a cause of concern. Discrimination based on caste, minority religion and gender are often normalized. Rape has become a political weapon of the dominant to silence and demoralize the vulnerable. People all over live in constant fear of some sort or the other. Those who have serious illness like HIV/AIDS in the midst of these social threats often remind us of the fragility vulnerability of our lives as well as limitation of any human capacity. Cries of these people are proofs of their experience of separation and alienation from all their loved ones. God has forgotten me in my affliction is the cry that echoes the extremity of their suffering and profound sense of loss of the very presence of God. Those who live healthy with sustainable employment, and stable family environment are not exempt from the vigor of the raveling world. Present societies are filled with families of often unrevealed broken relationships, violence in the neighbourhood, in cities and remote villages, places of education on the basis of caste, class, colour and gender, rape, killings and violence under the influence of drugs, abandoned children of unwed mothers thrown in the waste bins and young people searching for some ways to live. In the present context, if we extend our awareness of these realities to include the victims of international politics and economics, we are astounded with the existence of millions of victims of racism, classism, ethnicity, and discrimination of all types. People find themselves in broken relationships both within family and out in the society. Hatred towards strangers is an undisputed reality of many societies of nationalism and racism. It is also the daily experience of all the dislocated and helpless. On the other hand the global reality is the profound silence of these victims in the global public square as well as within the church. Silenced by the powers of domination, muted as impaired by physical assault, depowered by prioritization within the church, dispositioned because of their very identity, discounted of their physical presence, their voices are chocked to feeble whisper and over toned by the voices of the powerful. Can the powerless speak and be heard within the church of the powerful and can there be preaching? While there is no negation of an open world of possibilities, hopelessness is the reality of the majority of the people. Within this contextual reality of an open World of vulnerability, fear and hopelessness, there is an authentic call to dream, envision and strive missionally towards preaching renaissance of acceptance, hospitality, welcome and hope mediated through an understanding and process of preaching as dialogical reflection on the contextual reality of the congregation and reflection on the dialogical interaction among them as homiletical paradigm.
Given the multi-dimensional nature of the church today and the increasing complexity and problems because of the growing diversity, the church in general and preaching in particular can no longer ignore or escape the responsibility of responding to the imperative issue of degeneration of the power of preaching and the pinch of irrelevance in the event of preaching and the subsequent need for a preaching renaissance. If preaching has been the history of the church and if preaching has been the predominant force behind the growth of the church over many centuries, now again it is the task of preaching to address the issue of its functional reality. Within the reality of the present context in the global arena, predominant force that grips the guild of homileticians and preachers is challenge of redefining preaching to lead a preaching renaissance. Definition that incorporates the multiple nature of the congregation and the role of preacher and purpose of preaching would no doubt lead a preaching renaissance when elements of the definitions are implemented. Preaching is Word of God initiated by Christ, it dialogically interacts with the existential reality of the hearers and reflects on the dialogical interaction of humans in their efforts to make sense of and find meaning in living together as a harmonious community with God. This definition highlights the inclusion of elements of preaching not merely in the aspect of proclamation, but also in the process of interpretation of the content of the message through dialogical interaction. It conceives of the interpretative event as communicative event because the process of communication takes place not only when the message is decoded, but in the process of interpreting and much before delivering. Secondly, it deals with the dialogical interaction of the gospel message and human situation to find relevance and meaning. A sermon is complete not when the delivery of it is over, but when it is made relevant and when the hearers find themselves within the message identifying their lives within it. Relevance of the message is the result of an authentic process of dialogical interaction of the message and life of the congregation. This definition also addresses the purpose of such interaction i.e. living together harmoniously as one community with God through an intensive process of mutual interaction.
Assumptions
Formulation of this definition is driven by two assumption relating to preaching renaissance. First, the congregation is multiple in nature with experiences of their own veracity, discriminated and subjugated because of their socio – cultural identity. They are community oriented people, striving to live together harmoniously. Reflection of the dialogical interaction of the hearers presupposes their socio – cultural background, which is different from the others and even the preacher him/herself. They strive also to make sense of Christian values preached in the church in the light of their life situation and find meaning of preaching of their contextual reality in each other living in such a context, they strive to dialogically interact within themselves and with others in order to live as a harmonious community. Second, Preacher who is chosen to preach is expected to reflect on the efforts of people to live together as one community, in the process of theological interpretation. Reflecting is relating and relating demands understanding, understanding leads to acceptance, acceptance must be reflected in preaching. This would mean that dialogical interaction takes place between the preacher and the hearers also. This idea has been dominant among the Intercultural Communicators. Explaining interpretative event as communicative event as an element of intercultural hermeneutics, Robert J. Schreiter states, there is a “need for intensive dialogue to ascertain the effectiveness and appropriateness of the communication. The message cannot be considered transmitted until a good deal of give and take between the hearer and the speaker has occurred in a hospitable non-dominating kind of way. Intensive dialogue and engagement are essential to intercultural communication”This is true in the event of preaching where the hearers are from different life experiences which give them certain perspective of the reality they see within their existential realities. There needs to be sincere reflections on these realities in the process of preaching and interpretations of the scripture in preaching for a preaching renaissance to take place.
[1] Schreiter, Robert J, The Catholicity: Theology between the Global and Local, Maryknoll: Orbis Books 1997. 35 – 36
Preaching Renaissance through Dialogical Reflections on the Contextual Reality:
One repeated question people in the pews of the church voice up is, what is the relevance of the sermon to us within the context in which we live today? Any sincere preacher who envisions preaching renaissance must also ask the same question. A sermon is born out of an intensive process of theological reflections. Theological reflections function as channel between the text and the sermon giving it a shape and making it relevant. These theological reflections are not confined to God, Christ and the Holy Spirit alone, but extends and includes the hearers and their living situation as well. Members of the congregation develop perspectives in their lives on the basis of reality of the context within which they live. Formation of Perceptions is a long process of contemplating on multiple experiences. “Perceptions are not just of few words and sentences, but they are born out of personal experiences. Perceptions are not superficial thoughts but deep rooted convictions. They are not unrelated expressions of statements of external situations but personal experiential outcome. They also include one’s identity and personality. In other words, perceptions are expressions of one’s identity and personality as they are deeply rooted in their identity. Perceptions are formed as a result of the collision of external forces and internal personality. It is not just the socio-cultural-political-religious forces that influence one’s perception at the macro level, but also at the micro level the familial relationships and friendship affect it.”
[1] In the process of dialogical reflections in preaching perceptions present themselves as embodiment of the reality of the situations of the hearers as they are formed through a rigorous process. The context in which one lives leads to experiences, and experiences subsequently lead to interpretation and then to understanding and ends in formation of perceptions. Ultimately perceptions originate from the context in which one lives. “Experiences do not happen in vacuum but within a concrete context where people are dominated and influenced by their own ideological and normative principles. Contexts which are governed by ideologies, politics, religious traditions, faith affirmations give multiple experiences to the people”.
[2] Therefore it is imperative that Dialogical reflections on the contextual reality of the members of congregation operate taking their perceptions which are ultimately expressions of their living situations. The proposition here is not just a hearer based preaching, but a preaching that includes a rigorous process of dialogical reflections on the existential reality of the hearers and their perceptions, its theological and homiletical implications. Understanding preaching as dialogical reflection on the human condition presupposes the dialogue between the Gospel and the human living condition. Preaching is an endeavor, in the realm of divine purpose of God for humans, to dialogically bring together the gospel message and the existential reality of people to make sense of both in the light of each other, in order that the preaching renaissance would be realized.
[1] Stephen, Alfred, Homiletics : Handbook for Teachers and Learners of Preaching, Mokokchung : TDCC and ECHO – FOREST, 2017. 45 – 46.
[2] Stephen Alfred, Homiletics. 49.
[1] This process is dealt with in my writings in Homieltics 2017, Cleophus LaRue, The Future shape of Christian Proclamation : What the Global South Can Teach Us About Preaching. 2020
Dialogical reflection on the existential condition of the members of the church or hearers of the sermon is possible through a hermeneutic process of Resurgence, Convergence and Relevance.[1] Resurgence is a process of having
[1] This process is dealt with in my writings in Homieltics 2017, Cleophus LaRue, The Future shape of Christian Proclamation : What the Global South Can Teach Us About Preaching. 2020 clear understanding of the history, culture, lives and experiences. This would also mean revisiting and rereading the history of people from a new stand point and with new insights. This process of resurgence leads to disclosure of many realities of people’s original situations, like origin of their community, injustice caused to them, their hope for liberation and authentic living. Convergence helps preacher revive the reality of the past not just identifying socio-cultural, political and economic issues, but analyzing them and searching for possibilities of new and different living to be proclaimed. The process of reviving the past includes understanding the confused, ignorant and helpless state in which people have been kept all through which facilitate fabricating entirely fresh opportunities of action and response. This would be possible when the reality of their history is redescribed and brought into challenge all earlier believes about the lives and status. Relevance facilitates materialization of the new possibilities which could be unearthed through the process of resurgence and convergence. Hermeneutics of Relevance reveals the reality of people, and Hermeneutics of Convergence brings preacher and the congregation together in a mutual understanding and acceptance, and Hermeneutics of Relevance aims to address the harmony and harmonious living of all. The focus here is to create or build up a new community in which love, acceptance, equality and dignity are norms of life. In this process of Resurgence, Convergence, and Relevance a harmonious community is fabricated. Each thread of this fabrics represents various groups of people with their authentic identity and cultural background. Each of them is distinct. They do not lose their uniqueness in the process of convergence and relevance, but by crossing over they form a community of understanding, solidarity and acceptance. They understand the uniqueness of the other and accept them with all their uniqueness and stay in solidarity identifying with them in the reality of life.
Preaching Renaissance through Repositioning the Pulpit: An Open Space Homiletics
In homiletical pursuit we homiliticians have made our next effort to jump start a wider conversation on today’s postcolonial context as the editors of Homiletic Journal Vol 40. No. 1 put it.[1] While dialogical reflections on the contextual reality of the hearers of the sermon and reflections on the dialogical interactions of th
[1] Yohan Go, David Schnasa Jacobsen, and Duse Lee, Eds. Homiletic Journal, Vol. 40. No.1 P. 3.
people in any society and also in the church had been in the homiletic conversation and discussion for the past few decades, homiletics is pulling threads from the postcolonial theology and theory to weave postcolonial homiletics. Needless to say that postcolonial studies offer a wealth of possibilities towards formulation of postcolonial homiletics and preaching renaissance. “The postcolonial concept of hybrid identity—which is not fixed, but fluid, porous, and constantly shifting,….. create a Third Space where different cultures and identities meet and hybrid identity is forged. Instead of aiming at the development of some univocal identity of the community, preachers must destabilize hearers from the “common sense” of colonial identities by naming colonialism as a present reality and challenge the binary logic of empire by revealing an ambiguous postcolonial reality where one can be both the colonized and the colonizer simultaneously…….Third Space: consistency of multiple, fluid, porous, constantly shifting identities along with one’s translocality, openness to difference, mutual dialogue between hidden/marginalized voices and transformation, and thus living differently. In the field of homiletics, though it is relatively less attended”[1] are ideas which homiletics could adopt for further development of postcolonial homiletics. Following thoughts contribute to such development of homiletics and also preaching renaissance.
[1] Yohan Go, David Schnasa Jacobsen, and Duse Lee, p. 57
Repositioning the Pulpit : Insights from the Parable of the Mustard Seed
Parable of the mustard seed unfolds new dimensions for an Open Space Homiletics through a process of repositioning the pulpit. While Church is considered to be the living sign of the Kingdom of God in the world, pulpit reveals the values of God’s Kingdom through the activity of preaching. Pulpit centralizes the life and unity and growth of the Church through the proclamation of the Gospel which radically transforms the Church and the world to radiate the Kingdom values and create a harmonious community. Pulpit is not just a spatial space within the physical construction of the Church building, but a location from which the revelation of God from the Scripture through human agency is proclaimed. Although human agency has a role to play, power of the proclaimed word takes priority as it reaches out to people and transforms them. Repositioning the pulpit does not alter the role of the Preacher, but gives new dimensions to the message proclaimed as it moves to an open space. Specific nature of the Church is portrayed by Jesus in this parable. An open, welcoming, accommodating, hosting and hospitable Church.
Local and Global nature of the Pulpit
The parable exhibits local and global nature of the Church and the Pulpit. Openness of the pulpit is typified in the very act of sowing in the public and open place for it to grow. Structure does not decide the place of sowing, neither does it control the act of sowing. Openness is characterized by public access which marks the uniqueness of the sowing. Place is not restricted by any culture, custom, language, caste, colour or creed, but premeditated for the future accessibility of everyone who passes by. Public square is the field for sowing. Open Space also denotes the vulnerability of the pulpit, exposing itself to the attacks of the dangerous forces. However, when the seed is sown, it gets rooted and grows out to be a great shrub and branches out to accommodate the birds of the air. Being sown, getting rooted and growing and branching out signify the locality or the local nature of the pulpit. Rooted in a specific location describe the place where roots get the nature and wealth of the local soil. Rootedness creates an identity based on the locality. Rootedness also results in firmness. The notion of rootedness with regards to pulpit, refers to the biblical, theological, and faith as it gives rise to healthy exchange of thoughts and truths and give insights into aspects of reality which others cannot easily understand. Rootedness and firmness in the locality give space for sharing the wealth of the local resources and welcome others through the insights gained through the rootedness. Improper rootedness will no doubt, lead to false and superficial openness to the global context. Openness of the pulpit becomes authentic only through the rootedness in the scripture. Deeper the rootedness, more the openness as the underlying wealth is unearthed. This parable presents the truth that biblical rootedness must be the basis for openness because it is in rootedness the pulpit becomes horizontally and authentically open. The same can be said of the cultural rootedness of the pulpit which validates and authenticates the cultural openness. Therefore the Open Space homiletic creates an open space pulpit where the rootedness in the locality is emphasized to become more open.
Rootedness leads to an inward as well as outward perception. First and foremost inward perception facilitates a space for knowing the truth of the Scripture. It also gives possibility to have self realization and self acceptance. It facilitates knowing the self identity as well as the composition of the locality in which the church and the pulpit are rooted. It leads to knowing the functions of the Church. It also leads to knowing the self maturity.
The parable of the mustard seed explains the global element of the pulpit and openness. Birds of the air come and find shelter in the tree. Locally rooted tree extends itself to a global arena. The growth is for the sake of all the birds of the air. The Church is rooted and grown for others. There is an element of universal openness in this parable. An openness based on freedom to find shelter, openness based on the possibility of being part of the whole, openness based on love. This openness extends beyond the geographical boundaries. Openness to people who are strangers would also mean being in solidarity. In this horizontal vision of the openness, solidarity is expressed to those who seek shelter, peace, comfort and security. Those who come and find shelter are of people with various needs and kind. Solidarity must be extended to all the aspects of the shelter seekers. Global element of the parable leads to outward perception as well and it explains the positioning of the pulpit and its nature and functions for preaching renaissance.
Open Space Homiletics for Preaching Renaissance
- Open Space Homiletic theory seeks to know and emphasize the nature and purpose of preaching ministry of the Church.
- Open Space Homiletic theory creates space for knowing the horizons often invisible beyond physical vision. Horizons which are mostly camouflaged by powers of discrimination and oppression.
- Open Space Homiletic theory creates space to know the multi nature of the shelter seekers.
- Open Space Homiletic theory creates possibilities of deeper rootedness to widen the shelter for accommodating all those who seek shelter.
- Open Space Homiletic theory creates space for the birds to sing their own songs in their own voices and with their own unique identity. Identity is not forged, but affirmed and authenticated. On the other hand togetherness of these multi natured birds is facilitated.
- Open Space Homiletic theory creates space for these birds to make their own nests in their own unique way and multiply and retain their identity. Their growth and togetherness are safe guarded within the shelter.
Insights from the mustard seed parable highlights the fact that preaching renaissance will be a reality through the exercise of the Open Space Homiletic theory of repositioning the pulpit in an open space with openness. This openness is healthy and encourages to extend arms of embrace to those seek shelter. This healthy openness will not affect the identity as a Church, rather it gives a unique identity which integrates people in the open world. It is in this integration of the birds of the air the identity of the church is enriched and strengthened and a constant dialogue and interaction which governs the norms of life takes place. This healthy interaction in the process of preaching will lead to preaching renaissance and prove the horizons of the Church which is situated in the local and extended to global communities which are built on relationship and solidarity.
In conclusion, the Open Space Homiletics is hopeful of bringing freshness and confidence, renaissance in the homiletic realm of the Church, opening novel horizons in preaching. It is optimistic about making preaching a more vibrant and meaningful by active participation. It welcomes preachers to allow people to sing their own songs in their own languages, and listen to them, and allow meaning of the songs to emerge through a process of integration and relationship. It seeks to provide space for multiplication of each distinct species. Repositioning the pulpit facilitates preaching renaissance.
