Pastoring God's People
For all those who have been commissioned to
pastoral roles of all kinds.
How to Preach in a Storm
By Sven Eriksson
As you leave the church building on Sunday, you see worshippers clustered in the parking lot. Their body language tells a story you may not want to hear. They’re not relaxed and smiling as they usually are. Black clouds are forming. The new chorus sung less than an hour ago has flushed out strong feelings, and the Hymnalites and the Chorusites are mustering forces.
Whether the topic is music styles or a proposal to build a gymnasium, or even the renewal of your contract, a storm is brewing in parking lots, kitchens, and coffee shops. A searching question grabs your attention at such moments: What should you preach on next Sunday? What can you say that will bring calm and reconciliation? Should you preach from the lectionary texts? Aren’t there times when planned texts need to be set aside to address the storm conditions that are prevailing in your congregation?
Your first instinct may be to address your message directly to the issues. But to make pronouncements just when the leadership team is called to guide the congregation in a process of discernment can easily intensify the storm. To use the pulpit to stage your convictions around a divisive issue can deepen the polarization. It can create a gap between your ministry and at least one group in the church, just at a time when you need to be available to your whole flock.
Here are some alternative approaches:
Share personally from your own wellsprings. During a discernment time in the congregation, a personal approach can be disarming and helpful. What is sustaining you through this season of struggle? You can only give that which you have received. Your people are looking to you to see how you are faithful during the storm. So preach from the texts that are sustaining you. Your folks will identify with such personally minted messages and find encouragement from your experience.
As I have encountered white-water patches in my ministry, the Psalms have sustained my spirit and encouraged me to persevere. I have been assured of God’s personal knowledge and understanding in Psalm 139. I have been given new perspective and hope by pondering God’s covenant faithfulness in Psalm 46 and 107.
Conflicts can bend people inward, making them grumpy and fault-finding. Depression often results for both individuals and congregations. They ache for a wider context in which they can see their agenda in a new light. If you are spiritually centered, you can help them encounter a reality bigger than the struggle they are slogging through.
Highlight the faith journeys of God’s people in Scripture. Identify with the children of Israel as they struggle to remain faithful during their wilderness trek. Listen to the songs of the prophets as they minister to people in exile, celebrating the power and love of God to those who have given up hope. Identify with the church of Acts as they pray and wait during times of danger and testing. Preach about Jesus leading his disciples into storms, then teaching them to “Fear not!” Avoid texts that evoke long series of “shoulds” and “oughts.” This is not a time for moralizing exhortations. It is time to reflect on our experiences in the light of the great story of God’s faithfulness to God’s people.
In your preaching and your pastoral care, help people recognize that conflict is normal. Conflict has always played a role in transforming God’s people. As they encounter conflict, your members can relax, breathe deeply, and recognize that conflict can be creative and can lead to some excellent outcomes. To be reminded of this will free them to get on with their conflicts, and work through them with purpose and much prayer. Help them see that God is no less with them as they go through the white waters testing than when the waters are smooth and calm. In fact, Scripture repeatedly shows that God is especially near to those who call upon God in times of difficulty.
Preaching during times of discernment or conflict can exacerbate the storms, or it can help provide the conditions your congregation needs for healthy discernment. Only a vision of God will free us to worship and trust during times of conflict. A steadfast focus on the presence and the reconciling work of the Spirit will go a long way in anchoring your people in God’s power and love.
Sven Eriksson is denominational minister for Mennonite Church Canada, and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.