Imaginative Preaching Part 4: Add Something

Written by Rev. Dr. Heather Henson, Director of Quest

 

Several years ago, we were on a work trip to Texas, and we got to bring the whole family. We stayed in a typical hotel, the kind that has breakfast in the morning with fruit, oatmeal, and one of those “cook your own waffle” stations.

These are pretty par for the course most of the time. My kids really like making their own waffles, so my son was very quick to make his. Once we all got seated at a table in the hotel lobby, my son picked up his plate and showed it to me.

He said, “This is weird. This waffle looks like a ghost. I’ve never seen something like this before.” It took me just a moment. I looked at this funny-shaped, very un-round waffle on my son’s plate and suddenly realized that it wasn’t a ghost. He had it upside down. It was a waffle shaped like the state of Texas.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Of course, in Texas, the standard hotels would have a standard waffle bar station with the same batter that everyone else has, but the waffle in the shape of Texas! We would remember it forever.

Imaginative preaching isn’t about doing whatever is the most trendy, popular, eye-catching gimmick. We’ve already stated that in previous posts. But imaginative preaching is creative. It’s preaching that takes the good, solid Word of the Lord and helps people approach it, including the preacher, from a fresh angle.

It’s preaching that takes the same exact waffle batter that everyone else has but serves it up in the shape of Texas.

And THAT is what makes it a fresh expression. A moment that goes from ordinary to extraordinary. It’s unique and yet also not overstated. Okay, a waffle shaped like Texas is a little overstated, but it isn’t like everything else.

When we do creative preaching, we need to take the same content, the same truth of the Word, but we can serve it up in a unique way. How do we as preachers help others engage with the Word in a way that is a fresh expression so that it has a lasting impact?

 

What Could You Add?

What if we added something in the shaping of our sermon? Not because we’re trying too hard, but because something creatively comes into our experience that grabs us.

Consider this: Have you ever heard a sermon or Scripture read with a soundtrack running under it? I’ve attempted it. Sometimes we read Scripture about Jesus sitting in a boat with a storm raging around him, and we read it like we read the newspaper. But really, we should be hearing crashing waves and thunder and pouring rain around us.

And today, we can do that!

Or what if, when we preach a sermon about what Jesus looks like, we had beautiful paintings of Jesus? Recently, I preached a sermon on Palm Sunday. I wanted us to consider all the ideas and images that the people cheering Jesus on had in their minds, and I started with several paintings of Jesus and the triumphal entry. Two represented common ideas, and one was very unique.

Do you use powerful and unique images?

What if you preached the sermon from a completely different location in the sanctuary? Or had Scripture read as people stood up from the pews and read it from within the congregation? Imagine passages engaging the priesthood of all believers being read this way.

Perhaps there is poetry that needs to be read. A song that needs to be sung mid-sermon. Maybe there is a tangible object that people need to have and hold as you preach.

 

Creativity Can Be Practiced

At our Creativity in Preaching Lab, we help people see that creativity is something to be practiced. It is something we can cultivate in ourselves. We can experiment, try things, pay attention to what sparks something in us, and develop practices that help us approach preaching with greater creativity.

Take a look at some of the resources from our time together this summer by clicking here: Creativity in Preaching Lab resources.

You can also hear Mitch reflect on his experience at the Creativity in Preaching Lab here: Mitch’s experience.

 

Don’t Force It

What we want to avoid is doing something for the sake of doing something. We want to avoid always having a joke at the beginning or always using a movie clip. We want to avoid doing the same thing because people tune it out.

We also want to avoid FORCING uniqueness.

But if we carve just a little time out to ask, “Is there something, some expression of this idea, that would surprise or engage or help deepen our understanding? What might that be?”

Then make it happen.

This week, I’d encourage you to make a list alongside the sermon you are currently working on. What music comes to mind? What paintings or images? What poetry? What people? What tangible objects?

And how might you be able to draw those into your message so that someone can feel the power of your words in a fresh way?

Like a waffle shaped like Texas.