Mike Graces, editor
2004, Westminster John Knox Press

Reviewed by Dr. D. Scott Allen, Pastor, Nehalem Bay UMC

Early in my first appointment, as I was greeting my congregation following a Sunday morning worship service, an elderly woman I knew to be a kind and encouraging member greeted me by shaking my hand and saying, “Someday you’re going to be a fine preacher!” I knew her intention was to be supportive, but my initial reaction was to feel defensive, even a little angry. How had she overlooked the masterpiece I had just delivered? I already was a fine preacher! Hadn’t she even been listening?

Reading What’s the Matter With Preaching Today has reminded me of that incident, and how in my 15+ years of weekly visits to the pulpit I have become humbled by the recognition that I am still not the preacher I once thought I was. However, the book has also provided some wonderful assistance, inspiration, and assurance. By continually striving to faithfully proclaim God’s Word to the best of my abilities, I can always improve and perhaps someday, through God’s grace, I may yet become one of those “fine” preachers I once thought I was.

Edited by Mike Graves, Professor of Homiletics and Worship at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Kansas, and Regional Minister of Preaching for the Greater Kansas City Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the relevance of this book comes from the expertise and breadth of the 11 authors Graves wisely chose for this well organized collection of essays, including Fred Craddock, Marva J. Dawn, Thomas G. Long and Eugene L. Lowry. Together, these 11 contemporary preachers provide a wide scope of complementary perspectives while speaking to specific areas of concern and expertise.

Regardless of how you presently feel about your preaching, this book offers you a fresh and insightful critique of some of the problems that result in our words failing to resemble the truth of God’s Word we are attempting to proclaim. But if you are looking for a step-by-step how-to manual, this is clearly not the book for you. The general theme of this collection is first to explore the issue of why one preaches, and then consider how the answer to that question gives so much shape and direction to our words before we even begin.

Which of the 11 different essays will interest you the most will depend on the personal preferences you have developed concerning your own style of preaching and the areas in which you desire to grow. But the entire book is worth reading, offering many new insights alongside a few observations that have previously been suggested by others. The three essays that most caught my attention were “Preaching: An Appeal to Memory,” by Fred B. Craddock; “Not What, but Who is the Matter with Preaching?” by Marva F. Dawn; and “Put Away Your Sword! Taking the Torture Out of the Sermon,” by Anna Carter Florence. Craddock insists that preaching “draw on the deep resonances within both listeners and scripture….” Dawn discusses how insertion of words of the preacher’s “self” can get in the way of God’s Word being heard by the community of faith. Florence stresses that the task of the preacher is not to explore or explain a text, but to allow the text to inspire.

I recommend What’s the Matter with Preaching Today? because I expect it will challenge you to consider your preaching in ways you have not previously considered, and hopefully offer you a sense of renewal that will become evident in your pulpit. I doubt you will agree with everything in the book, but the conversation will be quite stimulating.