Preaching Paul

Most Christians I know either love Paul or hate Paul. Those who have never developed a strong opinion about the self-proclaimed “apostle to the Gentiles” may not have been thoroughly exposed (subjected?) to his writings. Paul has earned a reputation as both someone who built up the church and who tore down many of its members. His writings provide a foundation for the Christian faith and an impetus for Christians’ scorn and derision. How we make sense of Paul in the twenty-first century is a challenge for us all.

Every Sunday for the next fourteen weeks, we will read a passage from Paul’s best-known work, his Letter to the Romans. Although the lectionary skips over a few passages, we will, for the most part, read straight from Romans 5 through Romans 14. During that time, I will be preaching fairly often, and I plan to preach mostly from the epistle text. Partly that is because I look forward to the opportunity to preach sequentially from such an important work in the New Testament, but it is mainly because Paul’s letters seem particularly important to the church right now.

Paul wrote to encourage, rebuke, sustain, and instruct congregations where he could not physically be present. The community would gather and listen to an appointed orator read out the apostle’s words, but they were always delivered in absentia. At times, Paul expressed the pain of being absent from his beloved congregations and wrote of his yearning to be with them again. Still, despite the distance between them, Paul recognized that the work of building up the community of faith must continue even when he was prevented from seeing them, and he believed that he had an important role in building it up through his letters.

Paul wrote to churches that were torn apart by racial or ethnic divisions. Paul wrote to communities in which economic disparity and church-sponsored partiality were common. Paul wrote to people who faced the threat of arrest, imprisonment, and death at the hands of the Empire. Paul wrote to leaders who were discouraged and to families that were struggling. Paul wrote to seasoned Christians who did not know how to make sense of what was happening in the world around them and to new believers who were unsure whether the decision to follow Jesus had been right. In many ways, Paul wrote to us.

This summer, I am taking a class on preaching Philippians, which is another of Paul’s letters. In our class, we have discussed why preaching from Paul is so difficult. Narrative texts, like the miracles or parables of Jesus, are often easier for preachers because storytelling is a gentler, more natural way to communicate with a congregation than doctrinal exhortation. Plus, Paul has a reputation for using his authority to subjugate women, to condemn LGBTQ individuals, and to promote slavery. Nevertheless, I think it is possible for us to benefit from Paul’s words and ministry without either ignoring or weaponizing his inflammatory remarks.

One of the authors we have read in our class is Nancy Lammers Gross, who invites us not to say what Paul said but to do what Paul did. When preachers prooftext or summarize or analogize Paul’s words, they may come up with a faithful exposition of a first-century text, but they often miss the chance to strengthen the church for the challenges they face. That is what I hope to do by preaching Paul for the next several weeks. I will not go so far as to announce an official sermon series because I trust that the Holy Spirit may lead me in a different direction as early as this weekend, but I suspect that Paul has much to say to me right now, and I hope that he will allow us to hear God’s message for the church today.

Yours Faithfully,

Evan