More perils in preaching: an open thread

Last Monday we asked how preachers around the church had handled the difficult Gospel passage on hating your mother and your father. (Here's an excellent sermon by the Rev. Bruce Coggin that not only focuses on that difficult passage, but discusses strategies for doing so.) This week I'd like to ask a broader question: what passages--particularly Gospel passages--do you just hate to preach on? Why? And what do you do about it?

Posted by Jim Naughton on September 13, 2010 11:25 AM | |
Comments (5)

The Sunday I had to inform the parish I was getting divorced turned out to be the Sunday where Christ says "You shall not divorce". Thanks a lot, God!

Thanks Shane- post your last name next time. --ed.

Posted by Shane [TypeKey Profile Page] | September 13, 2010 12:44 PM

Next Sunday is a real poser -- the dishonest steward -- Jesus praises him for his sneaky ways. Here is what Dylan Breuer thinks - what do you think?

Posted by Ann Fontaine [TypeKey Profile Page] | September 13, 2010 12:44 PM

First as a seminarian then later as a pastoral intern I received the marvelous "if your hand causes you to sin, cut if off" text. So one ready answer is to pawn it off on another preacher!

Posted by Derek Olsen [TypeKey Profile Page] | September 13, 2010 1:30 PM

In the years when I was being urged to suppress my sexual urges -- to cut them off, ignore them, think positive thoughts instead -- I decided that "if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off" was one of the worst pieces of advice in the Bible. For urges suppressed come out in other ways. Unhealthy interest in other people's lives, half-conscious expression of urges while rationalizing madly. This verse really should be excised.

Posted by Murdoch Matthew [TypeKey Profile Page] | September 13, 2010 8:22 PM

This verse really should be excised.

Good to excise ALL Bible verses from facile and/or bigoted literal (Fundamentalist) INTERPRETATIONS, Matthew. ;-)

I've only preached a couple of times (I'm a layperson), but the verses that usually bother me the most are from the Gospel of John---which gives us the embattled (w/ non-Jesus-believing Jews) Early Church's Jesus of Dogma: "I demand you believe these wacked-out dogmatic propositions about Me, Me, Me---or else you're unfaithful!" ["Before Abraham was I AM" is particularly execrable. Then again, Matthew 22:41-46 ("The LORD said to my Lord...") is a really terrible twisting of the Tanakh, too.]

I don't for a second believe that Jesus of Nazareth actually said these things (made these dogmatic demands) . . . nevertheless, I'm glad they're still in the canon. Part of determining one's parameters of "All Things Necessary for Salvation"---found IN Scripture---is discerning which passages AREN'T! ;-)

JC Fisher

Irony alert: my all-time favorite Bible passage is also from the Gospel of John, 16:33. "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart: I have conquered the world!" :-D

Posted by tgflux [TypeKey Profile Page] | September 14, 2010 12:35 AM

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