Preach Magazine Issue 4 - Preaching in the digital age | Page 27

FEATURE

IMAGINATION

ENGAGEMENT

Imagination can be seen as the
anthropological point of contact
between revelation and human
experience.1

Effective preaching needs to be
engaging. When the hearers are
engaged, one sermon is preached,
but many sermons are received,
as the Spirit weaves words from
the sermon into the current
life experience of the hearer. A
successful sermon is not marked
by Mrs Jones going away thinking
‘Now I know the distance between
Jerusalem and Bethany’. It’s not
about the ability to recall facts;
it’s about that living engagement
between God and Mrs Jones’ life
and struggle. ‘Look how Jesus wept
over the death of Lazarus. Does he
understand how I feel about Fred’s
death? Does God know about grief
and loneliness? Can I be angry with
him like Mary seemed to be? Will I
be understood?’ Effective preaching
operates a little like spiritual
direction3; it provides material for
reflection as the life experience of
the hearer encounters the body of
the sermon.

IT IS THE IMAGINATIVE POWER
(THE GOD-GIVEN WAY IN WHICH
HUMANS ARE HARDWIRED)
THAT PROVIDES THE LOCUS FOR
TRANSCENDENT REVELATORY
TRUTH TO BE REVEALED.2
Imagination is inherently important in
the communication and development
of faith. As such it is foundational
for preaching. It is important here
not to elide the term ‘imagination’
with the word ‘imaginary’ with its
connotations of fantasy and makebelieve. The imagination is primarily
concerned with enabling new seeing
and discovery, combining old ideas
in new ways, and seeing from the
perspective of another. It is the
imagination that helps us to see God
at work in the ordinary. If a sermon
(of whatever shape or kind) captivates
the hearers’ imagination, inviting
them to ask ‘what if’ and to dream
kingdom possibilities which subvert
the dominant narratives of the age,
then the potential for deep spiritual
transformation is present.
Imaginative preaching has a real
care for language and performative
gesture. The preacher will engage
empathically with the perspective of
the hearers. Imaginative preachers are
willing to adapt, trying new methods
and risking different approaches. They
are open to the possibilities of the
digital and interested in developing
new ways to present the Gospel
message, combining these with more
traditional methods, to help the hearer
to engage deeply.

Preaching which engages needs to
be as much in conversation with
scripture as it is with the context

1. Green, G (1989), Imagining God: Theology and
the Religious Imagination, Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Eerdmans, page 29.
2. Levy, SM (2008), Imagination and the Journey
of Faith, Cambridge: Eerdmans, page 103.
3. Northcutt, KL (2009), Kindling Desire for God:
Preaching as Spiritual Direction Minneapolis:
Fortress.
4. Astley, J (2002), Ordinary Theology: Looking,
Listening and Learning in Theology,
Aldershot: Ashgate.
5.Tubbs Tisdale, L (1997), Preaching as Local
Theology and Folk Art, Minneapolis: Fortress.

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in which it is preached. Do we
have any idea about the ‘ordinary
theolo