Brueggemann on the preacher and the psalms: "an old, thick, risky transaction"

Brueggemann:

".....The preacher, in most US churches, preaches in a society of denial and despair in which people grow numb and imagine that more commodities will make us happy and safe. The preacher, from these texts of the Psalter, can model and exemplify a more excellent way, lining out a life of faith that is a vibrant dialectic of ceding and claiming. The preacher invites baptized congregants to “listen in” on an old, thick, risky transaction of God and God’s people. Such preaching is an offer of wonder in the face of denial, an offer of buoyancy in the face of despair, an offer of communion in the face of self-sufficiency. This alternative life is given in a particular narrative from ancient times transposed by the preacher into a narrative account of our own energizing of faith." -LINK 

he preacher, in most US churches, preaches in a society of denial and despair in which people grow numb and imagine that more commodities will make us happy and safe. The preacher, from these texts of the Psalter, can model and exemplify a more excellent way, lining out a life of faith that is a vibrant dialectic of ceding and claiming. The preacher invites baptized congregants to “listen in” on an old, thick, risky transaction of God and God’s people. Such preaching is an offer of wonder in the face of denial, an offer of buoyancy in the face of despair, an offer of communion in the face of self-sufficiency. This alternative life is given in a particular narrative from ancient times transposed by the preacher into a narrative account of our own energizing of faith. - See more at: http://www.catalystresources.org/preaching-from-the-psalms-proclamation-particular-and-extreme/#sthash.JoVQPczU.dpuf

Preaching from the Psalms: Proclamation Particular and Extreme

Preaching and Pastoral Leadership

Walter Brueggemann

It is notoriously difficult to preach on the Psalms. Some think, moreover, that it is inappropriate to try because the Psalms have a different, quite distinct function in the liturgy. I am, nonetheless, assigned the topic, so here are four thoughts on preaching the Psalms.

- See more at: http://www.catalystresources.org/preaching-from-the-psalms-proclamation-particular-and-extreme/#sthash.JoVQPczU.dpuf

is notoriously difficult to preach on the Psalms. Some think, moreover, that it is inappropriate to try because the Psalms have a different, quite distinct function in the liturgy. I am, nonetheless, assigned the topic, so here are four thoughts on preaching the Psalms. - See more at: http://www.catalystresources.org/preaching-from-the-psalms-proclamation-particular-and-extreme/#sthash.JoVQPczU.dpuf