Minilogue - February 2008

An Invitation to Deeper Dialogue

By the Rev. Bruce Johnson

A member of the congregation recently showed me the notes she had written on her order of service during one of my sermons. There were questions, quotations, key words, free associations, and even a few doodles in the margin. I was impressed to see how carefully this member had been listening, and her willingness to share her thoughts with me led to a conversation that clarified some things and deepened the dialogue between us.

I realize that most listeners are “taking notes” on Sunday mornings, whether they write them down or not, and I am always interested in receiving feedback from people about what they heard. There is an old saying among ministers that “we preach in blue, people listen in yellow, and the message comes out green!” Or, expressed more circuitously, “I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” Everybody filters communication through his/her own interest and experience. This is not to say that the message is simply distorted. On the contrary, the sermon that people hear and remember is often superior to the one that was actually preached! People listen creatively, interpret according to their needs, and construct new meanings in the process.

A sermon is -- or ought to be -- just a little snippet edited out of a much larger conversation that goes on continually within a congregation. The sermon is not meant to be a finished, polished monologue, but an invitation to deeper dialogue. It isn’t really “completed” until there’s been a response. That response, in turn, stimulates further reflection and action, within the church and wider community.

There is a sense in which a congregation is simply a conversation; the fabric of religious community is entirely made up out of many interwoven threads of dialogue, discussion and debate. It is unnecessary and impossible for a minister to be part of all those conversations, although I hope and expect to be included in those that directly concern me. I feel privileged and grateful when I am invited into the deeper conversations that animate people’s lives.

The circuit isn’t really closed, of course, until all this conversation leads to some form of action in the world -- works of justice, compassion, healing, and liberation. Even then, the conversation doesn’t end, as new questions emerge out of this work, calling forth fresh, living language and stronger deeper community.

Rev. Bruce