The Word Militant by Walter Brueggemann
“Preaching is foolish, dangerous, and exposing, because what
must be said in proclamation constitutes a daring alternative to the
ideological passions that may be present in the congregation, to the powers
that conduct surveillance, either inside or outside the congregation, and to
the preacher’s own sense of self. The
occasion of preaching is risky on all counts, inherently risky because
something other happens in preaching besides the echo of our preferred
ideologies, our studied interests, or our personal inadequacies” (2).
I’ve had the privilege over the last four to five months to
be in a book group with four other young pastors all in various congregational
contexts in Mennonite Church USA. Our
text has been The Word Militant by Walter Brueggemann. Rather than doing a chapter-by-chapter
summary, this post will simply be a one-post review of the entire book.
Walter Brueggemann is from the United Church in Christ
tradition and is Professor of Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary. He is widely regarded as a premier Old
Testament professor, an engaging speaker, and, as a friend of mine once
described, all of the biblical prophets rolled up into one. I have had the opportunity to read several of
his books and to hear him present at a conference on the topic of “God and
Mammon” at Eastern Mennonite University.
He has become one of my favorite and most respected theologians, and so
I was eager to read what he has to say about the task of preaching.
From the Introduction, Brueggemann states that, “The task of
preaching is redescription of the world, with reference to YHWH by appeal to
the text through poetic imagination that is connected to particular context.” This redescription of the world is a
decentering process, as the subtitle, “preaching a decentering word” makes
clear.
Throughout the book, Brueggemans challenge to the preacher
to preach a decentering word that redescribes the world involves two primary
areas of our lives. The first is the
realization that in our modern, technologized, post-enlightenment world, we now
live in a context in which it is possible to construe the world without God. This is a unique, relatively recent
phenomenon over the last few hundred years.
Prior to the enlightenment, there might have been differing
understandings of god (or gods), but the existence of god was assumed. That assumption is no longer the case. Within this new reality, Brueggemann states,
“It is the preacher’s primary responsibility to invite and empower and equip
the community to reimagine the world as though YHWH were a key and decisive
player” (148).
In other words, in a cultural context focused on self, in a
society obsessed with human achievement and human possibility, preaching a
decentering word is the daring proclamation of God’s impossibility in the face
of human possibility. Preaching is thus
a process of reimagining the world by proclaiming “thus saith the Lord” into situations
in which it was assumed and expected and preferred that God not be present and
active. When the bible refers to the
rich, the powerful, and the privileged it is referring to those who get along
just fine in a world in which God does not decenter or inconvenience our
assumptions, values, and lifestyles with calls for neighborliness, holiness,
and justice. Thus, the preacher who reimagines
the world in which YHWH is active and in which YHWH is a God of justice and
righteousness and love is the preacher that truly preaches good news to the
poor and lowly (cf. Mary’s Song in Luke 1 and Jesus’ ministry manifesto in Luke
4).
The second area of life in which Breuggeman engourages the
preacher to preach a decentering word is in regard to the vested interests that
we all have, including the preacher. We
all have ideological passions and convictions that are often in the interest of
self, or one’s group, or the acquisition and maintenance of power, influence, and
possessions. It is the preacher’s task
to reimagine in these areas as well.
In this regard, one of the most helpful practical insights
Brueggemann offers is how he applies the concept of triangling to the task of
preaching. Traingling is a term from the
field of family systems. Its basic
premise is that in any emotional systems, a direct, one-to-one relationship is
the most unstable. Thus, a relationship
between person A and person B involves risk, vulnerability, and anxiety. When the emotional reactivity and intensity
increases between person A and person B, it is often the case that one of those
persons reaches out and “triangles” person C in order to defuse some of the
anxiety and intensity. Triangles are
inevitable, but they can be very unhealthy.
Thus the importance of Jesus’ teaching to in Matthew 18 to go directly
to the person who sins against you rather than gossiping and triangling with
person C.
Anyway… regarding preaching, in order to relieve anxiety
between preacher A and congregation B, the preacher might triangle party C (be
it God or the bible) against the congregation.
It may be done in the name of “being prophetic” or “speaking a hard
truth” but often is a cover for the preachers own vested interests. Likewise, when the preacher does faithfully
preach a decentering word, and the congregation resists this decentering, they
likewise may also triangle against the preacher by involving a third party
(again, God, the bible, or perhaps tradition or “the way we’ve always done
things”). In the same manner, this can
be done to protect the vested interests of the congregation.
Rather, Bruggemann advises that the strategic triangle
(since triangles are inevitable) of the preacher is to triangle preacher and
congregation against God, or God against the preacher and congregation. This is not to paint an overly-adversarial
relationship between God and God’s people.
We affirm that the God of love and grace is for us. Still, the God of justice and righteousness
and neighborliness decenters us and requires that we live reimagined
lives. In this decentering process, the
preacher is God’s servant to pronounce “thus saith the Lord,” but the preacher
also falls under that same word. This
posture in a triangle correctly understands that the congregation and the
preacher are in this together.
So, the preacher’s task is to reimagine a world where God is
alive and active within a world which assumes God is not. The preacher’s task is also to proclaim “thus
saith the Lord,” in ways that challenge the human vested interests. In light of these two areas in which we find
our worlds decentered by the word of God, I find three images offered by
Brueggemann as especially helpful to conceptualize who the preacher is and what
the preacher does.
The first is the image of a scribe. Scribes are those who tend to ancient and
prophetic texts in order to “preserve, value, and interpret old scrolls”
(53). The task of the scribe is to help
the listening community discern old stories.
The scribe practices the discipline of reading with new eyes and
listening with new ears. The scribe is
thus an artist whose medium is imagination.
A scribe is also released from the burden of responsibility to manage God’s
word. A scribes task is to release God’s
word into the hearts of listeners by simply and faithfully attending to sacred
scrolls and keeping their ancient memory alive.
The second is the image of a priest. Not necessarily in the sense that a
preacher/priest is a mediator between God and the congregation, but rather that
the preacher/priest is an intercessor and advocate to God on behalf of the
congregation. The best priestly example
of this is the example of Moses in Exodus 32.
After the people worship idols made of gold while Moses is on Mt. Saini,
God resolves to destroy the people.
Moses as priest advocates on behalf of God’s people, appeals to God’s
best self, calls upon God’s slowness to anger and abundance of steadfast love,
and the text says God changes his mind (cf. Exodus 31:11-14). Relating to the concept of triangling, the
preacher/priest and the congregation are in-it-together in relationship to
God.
The final image is that of a testifier or witness. In a context in which it is possible to
construe the world without reference to God, in a context in which the forces
of hegemony and accumulation marginalize the God of fullness of life and
abundance, in a context in which the church has lost (or is losing) its
privileged position as state chaplain, the preacher no longer speaks from a
privileged platform guiding collective thinking based on shared worldview. This is not only the case in regard to the
church in relation to the world, but the congregation in relation to one
another as well. Therefore, Brueggemann
states that “the sermon is de-position from the judge’s bench to the witness
box” (125). The preacher is a witness
and the sermon is his/her testimony. It
is not a complete word, the first word, the last word, or the authoritative
word. It is a word. It is a word of an alternative reality. It is a word of a world reimagined. It is a word that opens up the possibility of
decentering ourselves and our vested interests in order that the limits of
human possibility give way to the promises of God’s impossibility.
There is much more that could be said, and I have simply highlighted
that which has been particularly helpful to me.
This book is one of the densest I have ever read, but definitely worth
the time to drink deeply and slowly from the well of insight that is Walter
Brueggemann.
