SermonStudio

1. Preaching At Weddings

Here is my favorite story to preach at weddings:¹

A man went to an auction just to watch. But he noticed some of the vases that would be auctioned off, and he fell in love with one. So when the time came for the bidding, he put in his bid. The auctioneer bellowed out, "Going once, going twice ... you done bought it!"

The man took the vase home, and showed it off to everyone he could. But in the light of day, as he became more familiar with the vase, he could see its dents, nicks, and cracks. He took it back to the auctioneer to complain. The auctioneer refused to take it back. He said, "You bought it in 'as is' condition." The man who bought the vase looked at the auctioneer and said, "Then what am I supposed to do with it?" The auctioneer said to the man, "Sir, I suggest you love the hell out of it."

Marriage is like that. At first, you are just looking around. But you accidentally find each other and fall in love with each other. At the wedding, you commit yourselves to each other and take each other home. You show each other off. But sooner or later, you begin to see in the other person -- dents, and nicks, and cracks. And you say, "Wait a second! I made a mistake! I want an exchange!" But you took each other in "as is" condition. And what are you supposed to do? I suggest you "love the hell" out of each other.

Using this story as an introduction, you can then go on to preach about what it means to love the hell out of each other, using your own sub-themes.

2. Preaching At Funerals²

There are four themes to capture in any funeral homily. First, a Christian understanding of grief as a normal, healthy process; second, gratitude for the life of the deceased; third, proclamation of the Word (the Christian faith rooted in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as found in Holy Scripture), and fourth, an invitation to those present to grapple with the real questions of life and death. In other words, the homily helps the bereaved to consider in turn the deceased, the Redeemer Jesus Christ, and the living of their own lives.

I tend to take these up in the order given (I call them the four Gs -- grief, gratitude, God, and grappling). My reasoning for beginning with a few words on the grieving process is simply that the bereaved are typically very open to hearing about grief. It is not something that we talk about much in our society. For example, I usually say that people have many ways of grieving, that it's good to grieve, and then I encourage them to take the time needed to do it. This is a simple, pastoral way to begin the homily and invite people into it.

In time, mourners will experience the grief giving way to gratitude. It is helpful to encourage the bereaved to give thanks (and thereby begin that process, if it has not already begun). People are usually eager to do this, and it teaches thanksgiving as a very important part of our faith, in a way the bereaved can all embrace.

The third theme is the proclamation of the Word, using the main scripture or theological theme selected. I have a friend who calls this "preaching the comfort of Holy Scripture." I do not worry so much if it is comforting. I simply focus on preaching the Word, and leave whether it is comforting or challenging up to the hearer. Certainly the promise of eternal life to those who believe in Christ is comforting when the deceased professed and lived the faith. It may not be so comforting to others, and the Holy Spirit will have an opportunity to speak to hearts.

Lastly, it is always appropriate to invite the bereaved to see in this death an occasion to examine their own lives and grapple with the ultimate questions that get lost in everyday living. Death has brought us face-to-face again with the eternal questions. Let's ask them. A funeral homily may be the greatest opportunity to reach the lost that we regularly forfeit. When else do we have dozens, maybe even hundreds, of people listening to the Word who do not know Christ? They may not attend a worship service or hear a funeral homily again for months or years. We dare not forfeit that opportunity as ordained ministers and pastors who have promised to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

By addressing grief, gratitude, God, and inviting the bereaved to grapple with the meaning of their lives, we address those things the bereaved came to the funeral expecting, perhaps even eager to hear: something about the deceased, something about God and the Christian faith, and something about themselves. We will have used the funeral homiletic moment well!

3. Preaching At Installations Of New Pastors

If you are asked to preach at the installation of a new pastor, it is probably either because you are a good friend of the pastor, in which case the temptation might be to preach a sermon on how great your friend is, or, you are a friend of the congregation, in which case you might be tempted to preach on how great the congregation is. A good installation sermon will include a bit of both, but the main point to preach is the pastoral office in the context of parish ministry.

Since installations are festive occasions, humor is easily used and goes over well. Since the service can be extra long, like other special occasions, it is usually appropriate to use a short, to-the-point sermon.

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1. Adapted from a sermon by The Reverend J. Gurdon Brewster, former chaplain, The Episcopal Church at Cornell University.

2. For funeral sermons based on the liturgical year, see Barbara G. Schmitz, The Life of Christ and the Death of A Loved One: Crafting the Funeral Homily (Lima, Ohio, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 1995).