You Preach Like an African!

"You preach like an African!"

This was told to me after preaching at Mkimbizi Lutheran Church this past Sunday, and again, after preaching at chapel at Tumaini on Monday.

To me, this a compliment.  What it says about me is that I show passion and excitement and interest in what I am preaching.  I've been told this before at Fish Lake Lutheran, but never compared to "an African" within the African church and context.

This is part of why I am on sabbatical - to be renewed in my passion for ministry - especially preaching - and that is exactly what is happening.  Yeah, God!

And not only am I being renewed when I preach in various African churches, but I also am renewed in my teaching of preaching (homiletics) at the university.

I have five excited and passionate African students, who vary in age and experience, but who are in love with Jesus and His Word and are eager to tell about it.  Even as I teach them about the need to be passionate about what they preach, and about the need to interpret and study the Word faithfully, and about the need to present it to their people in a way that is relevant and applicable, I too, am being reminded of all these key homiletical "tools of the trade." 

For example, yesterday in class we covered the homiletical concept of the importance of preaching both law AND gospel in our traditional Lutheran sermons.  This is an important topic when teaching preaching, because discerning and understanding the law and the gospel is a critical skill for all Christians, but a hallmark of Lutheranism.  And yet, traditionally, and culturally, African Lutherans tend to lean more heavily on the Law (Old Testament) and the hard teachings of Jesus - thus building up the guilt and the shame that we are plenty good at building up on our own.

So, when teaching this concept of Jesus and his grace and how the gospel brings us sinners His mercy and love and forgiveness, I saw the light go on in their faces.  I saw Yuster and Solomon, and Nazareth and Thomas, and Dianes all get even more excited to preach - the gospel!

So you can imagine how thrilled I was when, this morning, one of the young ladies in my class, Yuster, tracked me down on campus after she preached in chapel.  Excitedly, she exclaimed, "Teacher!  Teacher!  I preached the law AND the gospel!" 

This made my day, if not my whole sabbatical.  She got it.

I hope I can continue to "preach like an African", or if not, at least like Yuster.

"The Law tells us about our need of a Savior.  The Gospel tells us about the Savior that we need."

In Christ,
Dale