Sermons have almost as bad a reputation in the UK as late night talk shows on BBC Radio 2. There's the vicar, "six foot above contradiction", displaying all the arrogance of the religious and their ghastly sermonising. Verbose, haranguing, waffle: these are the synonyms that come to mind. Samuel Pepys sarcastically wrote that they were "good, honest and painful".
And yet, are we missing a trick in rejecting the sermon? John Wesley launched Methodism on sermons, along with all that followed, from stirring hymns to the Labour party. In the US, the sermon never died: it is the chief characteristic of the political rally. Where would Barack Obama be if he did not understand the charisma of the church preacher? His mix of religious rhetoric and secular aspiration is the wellspring of his success.
Malcolm Boyd commented that some of the best sermons he ever heard were in the theatre. In similar vein, there is a new experiment being pioneered by The School of Lifeto reinvent the sermon, or invent the secular sermon. Tom Hodgkinson was the first of the lay preachers. The editor of the Idler campaigns against the work ethic, and chose as his text, "Love thy Neighbour". He delivered a discourse against usury which, he argued, is the opposite of neighbour-love. For most of human history making money from money, as opposed to investing it in something real, has been regarded as a sin. Why? Because it is ripping off your neighbour: it "dulls the edge of husbandry" as Shakespeare put it; it destroys community. Thus the Bible commands: "Take no usury off him, that thy brother may live with thee," and Ecclesiasticus adds: "Be not a beggar by banqueting on borrowing". Read a transcript of the sermon here.
Hodgkinson's oration was littered with such Bible quotes, and yet, the last person he sounded like was a Calvin or Spurgeon. It was as if the best words of the good book had been liberated. They could speak afresh for our times when unencumbered by hellfire and damnation. The surprise was that the sermon format genuinely worked for delivering a substantial, life-challenging message. Standing around afterwards, with a cup of tea and a copy of the parish newsletter, the secular congregation admitted he had a very good point.
All this shouldn't be taken too seriously, of course. But then maybe that is the point, and there could be a lesson in it for the churches. People want to hear spiritual ideas, demanding ideas, ideas that make a difference. And the sermon is an excellent way to deliver them. It is just that the barriers around church-going are often too high or prescribed.
Secularists might feel more kindly towards the sermon if they knew that the ancient Greeks practiced a form of such preaching called the diatribe. It was probably invented by Bion of Borysthenes, a cynic philosopher of the third century BC. The diatribe was a form of shadow-boxing for an audience, posing rhetorical questions, parodying opponents. A glimpse of Greek Sunday mornings in the marketplace, standing around Bion's lectern, can be caught from the handful of his sayings that remain. One day he caught sight of a wealthy citizen in the assembled crowd, and retorted: "He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him!" On another, he felt his congregation weren't paying enough attention and chastised them with a cry: "You want barley when what I brought is wheat!"
So bring back the sermon! Geoff Dyer will be preaching on punctuality this Sunday and The School of Life have a host of key cultural figures taking to the pulpit in 2009 including Sam Roddick on Seduction, Alain de Botton on Pessimism, Robert Winston on Curiosity and Richard Wiseman on Humour. For details or to book click here.
Mark Vernon is The School of Life's expert on friendship and a member of the teaching faculty.
Stand up, say what you have to say, and then sit down. If you can't do that, then shut up!
Posted by: Drew Byrne | February 06, 2011 at 08:21 AM
Are you capturing the content of 'sermons' to make them available to people unable to attend? Just a PDF of notes rather than a podcast would be a very social enterprise thing. Thanks. PS Should be 'calendar' not calender on web page.
Posted by: david | December 30, 2008 at 12:13 PM