The power of the Gospel creates something which was not there before and the result is celebration.
Frank A. Thomas. They Like to Never Quit Praisin’ God. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 2013.
Something I have found problematic in Lutheran preaching ever since I started carefully listening to it was this endemic pattern of Law, then Gospel, then response. Now, I do not know where it all started or if it was something that was taught, but it comes off like what you learned in your public speaking class in Middle School or High School. It is akin to all the bad parts of a propositional speech or a sales pitch you garnered from a Toastmasters session. Now, do not get me wrong. It is pretty compelling stuff. It really gives you a “get up and go” kind of vibe that seems to match our cultural sensibilities of a call to action. The part that always rubbed me the wrong way, though, was the impression that this really felt like an abuse of our hermeneutic of Law and Gospel.
Preaching this way turned the sermon into a predictable pattern of law followed by gospel and then put back into law again. So, instead of your hearer leaving with the good news of the Gospel, they left wondering how they were going to live this new law better so they could really grow in the word by their new efforts. Sure, the preacher was trying to give “real life” application, but I think it broke our proper distinction between Law and Gospel along the way. Worse, it seems to weaponize the “third use” of the Law right when people were relying on the comfort of the Gospel in the sermon.
I would have to do some more in-depth work, but I believe it was only a generation of preachers who had this problem. My earliest rebuttal to the issue was to simply stop the sermon after the gospel proclamation. But then another problem happened. Namely, I had only law THEN gospel sermons, another issue that creates a predicable sense of apathy for my hearers. Once I realized I was hitting a rut in my preaching, I pressed really hard into sermon structures. This seemed to get me out of the rut, and it sharpened my craft as a preacher.
Once I realized I was hitting a rut in my preaching, I pressed really hard into sermon structures. This seemed to get me out of the rut, and it sharpened my craft as a preacher.
But it always still bothered me that I never really had an answer to that Law, Gospel, Response problem. I would see my brother pastors give the same sale’s pitch style sermon and I did not have anything nice to say about it. That bothered me because I know the third commandment and its meaning, and I just wanted a better solution to the problem I was seeing.
Then a surprise comes along in the work of Frank A. Thomas, and I finally have something good to say. Let me take his book, They Like to Never Quit Praisin’ God, off the shelf and share its insights with you. In his work, he proposes a solution to this widespread problem in Lutheran preaching. I know, I know - he is not Lutheran - but just go with me for a second.
In They Like to Never Quit Praisin’ God, Thomas suggests the pattern of Law, Gospel, Celebration. Now, as simple as this may seem, it really is quite a profound fix for our problem. Celebration asks two questions: Who and What? So, this keeps the focus at the end of the sermon on the who of Jesus Christ and the what of the grace of God in Christ. It keeps the emphasis on the Gospel rather than our response. It frames our life in response to what God has done and removes the feeling of a to-do-list after the service. This comes from the belief that the power of the Gospel creates something which was not there before and the result is celebration. Rather than demanding deeds, it invites us to the banquet where we are simply receiving something graciously from God.
That said, it would be reasonable to say this could feel like a bait and switch because, if someone is not “celebrating,” is this not the Law all over again? It is a fair assessment that Thomas anticipates. By walking through the performative tradition of African American preaching, Thomas outlines the process and theology of celebration in the preaching task. He spends time unpacking the dynamics and even gives some practical guidance and five example sermons. It is hardly a silver bullet for all our problems in preaching, but way better than poor Law/Gospel dynamics in a sermon.
Thomas provides for us Lutherans a lesson on how to fix this endemic problem we have in preaching. By sustaining a Gospel focus and avoiding throwing people under the Law again, Lutherans can keep our hermeneutic of scripture inside the practice of faithful preaching. If you find yourself in this rut and need help getting out, I want to share with you this book from my bookshelf on Law, Gospel, and Celebration preaching.
