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Reviewed by Patricia Farris, Senior Minister of the First United Methodist Church, Santa Monica, California Marking Time: Preaching Biblical Stories in the Present Tense by Barbara K. Lundblad Preachers might well, from time to time, revisit the call and charge to serve as stewards of God’s mysteries through language and image. For are we not all tempted, when faced with the weekly task of coming up with something, anything, to say, to give the Scripture short shrift, to opt for anecdotes and platitutdes or whatever clever joke might get a laugh? In a time when the charisma and personality of the preacher, or the accessibility of the message through powerpoint and video clips, threaten to upstage the power of the Word itself, Barbara Lundblad calls us back to the privilege of our high calling and the soteriological task of preaching as stewards of God’s mysteries. Marking Time: Preaching Biblical Stories in the Present Tense is the latest of Lundblad’s books of sermons to be published. Revisions of her Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity School in 2000, this book offers just three chapters exegeting the stories of the Shunammite woman of 2 Kings 4, Jesus and the Rich Man from Mark 10, and the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8 as well as parts of additional sermons. Each is a gem and will cause you to look at the story in brand new ways. Her sermon preached Sept. 13, 2001 is alone worth the price of the book. Most critically, Lundblad, Professor of Homiletics at Union Theological Seminary and retired ELCA pastor, offers fresh interpretation of the oft-quoted advice of Karl Barth to preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. She explores how the text marks our time and how our time marks the text. This is done not to “make the text relevant,” she maintains, but to “gain deeper understanding of the text itself.” In so doing, the lives and souls of the listeners are pastorally exegeted as well, probing the deepest questions of faith and ethics of the present age. Each generation, Lundblad maintains, reads the text in new ways and in so doing creates a new book. In all of this, Methodist preachers will rejoice to find fresh images and insights into the fundamental Methodist assertion.that Scripture “contains” the Word of God in contrast to being the literal words of God. Chapter One could provide the basis for a wonderful discussion of this with an adult study group or class. Methodist preachers who struggle to address the critical issues of the day with integrity, courage and compassion will find inspiration and guidelines as well. Through the text, Lundblad wades into the deep and churning waters of difficult issues: sexuality, morals, money, war and empire. She sits with the text until its questions are articulated, often questions that unsettle and provoke: “What voices have we heard that connect our lives with the stubborn Shunammite woman and her persistence in saving her little son? How do we preach a text we don’t want to be in? What does it mean for Christian people to stand with the rich man or with the disciples? How do we help people move beyond guilt and defensiveness that often drive them away from the text and from Jesus? Who is like the Ethiopian eunuch in our own time of history? What might the mighty learn from other peoples of the world? What are some questions we might ask about our mighty, beloved country?” Lundblad asserts: “Scripture needs preaching, and preaching is not only for the sake of the church but bold testimony proclaimed for the sake of the world.” This is a book to be savored, prayed over, pondered, and taken to heart. It is a gift to preachers, but one that will serve as a holy thorn in the flesh, to embolden us for a renewal of our vocation and witness.
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