William H. Willimon
Rev. Parker's last stand: Fifty years of preaching
Carl Parker died recently. The Reverend Carl Parker....
Come on down: Exodus 34:29-35; Luke 9:28-36
Jesus leads his disciples up a mountain. He was forever making them go places with him that nobody much wanted to go. But this was different. Mountains are good, quiet, restorative places for Sabbath retreat, rest and renewal. The pace had been hectic, so they headed for the hills. But on the mountain everything changes. The disciples’ solitude is intruded upon by the dead. If Peter hoped to “find himself,” forget it. He is discovered by the two great figures of the faith—Moses and Elijah. There is stunning, transfiguring vision and inspired speech. Peter, jolted awake, listens in on the conversation between Jesus and the patriarchs.
Damn preacher (Luke 6:17-26)
Whereas my most “prophetic” sermons are in the imperative mood, Jesus preaches in the indicative.
An outbreak of Easter (Luke 5:1-11)
By Luke 5 Jesus is master not only of the word of God, but also of fish.
Things get nasty (Jeremiah 1:4-10; Luke 4:21-30)
Those of us who have been trained to make rhetorical peace with the congregation marvel at the freedom of Jesus to preach over their heads, to wound in order to heal, to use their own beloved texts against them. How sly of the common lectionary to pair this linguistic assault by Jesus at Nazareth with Paul’s pretty words on love. Poor preachers. Sometimes we love our people in the name of Christ, enduring just about everything with them, and sometimes we love them by throwing the Book at them.
The sin of smugness: A time for regret
I never expected First Things to give a theologically nuanced interpretation of the current U.S. war on terrorism, and it hasn’t disappointed me....
Back to the burning bush: Leadership 101
Leadership is all the rage at universities these days. There are courses in microleadership and macroleadership, leadership skills and leadership techniques....
Classroom encounters: Lecture interrupted
When I first started teaching, the dean thought it would be a good idea for me to warm up to the vocation (after five years in the pastorate) by teaching summer school....
World makers: A new way of seeing and naming
The people who have the best background for becoming pastors in today’s church are high school foreign language teachers,” Stanley Hauerwas declared during a recent discussion between D...
Under fire: A surfeit of sexual politics
In one of his classes, Stanley Hauerwas was asked,“What do you think of Willimon’s preaching?” Hauerwas said, “My main criticism is that Willimon is far too subtle, much too...
Summons to ministry
After a large Sunday dinner, family and friends gathered in the living room of my grandmother’s rambling house for the event that made me a Christian....
Who Is Jesus? by Leander E. Keck
A generation ago, Leander Keck, past dean of Yale Divinity School and Winkley Professor of Biblical Theology, emeritus, at Yale, wrote A Future for the Historical Jesus (1971), a book that...
Done conferencing: Democracy’s downside
Among the means of grace John Wesley lists “Christian conferencing.” Summer is always a popular time for Christians to congregate at denominational meetings, and this summer has been particularly s...