Well, that was fun.
The text I received was from 2 Corinthians about Christ, the new creation, and the ministry of reconciliation. My preparation consisted of me reading the text while walking, making sure not to fall down some stairs, and making sure I was well hydrated. I spent twenty minutes scribbling notes on a 5×8 note card that I actually ended up not really using. And, right before I walked across campus to the Chapel, I made sure to visit the little seminarians’ room. My brain, however, wouldn’t stop processing it so, while sitting in the chapel, I kept scribbling, crossing things out, and making my card unreadable. Yet, a few ideas kept popping up in my head that I couldn’t flesh out. My brain kept telling me to a) mention Advent and b) mention the liturgy. The only thing is, while standing up there, I didn’t a) only mention Advent and b) mentioned different parts of the liturgy than I planned. Sometimes, planning is for the birds.
I was the sixth out of seven to preach. We all had different texts but I was worried that I might be “tainted” by watching and taking notes on my fellow students. Luckily that didn’t happen. When I stood up in front of the chapel with my back to the altar, staring straight ahead into the camera and at my fellow classmates, it all just started coming out. I began talking about online communities, the “Brand New Day” meme, moving on to the Advent “revolution” that I keep hearing about (aka spend less, don’t be so consumerist, be more pious), quickly pointed out how that can easily become an excuse to withdraw/attack the wider world (which is exactly the opposite of the incarnation), and tied it all up at the end with some name dropping of JC and the Cross. As the only Lutheran in the class, I’m well aware that I tend to be the only one who says “The Cross” or “Crucified” so I was a little nervous I waited too long to do it. Overall, I think I did okay though I felt like I needed to move my legs more. I used my arms, made eye contacts, and all that. But I found my legs stuck to the ground. It reminded me of when I was a little kid and was afraid to dance. I could get my arms to move but my legs stayed frozen. My legs gotta find the rhythm of the Lord, yo.
FWIW, I’ve seen Gordon Lathrop stand in the pulpit many times, with noting but a 3×5 card and a crucifix.
When he preached three times at the Trapp Retreat, all he had was a small bible. I would have liked to see him wave around a crucifix.