Giving preaching back to the poets...

Read this article last night and think I may have found another kindred spirit -- at least in part. Here are some excerpts: When Jesus becomes kind of an esoteric spiritual figure and not a real dude in a real place at a real time, the really subversive economic and political things he's saying get lost in an effort to proclaim him as Son of God, which we do. But he's also a Jewish rabbi who lived in a Jewish way in a Jewish time, and we have lot of information about what that world was like. ... I want to rescue preaching. I believe it's an art form and I want to rescue it back from the scientists and the analysts. I want to see the poets and the prophets and the artists grab the microphone and say great things about God and the revolution. I think a whole art form has been lost that needs to be recaptured, a grand ambition for the art of preaching. ... A lot of Christian preaching isn't really seriously about story. I don't want to conquer mystery. I want to celebrate it. ... The true orthodox faith is deeply mysterious, and every question that's answered leads to a new set of questions. A lot of preaching tries to answer everything. At the end of the sermon, people walk out with no more questions. ... Some Christian traditions think a text has a meaning and if you apply the right method, then you can pull out the correct meaning. That's the ultimate in arrogance. ... I preached that sermon one time at Willow Creek and the goat pooped right on the stage. A great moment in that fine church's history. Taken from this article located right here if you click this little underlined link thing.