Kerux: a portfolio of Calvin Theological Seminary - Volume 42.10 - 17 Apr 2008

Naming the Gospel

Plantinga and Gloer on Discovering Grace

by Nate Van Denend, contributing editor

Going into the worship symposium I was looking for a seminar that would justify the more than 30 hours I have spent this month reading the Harry Potter series. Plantinga and Gloer’s seminar entitled Imaginative Reading for Creative Preaching seemed to fit the bill. Waves of affirmation washed over me as Plantinga commented in his opening remarks that a good reading schedule “improves the preacher’s diction… especially well written children’s literature.” Surely my reading of Harry Potter was time well spent.

Yet Harry Potter was not referenced. Instead, Plantinga and Gloer discussed a wide variety of literary genres: children’s books, short stories, classic novels, biographies, histories, and poetry. They referenced authors such as O’Conner, Steinbeck and Frost. They also referenced works such as Kafka’s The Trial, Silence, and April 1865. They were looking for glimpses into the human character with its joys and sorrows, its simplicities and complexities.

Plantinga and Gloer also seek out profound moments of grace. They shared a few of these moments during the seminar. By far the best was Gloer’s retelling of a scene in April 1865. The setting is St. Paul’s Cathedral in Richmond, Virginia. The war had officially ended several days earlier. The church is packed with former confederate military officials and soldiers. The story climaxes with General Robert E. Lee kneeling at the alter next to an elderly former slave, each with hands outstretched, waiting side by side. Waiting to receive the Body that was broken for them. Gloer then stated to his mesmerized audience “There is Gospel here.”

Prof. Rottman says in his preaching classes that one of the jobs of the preacher is to be able to name the work of God in the world. When debating Prof. Leder on this point in the seminar What Shapes the Sermon? Prof. Rottman was confronted by Prof. Leder’s claim that the only actions of God of which we can be sure are those written in the Old and New Testaments. Not even the over-throwing of apartheid in South Africa can be named with a high degree of confidence as an example of God working in our world. One can only conclude from this that the confidence level for naming the action of God in a novel would be zero. Yet, this is what Gloer and Plantinga are arguing. There are stories, both fiction and nonfiction, read stories, told stories and experienced stores, which speak the Gospel, and which point directly to the actions of God. The story in April 1865 is one such story.

But what do we see in a story such as the one told in April 1865? Do we get a special revelation about special grace poured out on a specific black man and a specific white man? No. Have we gained insight into the eternal status of two souls? No. We see the characteristic footprint of the gospel: forgiveness, repentance, and grace all taking place at the foot of the Cross.

The reason we can see the footprint of the gospel has to do in part with the way the story was told. Gloer did not stand up and say, “You know, one time after the civil war Robert E. Lee took communion with a former slave.” Instead, he pulled us into the story. Everyone in the room could feel the tension and found themselves on the edge of their seats. Gloer also interpreted the story so that the Gospel message could be seen there. He named the action of God in such a way that the hearers could see it and feel it. He pointed to the oft-times invisible movements of God.

Prof. Leder has a point as well, though. Too often have Christians sided with political movements. We are so tempted by the offer of a Kingdom on Earth when juxtaposed with the suffering of waiting for the Kingdom of Heaven. We are so tempted by the conclusion that the Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Man. We are so tempted to answer “yes” to Satan in Luke. “Yes, turn these stones into bread.”

The question comes down to this, I think: Are we willing to name God’s action in the world? Are we willing to retell stories, to interpret events, to name the Gospel footprint when we see it? Do we dare? Or do we retreat to watch and wait? The faithful, the martyrs, and the heretics all dare us speak.