Aimee Semple McPherson
Aimee Semple McPherson is an interesting individual. I can only
wish for enough time to read more about her disappearance! No my
friends, she is no Amelia Earhart, but she did disappear for five weeks. Her
ministry experienced numerous highs and lows, but she did have a gift for
the dramatic. I believe her sermon demonstrates several of the McDill skill
sets. She demonstrates Skill Seven, Balancing Persuasive Elements in her
ability to illustrate the biblical text. McDill writes, “a sermon illustration is
any word picture that gives the biblical truth a familiar enough image that
the listener can see it in his mind.”[1]Skill Nine, Scenes and Stories, is
present in McPherson’s retelling of the Barabbas narrative. McDill writes,
“not only are word pictures and stories essential to good speech
communication, but they are also inherent to the revelation of God in
Scripture.”[2]Not only does she bring the story to life, but she also
teaches her congregation that God sent his son to pay for their sins. “Tis
neither jest nor mocking, Barabbas. ‘Tis true, thou art a free man. For one
named Jesus is to be stretched upon your cross on Calvary’s
hill…”[3]However, she also fails in this area to some degree. Her use of
flowery language does not fit this skill (McDill, 157), although this could be
merely an effect of reading her early 20thCentury words through an early
21stCentury lens. McPherson follows the McDill method for this step by
including the “five phases of a story”.[4]And finally, Skill Ten, Human
Experience, is also present in the text of her sermon. She thoroughly
integrates the experiences of Barabbas, while also showing that all are in
need of substitutionary atonement.
Word Count: 327
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s sermon for the third Sunday of Advent,
December 17, 1933, paints a vivid picture of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
When referencing Mary’s song as recorded in Luke 1:46-55, he writes,
“this is not a gentle, tender, dreamy Mary as we often see her portrayed
in paintings… a hard, strong, relentless hymn about the toppling of the
thrones and the humiliation of the lords of this world, about the power of
God and the powerlessness of humankind.”[5]Skill Nine, Scenes and
Stories, is present in this portion of the sermon. McDill writes, “look for
dynamics of the situation and note them as well… watching for
characters, relationships, motives, changes, divine involvement,
incongruities, and surprises.”[6]I especially like the way Bonhoeffer
brings the text down to a human level, “she [Mary] speaks, by the power
of the spirit, about God’s coming into the world, about the Advent of Jesus
Christ… she, of course, knows better than anyone else what it means to
wait for Christ’s coming. She waits for him differently than does any other
human being.”[7]Not only is Bonhoeffer again using Skill Nine by
sketching the story, but he is also employing Skill Ten (Human
Experience). He connects man’s waiting for redemption to Mary's waiting
to give birth, a theme common to all mankind through the ages. Everyone
knows what it feels like to wait for something, and this has been
translated through the retelling of this part of Christ’s birth narrative.
Word Count: 320
[1]Wayne McDill,12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching, Nashville: B & H
Academic, 2018, 126-127.
[2]Wayne McDill,12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching, 152.
[3]"Barabbas, by Aimee Semple-McPherson," Jawbone Digital, February
23, 2017, Accessed May 05, 2021, https://jawbonedigital.com/barabbas-
aimee-semple-mcpherson/.
[4]McDill, 154.
[5]"Sermon on Luke 1:46–55, London, Third Sunday in Advent, December
17, 1933," In London, 1933-1935: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 13,
edited by Clements Keith, by BONHOEFFER DIETRICH, Goedeking Hans,
Heimbucher Martin, Schleicher Hans-Walter, Best Isabel, and Stott
Douglas W., 342-47, MINNEAPOLIS: 1517 Media, 2007, Accessed May 5,
2021, doi:10.2307/j.ctt22h6t1c.17, 342.
[6]McDill, 163.
[7]"Sermon on Luke 1:46–55, London, Third Sunday in Advent, December
17, 1933," In London, 1933-1935: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 13,
343.
