Back Again

Please note a new email address: danw@nc.rr.com.

Chapter 3 -

The summer passed and even though nothing like the situation at Greenwood Village developed, the day to day operations of two churches kept Father Danny and Pastor Davy occupied. The two did try inviting each other to give a Sunday sermon at the other’s church. To put it mildly, the casual agreement between the two best friends was a disaster. They discussed it that night on the front porch.
“It was my fault, you had no reason to know. Three minutes after I began my sermon today, I looked into the faces of the people in your congregation and remembered something my step-father told me years ago. Something I had honestly forgotten.”
“What did he tell you?” asked Father Danny.
“He told me that if I was going to give a good Baptist Sermon, it would have to be a Baptist sermon, it couldn’t be a sermon like you would give in a Catholic church or a Lutheran or Episcopal church. It had to be a Baptist sermon.”
“Today was a disaster. Most of your people avoided shaking my hand and went out that side door. The few who did come out the back smiled and shook my hand with the enthusiasm of a wet rag. You want to tell me why that was?”
“All I can tell you is what my step-father told me.”
“You just did and it makes absolutely no sense. Give a Baptist sermon. What the hell is a Baptist sermon. I thought a sermon was a sermon.”
“No, it’s not and I should have thought about it and told you long before today. Again, I am sorry.”
“Quit apologizing and tell me what your step-father said.”
“Okay, when a Catholic, a Lutheran, an Episcopalian, any of the Roman based church members walk into their church, they bring with them two thousand years, more or less, of church history. That history is a part of what they are. Their mass is a celebration of that history. The Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, all those things from that history, the entire function is a celebration of that history and honestly, little more. But, it is enough. They are reminded that they are a part of something that began with Jesus Christ. That is enough. It lifts them, it gives them what they need.”
“Okay, that makes sense.”
“For them, the Catholic, the Lutheran and the Episcopalian, the Bible is a part of that history, it is a part of that service, but only a part, and not really a major part. It is read, something from it may be mentioned, but it is still only a part, a portion.”
“Okay, I’m still with you.”
“For you, what would you say was the high spot of the service.”
“I guess if I had to pick a part, would say communion.”
“And you would be right. But for the Baptist it is the sermon. All the prayers, all the hymns, everything that is said or done, leads up to the sermon. To put it in a rather vernacular way, the Episcopalians get their buzz from the communion. That’s been built in for two millennia. The Baptist doesn’t have anything built-in. If the people get that buzz, it has to be from an inspiring sermon from the preacher. It has to lift, it has to move, it has to inspire. If your people can’t remember your sermon when they get to the back door, so what? They’re not there for the sermon. The sermon is no more than one of the hymns. For the Baptist, the sermon is his reason for coming. It’s the sermon that inspires him. It’s the sermon that makes him want to be one with the Lord. The Episcopalian can pop a communion host in his mouth and that, mixed with all that history and he is one with the Lord. The Baptist doesn’t have that history. For a Baptist, the Bible is the beginning and the end of the entire religion. It is the entire crux of their service.”
It’s doubtful that one in a hundred could tell you anything about the history of the Baptist church. They could probably tell you the history of their church building, but the Baptist church, they don’t have a clue, but why should they? It’s unimportant. They come for the Bible and the sermon.”
“Oh yes, it would have been nice if you had told me all this beforehand. Five minutes into my sermon, the ones who weren’t yawning were asleep.”
“My people were asleep and your people were looking at me like I was a wild man. I did the normal. I screamed two or three times, paced back and forth and threw my hands up into the air.”
“I know, I already heard.”
‘They told you?”
“Oh yes. But you knew better. You were raised on Catholic sermons.”
“Yea, but I’m going to ask you a question. You’ve seen good black Baptist preachers preaching. You know with the rocking back and forth and talking at the top of their voices?”
“Yes.”
“Who do you think is having more fun when he’s preaching, him or the Pope?”