Proclaimer Blog
A fable about preaching chiasms
As usual, I read through the passage before starting my sermon preparation. As I did so, it struck me forcibly that this passage could perhaps be structured in a certain way. I wasn’t sure, but it was a nagging doubt. ‘Wow!’ I thought to myself. If that is true, then it needs to be a centre point of my sermon and I need to let the congregation see how wonderfully constructed this little narrative is. Never mind bookends! I’ve found a chiasm. But it needed work. So I gave much of my sermon preparation over to developing the structure and working out my headings to reflect the chiastic nature of the story. Then – Bingo! I got it. Much celebration, running round the house, star jumps, making of coffee etc. But had I got it exactly right? It needed more work, and more work I gave it. However, a curious thing happened. The more I worked on it, the more confusing it seemed to be. ‘This will just befuddle people,’ I thought. It’s one thing using this Hebrew structure to help me understand the passage, but it can’t be my sermon. So, reluctantly, I rejected the chiasm as a sermon structure. Back to square one. As usual, I read through the passage before starting my sermon preparation.
A I read the passage
B I thought I saw a chiasm
C I thought, ‘My people need to hear this!’
D I spent several hours working out the chiasm
E I found it!
D' I spent several more hours fine tuning the chiasm
C' I thought, ‘This will just confuse people’
B' I rejected the chiasm
A' I read the passage. Again.