Book Review: The Homiletical Plot by Eugene L. Lowry

It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that I love narratives. Narratives are stories, and “stories begin with once upon a time. They move through episodes to a climax and then come to an end… Stories move. They have a plot.” (1) Stories suck us in with a phrase — “once upon a time” is all it takes, and we are off on an adventure filled with dragons, knights, and peril.

This is Lowry’s premise: “A sermon is a plot… A sermon is a narrative art form.” (2)

Essentially, sermons are not supposed to be dry, monotonous fountains of information which the listeners absorb (or likely, not) with dull gazes. Instead, Lowry argues for sermons that are filled with ambiguity, for ambiguity is the stuff of every good story. Ambiguity hooks every reader and listener and leaves them hungry for more.

Lowry talks about a “homiletical bind,” that is, the ‘problem’ of a particular text which we wish to use in a Sunday sermon. This is the question that we are searching for answers to; the question may regard a particular problem in our lives or it may reside in the text itself. This homiletical bind guides sermon preparation in two ways:

1. The particulars of the human predicament: this is the ‘felt need’ or ‘sensed problem’ of the congregation — the itch.

2. The particularity of the gospel: this is the way in which Scripture speaks to or ‘answers’ the felt need — the scratch.

Of course, this does not mean that every sermon is a witch hunt by which the preacher is searching for trite answers to the congregation’s grief or angst. Instead, the sermon honestly searches the Scriptures — as well as the motivations, dreams, beliefs, and idols of the congregation — in order to speak God’s word of truth and good news with integrity.

The particularity of the gospel scratches the itch of the human predicament.

“In presentation the sermon always begins with the itch and moves to the scratch — from the human predicament to the solution born of the gospel.” (3)

By reimagining a sermon as a story or a plot, Lowry advocates for a style of preaching that maintains a certain amount of tension throughout. This is ambiguity. Without ambiguity, there is no desire to continue listening to or reading the story.

Think about it: if you are reading a murder mystery and you find out ‘who dunnit’ in the first chapter, there is no reason to keep reading. The entire point of a murder mystery is for the reader to slowly piece together the clues, often following needless ‘rabbit trails’ that distract the reader throughout, while revealing the perpetrator only at the climax of the story.

Lowry argues that a sermon is the same way. The preacher starts with a question that creates tension within the listener. For example, opening the sermon with the statement “Jesus died to save your sins” is incredibly vague and boring, though the statement is entirely true.

Instead, opening with, “It seems like Jesus’ death and resurrection has little relevance on our lives today…” causes tension between what we know to be true and the felt experience that stands in contrast to our knowledge. This is particularly ambiguous when there is a specific example of suffering fresh in the listeners’ minds (e.g. earthquakes in Turkey, Black Lives Matter, the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic recession and unemployment, etc).

The trick, then, is to guide the listener through the sermonic text slowly and patiently, asking questions all the while (sometimes misdirecting ones, too) in order to maintain the ambiguity that they felt at the start.

But there must not be a rush to resolve the tension. Lowry describes five ‘stages’ in the presentation of the sermon (also the titles of his chapters):

1. Oops! Upsetting the Equilibrium (i.e. creating tension/ambiguity).

2. Ugh! Analyzing the Discrepancy (between felt experience and the Scriptural text, often pursuing ‘dead-end’ answers).

3. Aha! Disclosing the Clue to Resolution (usually after having pursued all ‘dead-end’ answers).

4. Whee! Experiencing the Gospel (there is relief in hearing the gospel proclaimed and tension begins to be resolved).

5. Yeah! Anticipating the Consequences (“The focus of our preaching is on the decisive activity of God, not upon us;” (4) thus, the response to the sermon is always to point 4 — the gospel).

When the listener finally hears the resolution — which is always the good news of the gospel applied to the particularities of the situation — there is a breath of relief and a sense of coming to the end of a journey.

The story is complete.

The Intuitive Nature of Narrative Preaching

I’m a writer and an avid reader. I love stories. I love preaching. This book was a breath of fresh air; it was not about ‘how to’ preach as much as it was about following one’s intuition by preaching Scripture in a way that resonates with the experiences of the listeners. It views preaching as “an art form and [seeing] ourselves as artists.” (5)

To those who like how-to lists, this book may be supremely frustrating.

For me, who mostly doesn’t know how a good sermon forms and spends most of her time in sermon prep marking up a paper copy of Scripture with coloured pens or daydreaming while walking, this approach is permission to continue on my way, trusting the Spirit who guides me.

There is a sort of ‘wandering thoughtfulness’ about the sermon, which is in fact the beginning of sermon preparation. (6)

Of course, The Homiletical Plot also helps me to identify areas in which I can narrow down my sermon preparation and presentation. The intersection of the human predicament (itch) and the particularity of the gospel (scratch) is where a sermon idea is born. (7) The scratch must scratch the itch; therefore, this narrative approach to preaching also keeps the sermon focused on the main point.

To approach sermons as narrative/story excites me. Of course, this isn’t the one-and-only way to preach. But it is a beautiful use of narrative for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel in real, tangible ways to folks who sit in Sunday morning pews. Always, “the sermon has its roots in the truth of the gospel which indeed has a life of its own.” (8)

The sermon, then, is about WHY the gospel matters to every man, woman, and child today. And by ‘gospel,’ I mean the entire narrative of Scripture — creation and fall, Israel, Christ, the church, and the kingdom-yet-to-come.

Thus, every part of Scripture is useful for preaching the gospel.

We resonate with Scripture because it is the Grand Story. Narrative preaching seeks to ask the why questions — mostly, why does the Grand Story matter to me today?

If this approach resonates with you, whether you are a preacher or a listener, pick up a copy and read it yourself. As always, feel free to connect below and tell me your thoughts!

Notes

1. Lowry, Eugene L. The Homiletical Plot, Expanded Edition: The Sermon as Narrative Art Form. Westminster John Knox Press: Lousiville, KY. 2001, 11.

2. Lowry, 12.

3. Lowry, 20.

4. Lowry, 82.

5. Lowry, 10.

6. Lowry, 15.

7. Lowry, 19.

8. Lowry, 10.