Postils for Preaching

Postils for Preaching repristinates an old term for commentaries on the appointed texts by assisting preachers in their time-honored calling of preaching the Word. ""Post illa,"" some think, probably refers to the reflecting ""after this"" (meaning upon the texts) that preachers must do in the context of the lives of their congregations and larger communities. These essays do not aim to be sermons but sermon-starters, goads and incitements to consider the assigned texts with serious imagination and good humor, all in the context of the church year and its inter-textual connections. The intention of this publication is to dip into a lifetime of that exegetical and homiletical ""bag of tricks"" as Jesus himself obliquely recommended when he noted how ""every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old"" (Matt 13:52). Please consider these postils a ""thesaurus"" (""treasury"") from which to borrow insights, references, and allusions as needed and found of value. ""Rollefson's commentary is a masterful roadmap to responsible preaching and listening. It focuses on what is essential to Christian preaching: the gospel message. It places the texts in the context of the liturgy and readings of the day. It is steeped in the experience of a lifetime and written with an open mind to the questions of today."" --Ingolf U. Dalferth, Danforth Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Claremont Graduate University ""John Rollefson is one of those (too rare) preachers who never lost his ability to be surprised by God's Word. For John, every text is always fresh and always contains startling ideas you never noticed even on a hundred prior readings. In these reflections, John helps other preachers encounter familiar texts as though for the first time in an effort to make the Sunday sermon a living encounter with a bracingly living Word."" --Scott Hoezee, Director of the Center for Excellence in Preaching, Calvin Theological Seminary ""Now that I know what a postil is, I'm grateful to have this invaluable collection of them. John Rollefson's reflections on texts for preaching are theologically astute, pastorally wise, and artistically alert."" --David Bartlett, Yale Divinity School and Columbia Theological Seminary, Emeritus ""It's rare to find one book that weaves together scholarly insights on the texts, liturgical sensitivity, connections to art and literature, suggestions for hymns, and cues for where a sermon might go. If you can read only one new book for this lectionary cycle, Postils for Preaching will not disappoint you."" --Barbara K. Lundblad, Joe R. Engle Professor of Preaching Emeritus, Union Theological Seminary John Rollefson is a retired Lutheran pastor (ELCA) having served urban and campus congregations in San Francisco, Milwaukee, Ann Arbor, and Los Angeles. His schooling has taken him from Decorah to New Haven to Edinburgh, and from London to Berkeley, with stops along the way at Collegevillle and Cambridge (Massachusetts). He lives in San Luis Obispo, California, with his wife Ruth, a retired vocal music teacher and church musician.