Book Review: Eugene L.

Lowry, The Homiletical Plot, The Sermon as Narrative Art Form,

Introduction
This book is an excellent teaching resource and learning tool for all preachers. This is a great
book for the beginners who are trying to learn and do sermons systematically. Lowry says that
one needs to unlearn the previous methods of sermons styles which we learned or practiced
before coming to seminary. He also says that some people who collect the bits and pieces of
material and joins them in grammatically accepted way and at last it lacks the coherence. He
calls that it is in the form of a doghouse. He says that sermon is communication and interaction
between the congregation and the preacher. It is not monologue and it is continuing interaction
one should be aware of engaging and taking the people along with preacher in his/her thoughts.
Image of the sermon
He also calls the sermon style should be in narrative form and it is similar to the novelist or
playwright type. It is a flow of words and connected rather than pasting things which are
disconnected and not linked. He says that good preaching is determined by attentive listening of
the congregation. A generative idea is required to make a good sermon. It is transforming the
ideas of sermon into a form.
Lowry talks about two kinds of sermons one is construct and the other is develop. Constructing
is bringing all the things together as bricks, cement, steel bars and it could be seen clearly as
placed together. Sermon of combining various parts will not merge with one another and leaves
confusion among the audience. Developing is like growing, forming and coming into mature
form. Developing is a thought process that is becoming it comes out clear in perspective. In other
words we can also put this difference as pruning and putting together.
He says that preaching is storytelling and a narrative art form. Every story has its own plot. Plot
in the sermon is a premeditative exercise of placing things and keeping audience in the mind and
arranging sermon in such a way which will reach the hearts and minds of the audience. Lowry
suggests the narrative form because it comes close to the heart of listeners and it attracts them
and catches their attention. He also says that sermonic idea is a homiletically bind, a sermon is a
narrative plot.
Getting Started
The first stage of sermon is working with the resources available with us, scriptures, and other
notes. The continuing part of it is developing a sermon idea. Forming the thoughts into sermonic
idea is not an easy task. Usually most of the preachers does is they choose either theme or topic
or they focus on an issue or need. Both of these answers are correct but both of these have its
advantages and disadvantages. The first is if we choose a theme or topic we will be strong in the
content and the later part of establishing a connection with the audience we will become weak.
Our content remains good but it resembles more like a lecture kind of sermon than the sermon
that talks to the listeners. The second kind of sermon is a good sermon that takes close to the
hearts of the listeners but remains weak in the area of content. Actually both of these are required
to do sermon both of these should come together that is intersection point. The focus of sermon
should be on the central message of sermon and at the same time addressing the needs or issues.
Due to this reason the author calls this as a good fictional plot of arranging things at right places
to make a sermon which will cater the various needs and purposes. The term plot is key and
essential in preparing and presenting the sermon.
Plot Forms
Plot forms are very important and the author of the book gives few examples from the movies
and serials. Some movies creates a situation of two men falling in love with one girl and girl has
tough choice to make both of them might be good are bad. This kind of situation creates
ambiguity and attracts the audience. This choice is not like the choice which we often hear in our
sermons as choose between God and Baal. This is not the choice situation in movies it is very
hard choice between which essential things they can really chose. Our sermons should have and
ambiguity which attracts them and makes to remain with us. He also suggest another kind of plot
that is soap operas, suppose in a crime story hero is a detective and audience knows the
conclusion that he will chase the mystery but audience does not know how he is going to deal
with it. Such an ambiguous mystery we should create and they should wait how we will solve the
issue. In the process of solving issue we should bring the content of sermon and gospel element.
The final stage should come the hope element in the sermon.
Lowry suggests a plot form of his choice that is 1. Upsetting the equilibrium, 2. Analyzing the
discrepancy, 3. Disclosing the clue to resolution, 4. Experiencing the gospel and 5. Anticipating
the consequences.
Upsetting the Equilibrium
He says that different people come to church with different moods. Some will be curious to listen
and others reluctant. Some will come to get relieved from tensions and some to find peace and
some may come as it is practice. Sermonic plot is to upset the equilibrium and to change their
mood and attract all the congregation members towards the sermon. It is to bring an ambiguity in
front of the listeners. And to create a mood of suspense that will make the congregation attentive
towards the sermon and about the climax of it. He also says that resolving ambiguity is
theological in nature. He also mentions that the usual announcements of todays theme of the
sermon will be boring and too common for the listeners. A joke, story or proverb something
that attracts the listeners is very important in introducing the sermon.
Analyzing the Discrepancy
Lowry says that it is central and important element in the sermon. He introduces the situation or
problem and at this particular stage he will raise the question Why? It is central to the sermon
that why is this problem? or why this happened so. This is where the listeners start to think and
the preachers should make the audience ready to understand his/her analysis. Analyzing the
discrepancy is making things clear and raising the problem. For example if a preacher takes the
story of prodigal son, the son has two choices either to stay or to leave. But the text never raises
the question why the son is willing to leave? This is important for the sermon to make the
listeners to think and reflect and to follow the preachers. This is the situation of making the
congregation for the readiness for resolution point to experience in hearing the sermon. He also
says that this stage could be explained in three sub units, 1. Moving from superficial analysis to
in-depth diagnosis, 2. Building listener readiness for resolution-even by the inclusion of
analytical dead ends, and 3. Finally setting the stage for the word to be proclaimed.
Disclosing the clue to resolution
The author explains that sermon is a problem solving process. In this process of problem solving
there should be a fair analysis. It should begin with a clue from bible and should proceed further.
The clue and the analysis should be a deep thought. The normal and common sense answers will
be misleading and we should open our listeners to a new clue that is reversal and which gospel
offers to us. The clue should create a feeling of aha!, experience among the listeners. For
example if a question is raised that why the people are poor, the answer should not be since they
are lazy. These sort of answers are dead-end answers this will not benefit the preacher and
listeners. Sermon should be analyzing the text and bringing the in-depth reasons behind the text
and presenting to the audience. The author also suggests that principle of reversal should be in
four forms that is 1. The cause-effect reversal, 2. Inverted cause reversal, 3. The inverted
assumption reversal and 4. The inverted logic reversal.
Experiencing the Gospel
Author explains that this stage is like doctor doing the diagnosis and then gives treatment. One
cannot give treatment without doing proper diagnosis. Diagnosis is central to the whole healing
process. In this same way without creating such a context if the preacher attempts to do a sermon
it will not be effective. It is always the presentation and the way we mould the context is central
to the presentation of the gospel. In this context the listeners understands gospel and it reaches
their hearts and mind than any other time. Author also calls this stage as the point of contact both
the inductive and deductive process of preaching intersects at this particular point. Both the
human experience and the gospel have to meet in a continuous process in the sermon is the third
alternative.
Anticipating the consequences
It is the hope element in the gospel and a final stage of where the preacher suggests the solution.
He says that in the final phase the sermonic closure should suggest a new door opened and a new
possibility suggested through the gospel. The solution is a combination of the scriptural passage
to the contemporary situation. In the simple words this stage is the climax of the sermon. Even
the conclusion should be also considered seriously and need to pay enough attention towards it.
Final phase of the sermon is asking the listeners to respond to the gospel they have heard and to
be prepared for the consequences of the resolutions they make in the light of the gospel. The
conclusion of the sermon should initiate change in the listeners. It should bring the change from
the static state of listener to a desired change. The conclusion of the sermon should be
inspirational one. It may be call to the people who have not taste love till this time. It is also a
call for political action so that the societal transformation is possible.
Variations
The author mentioned five stages of sermonic plot or narrative plot. Here he talks about how to
sustain the ambiguity while the sermon moves through variations in it. Author also says when a
disastrous situation hit the pastor/individuals or the community it is difficult to preach in the
similar way. The same vigor cannot be seen in the sermon but the author suggests that preacher
should work towards bringing the prophetic healing to the community. The preacher can also
change the plot to bring a new variety of preaching for the audience to create ambiguity.
Preparation
How to prepare the sermon will be one of the prominent issues to be discussed at this point of
time. Author tells the same in the previous chapters that the sermonic idea should be an
intersection point between a theme and issue. Even the preparation also goes with the same idea
and finds out that which will be starting or introduction of the sermon. It is the make the
problematic text more specific, concrete or limited in scope. Need to identify the issue and needs
to be translated into contemporary scene. Only after the diagnosis of the text the sermon
preparation moves towards the solution. The intersection point should be more intuitive than
conceptual either explicit or implicit. With the material, thoughts and sources available the
preacher engages and finds the problematic area and moves towards the opposite to identify the
discrepancy and then towards the solution of it. This process of analysis or diagnosis is important
for the sermon in the principle of reversal method. Author also says that as soon as we find the
problem we need to analyze it more before moving to exegesis to find the solution. For example
he suggests that we need to try various new approaches, once the author asked the congregation
members to feel how you will react if you are one among the men who brought the women
caught in adultery or how you feel if the elder brother of prodigal son story would have come
into the house? Finally author suggests is that we should not simply follow the conventional
methods. Instead preachers should try to do sermons creatively and should adopt innovative
methods to keep the listeners attracted towards the sermon.
Biblical Narrative Preaching
Author says if the chosen text is already a narrative then the preacher has no worries to again
turn it into a narrative form. When it comes to a different kind of text the narrative style is
encourages so that it becomes simple for the listeners to understand. Some preachers will feel
that they are not the kind of story tellers but story telling is that all can learn and use. The author
says that an average child is good story teller than the average adult. In the goal of maturity and
the formal education elders lost their sense of storytelling. Author says pay attention towards
every insignificant line in the text most of the times it will be the key issue in the passage.
Even though the approach is storytelling always read between the lines to find the inner meaning
and intentions of the author. Try to find out the cultural context of the text and the setting of the
text. Author also suggests catch every encounter in the biblical stories. Sometimes the characters
and the original story run fast but leave various clues regarding the problem at various places. He
also says that the preacher should bring data from their own experience this is to connect the
story to the present day context and to make gospel relevant to the lives of the people. Author
suggests that even though the preacher tries to investigate the behavior of the characters in the
text but the focus need to be move towards the motives. He also says the preacher had to move
behind the facts to prior dynamics. Preacher need to utilize the sense during the preaching to
make proper voice modulations at the right places of the sermon. Preacher also needs to switch
towards the identification of the characters in the story. Preacher also needs to work with the
grammar in the text and to give intense meaning of the text. He says that thought the preacher
deals with the particular at the end of sermon need to move towards the general should make the
sermon applicable to all.


Reflection
This book is really interesting and suggests an innovative style of preaching where the
congregation members are bored of the conventional style of sermons. Particularly in the context
of Andhra Pradesh narrative style of preaching is highly appreciated because the method and
technique of preaching so simple and reaches the minds of listeners. Even the rural side of India
always pays their interest towards the narrative style of preaching. The narrative model of
preaching simply gets importance because it is a well planned model of preaching.
Most interesting point of this style is to problematize the text and raising questions from the text.
Raising questions and finding answers by various sources available is important. Also another
thing is the author gives much importance to the text. To read the text carefully identify various
issues arising from the text, characters, motives, behaviors, grammatical errors all these are
crucial in developing a sermon.
Creating a mood of sermon is an important stage for the beginning of the sermon. If the preacher
catches the attention of the congregation in the beginning of the sermon he/she could sustain
their attention throughout the sermon. The appeal of author to try various approaches for doing
interesting and inspiring sermons is a genuine appeal to make youth and children to come
churches. Today we witness decline of members attending traditional churches because the
sermons are very routine.
Author suggests that plain sermons will not reach the minds of congregation rather creates
disinterest in their minds. He also encourages to read between the text and find behind the scenes
and the texts the cultural context.
The preparation of sermon should be given seriousness and enough importance that will bring
the people to church they get relieved from their tensions and pressures from the daily life.
Sermons should be interactive and communicative which will address the needs and issues of the
congregation members.