Moves and The Narrative

I read this book about two years into my pastoral career. It has had a lasting impact on the way I preach.

Sermons are made up of “moves,” discrete units of thought that are trying to say one thing clearly. String four or five moves together and you’ve got a sermon.

When people ask, “What was the sermon about?” the answer shouldn’t be easy. Because there’s a move in the sermon about the depth of God’s love, but before that there’s a move about the reach of injustice. One of those moves doesn’t set up the other; they both–and all the others–stand on their own.

Of course, there’s a narrative that binds the moves of a sermon together. The narrative is made up of a “but” in between these moves and a “Wait!” between these two.

Isn’t this life? Isn’t this work?

There’s the move in high school about finding your people. Then there’s the move after college about learning independence. But wait: there’s another move later about cultivating interdependence in community. And don’t forget the moves about enduring loss.

What move are you in now? Can you see the narrative structure holding all your moves together?