when is a sermon not a sermon?

Si Smith asked in the comments last week:
i'm wondering whether there's a difference between a sermon and a lecture? and if so, what is it? what do you reckon?

That's a question I've turned over in my mind a number of times. Of course it's easy to give the classic answer (which I'm sure Si already knows) that a lecture is to impart information and a point of view, whereas a sermon should have Unction - usually translated as "anointing" or Divine Grace, it's that mysterious, intangible quality of engaging the listener not so much with information ABOUT God, but with God himself. In other words, a sermon shouldn't just teach you at an intellectual level, it should be a place where you get beyond the words of scripture to meet with the Word of God himself.

The distinction is liable to be very blurred, though. I have heard many sermons that would have been better if they'd never been preached at all, and which seemed to convey neither good information nor Divine Grace. And I've also been fortunate enough to hear lectures - many of them in my Faculty - in which, despite the lack of the visible "sign" of sacrament, seemed to convey both unction and first class intellectual content. I remember once as an Undergraduate leaving a New Testament lecture and going for coffee with another undergrad. She began to explain that she came to read Theology as a non-believer only interested in the sociological aspects of religion, and had gradually begun to waver over her faith in her unbelief. She had decided to sit in on the New Testament lectures to get a bit more gen about what Christians believe.  And there in the lectures, she found the presence of God. "What do you do with that?", she asked. And so another journey into faith was observed.

So - was it a lecture? - Yes; it was packed with well researched information and delivered in the context of a University for the purposes of delivering both information and a point of view. Was it a sermon? - No; it was not in a liturgical setting and laid no claim to any sacramental function either in form or content. But did it convey something of the presence of God? - YES! Absolutely.

Now of course the fact that it's subject was specifically Christian theology may make it unsurprising - maybe the boundaries are inevitably blurred in that instance?  But something strikingly similar has happened to me listening to lectures on Musicology, History of Art, History and Literary theory. It may well be that for - say - an Engineer, something about the beauty of a well designed structure might have a similar effect. (Anyone? Dave Airplane Paisley?)

Maybe the crossover is inevitable, given that (as a Christian sees it, at any rate) the mind, the soul, the heart and the body are not separable. If our intellect is completely engaged, and we begin to get some sense that this is "what we were born for" - isn't it quite likely that we feel the presence of God there? 

I end up thinking that there's a lot of crossover between sermons and lectures.

Comments

[hopefulamphibian]

Sometimes, very occasionally, by the grace of God, the experience of preaching a sermon has been like holding a live wire in each hand and enabling there to be a connection - and there's been a definite physical cost to it, as well as emotional and spiritual. I don't think that is an experience for every time, nor should it be overly sought (otherwise we'd prize the experience, not the Giver).

And, absolutely, Maggi - I'd agree that that anointing is not confined to sermons. Maybe there's scope for developing a connection with the biblical picture of wisdom - if a lecture is imbued with divinely originated wisdom (not just information), then surely there is the possibility of the listeners becoming aware of the presence of God.

[Stephen Garner]

And spiritual journals. For several of my colleagues their lecture preparation & notes for "academic" lectures are their own spiritual journals packed with far more personal material than the average student might suspect.

[dave paisley]

I definitely agree Maggi. If we agree that creation itself can convey God's message to us, then I think it can also be true of that which we have created through our own God given talents (whether we acknowledge the source or not.) There can be something awe-inspiring about the way a beautiful piece of engineering comes together, be it an airplane, bridge or cathedral. It's great to hear an articulate expert talk about the creative process and how things came to be.

And it often comes as a surprise. I've been to many a lecture that sounded really dry, but even with (on the surface) a less than scintillating topic, a good speaker can take you behind the scenes and really bring it alive.

[Mumcat]

sermons can be lectures when they consist of "you should be doing" or "you ought" even when disguised under the eternal "we".

lectures can be sermons when they lead a person to think, to question, to search and to seek a connection that, if not present previously, was not as strong as it could be.

At our parish, there is a page in teh weekly bulletin devoted to "Sermon notes". There have been times I've made good use of the page, but other times I just feel like I've sat through a lecture on nuclear physics or advanced calculus (not that those were the topics but just that they are about as interesting and as easily understood as the sermon).

[PPB]

I've been moved to tears in lectures and bored to tears in sermons, and I just figure the Holy Spirit shows up, invited or not. Interesting post.

[Caelius Spinator]

Funny thing was the two used to be more synonymous in the English language. The Puritans, at least in America, used to have "Lecture Days," typically Wednesdays dedicated to hearing of sermons (and the punishment of malefactors by the civil authorities."