Fencing the Table, Dealing with Differences

David R. Sawyer

Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees, and Professor of Ministry

November, 19, 2010

Luke 11:5-10

People who are different, such as those with challenging sexualities or even those who differ from us socially or theologically can be thought of as inconvenient visitors, which is a theme of the parable of the “Neighbor at Midnight” from Luke 11:5-13. The parable can be interpreted as a clash of cultural or moral codes and it could be seen as a story of God’s never-failing love for all people, even those who knock on our doors at midnight. The parable could be seen as a critique of “fencing the table,” a practice of insuring that those who participate in the Eucharist are doing so worthily, is used as a metaphor for the community’s approach to inconvenient visitors. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Directives, Collectives, and Adaptives in a Changing World

David R. Sawyer
Professor of Ministry
Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees

November 13, 2009
Nehemiah 13:15-20
Mark 1:39
Sirach 38 :34b-39:3

Sawyer looks at the present reality of Louisville Seminary in the light of the post-exilic period of the era of Ezra and Nehemiah, finding two different groups, world views, theological positions, and educational models. One group he calls the “Directives,” who hold responsibility and control for the seminary’s life; the second group are the “Collectives” who see the seminary as a free sharing of knowledge and power. He suggests we need to seek a third way, which he calls “Adaptive” which responds to change and loss with experiments, new discoveries and adjustments. He hopes to start a conversation about these differences in the community. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Relationalism and Relativism in Interfaith Conversation

David R. Sawyer
Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees, and Professor of Ministry

November 21, 2008
Acts 4: 1-13

Reacting to an advertisement in which “Evangelicals” offer respect to Jews but insist that they still must proselytize, I went to the full text of their “proof text” to see the context. I discovered there a Christological Kerygma which set up a contrast between the power of the Saduccees to enforce the status quo, and the power of the name of Jesus to bring healing and wholeness to even the most marginal. The message of resurrection represents discontinuous change and was thus threatening to the party in power in Jerusalem. The message of the passage is not about a mental assent to doctrine, but a healing, transforming relationship with God that is not exclusive. An ongoing relationship with a group of Muslim scholars who visit the seminary frequently illustrates the point of a holistic salvation. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

From Head to Heart

David R. Sawyer
Professor of MinistryDirector of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees

Luke 5:17-26
September 21, 2007

The story of the healing of the paralytic brings the message not only of healing of a body but of redemption of the heart of the paralyzed person as well. The preacher’s own journey from head to heart is tied to this passage and also to the image of the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz whose joints were frozen because he lacked a heart. The congregation concluded the sermon with an experience of the “prayer of the heart” in chant and prayer. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Behold I am Doing a New Thing

David Sawyer
Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees
Associate Professor of Ministry

1 Corinthians 15: 20-26
Isaiah 43:19
Originally preached on April 28, 2006

The text for today from 1 Corinthians is the foundation of an old theological argument—the struggle between life and death in the resurrection of Jesus. The speaker once believed that if it can’t be measured, it can’t be real. He confesses here that was siding with death instead of life. The trouble with the epistemology he had adopted was that it left no room for God to do anything new. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Wisdom's Winsome Way

Dr. David R. Sawyer
Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees
Professor of Ministry

April 27, 2007
1 Samuel 25 (selected verses)

We work together, play together, worship together, and care for each other. And sometimes, we get angry at each other. We get in each other’s ways. We get on each other’s nerves. We react sometimes foolishly. This is especially true when things are changing, and wow, are things ever changing in the world, in the church, and in the seminary. The old ways of doing church no longer work, and we find ourselves in the wilderness trying to find a better way.
Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Compassion and Accountability

David R. Sawyer
Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees, and Professor of Ministry


1 Samuel 24:1-22
February 23, 2007

The sermon addresses the question, "How do we call each other to account and still be respectful and compassionate with each other?" It draws on the story of David and Saul at the cave at Engedi in which David restrains himself and his fighters from harming Saul, "the Lord's Anointed" but gives a strong speech juggling delicate issues of power and respect. "It's a slippery and difficult road we travel, being a human community, but trying to hold onto our ideals of faithfulness, loving each other, forgiving each other, speaking the truth in love to each other, granting each other grace in the face of the plain acknowledgement of our errors." Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF format.