Living In-Between: Lament, Justice, and the Persistence of the Gospel

by André Resner

The community of faith finds itself located precariously between Jesus' first and second comings, between the promise and fulfillment, between what God has begun in the gospel and what God has yet to complete. It thus finds itself proclaiming a gospel of life, love, hope, and faith in a world more characterized by death, hate, despair, and fear. The gospel insists that Jesus' death has shut the door on the age of violence and death, even as his resurrection has opened the door on the Age of Shalom and life. But in this tensive in-between time, those conflicting ages overlap, and the church struggles against powers and experiences that mock its message. Drawing on resources from the New Testament's vision of the apocalyptic gospel, Andre Resner urges the church and its preachers to engage in the linguistic practices of lament and proclamation as well as the embodied practices of justice-making and justice-keeping as counter-testimony to those powers that have been served notice in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection that their end is near. The reflections offered here model the kind of honest speech and risk of life to which the gospel calls its adherents. ""With an unabashed and prophetic honesty about suffering, lament, justice, and hope, Andre Resner calls the church to a faithful resistance--in both verbal and embodied protest--empowered by the theology of the apocalyptic reality of the gospel."" --Frank A. Thomas, Nettie Sweenie and Hugh Th. Miller Professor of Homiletics, Director of the Academy of Preaching and Celebration, Christian Theological Seminary ""In a world where televangelists and even some mainline preachers often resemble shady used car salesmen, Resner tells us the truth--all is not well in this world--even as he reminds us to hope in God who is working all things out. Rather than spouting pious platitudes or citing complex formulas and creeds, Resner gives us what the Bible itself stories and testimony. If you can't buy a used car from him, buy this book. It tells the truth."" --Mike Graves, Wm. K. McElvaney Professor of Preaching and Worship, Saint Paul School of Theology ""This book is an honest reflection on the Christian life for those who know tear-stained hope as their food day and night. Andre Resner tells the truth and nothing but the truth about the gospel and God. It is a literary testimony to the persistence of a loving and just God amid times of sorrow and joy. There's no fluff here, just the raw faith of living in the presence of a crucified God."" --Luke A. Powery, Dean of the Chapel, Associate Professor of Homiletics, Duke University Andre Resner is Professor of Homiletics and Church Worship, and Director of the Chapel at Hood Theological Seminary. He is the author of Preacher and Person and Message in Theology and Rhetoric, and editor and contributor to Just Prophetic Voices for Economic Justice, and, with Mike Graves, What's Right With Preaching Today?

Genres: Theology

144 pages, Hardcover

Published November 4, 2015

About the author

André Resner (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is Professor of Homiletics and Worship at Hood Theological Seminary.

Dr. Resner is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He transferred his ordination from the Church of Christ in 2001 after serving churches in California, New Jersey, and Texas, as well as serving as Assistant Professor of Bible and Preaching at Abilene Christian University. He taught preaching at New Brunswick Theological Seminary from 2001 to 2004 and has been at Hood Theological Seminary since 2004. At Hood, Dr. Resner teaches Preaching and Worship classes and is the director of the chapel.

As Parish Associate for First Presbyterian Church in Salisbury, North Carolina André helped organize and launch their Life Center Worship service in 2004 and 2005, serving as worship leader for the alternative service of worship before becoming the Stated Supply Pastor for Cleveland Presbyterian Church in 2006.

Dr. Resner has been a member of the Academy of Homiletics since 1989. He convened the Pedagogy Work Group of the Academy for fifteen years and also served as the webmaster for a term while functioning as a member of the executive committee. He also serves as Affiliate Faculty in the Ph.D. program in African-American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Reviews

[Larrin Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As expected with Resner, his insight on communicating the gospel is thought-provoking and accessible.