Union with God Through a Transformative Homiletics

A Transformative Homiletic

Drawing upon these hermeneutical insights for the further development of the homiletics of Korean Pentecostals, I focus on the writings of French philosopher Paul Ricoeur (1913–2005) and French Cistercian mystic theologian Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153). In his treatise titled Interpretation Theory, Ricoeur opens up the possibility of facilitating the reader’s experiential encounter with the text through a tensive dialectical process, one that moves from the first naïveté (a surface semantics) through critical reflection to the second naïveté (a depth semantics).⁸ The process starts with the reader participating in the world “behind” the text and the world “of” the text from a historical, literary, or sociological criticism point of view and moves to the world “in front of” the text. When this happens, the reader may be transformed by the world the text opens to them.

The reader’s participation in the existential aspect of the text through the process of a transformative engagement with the Scripture is often unfamiliar to Pentecostal Christians, even though God invites the reader to experience the real presence of Christ veiled in the outer sacrament of the Scriptures. In other words, the text produces a surplus of meaning that allows the reader to engage with the deeper meaning of the text through metaphors and symbols and thus opens the reader to the possibility of encountering God’s presence by participating in a communicative event of the Bible. Biblical scholar Jeannine K. Brown highlights that “Scripture begins a conversation that is interpersonal and potentially life changing, because it is God who initiates the dialogue.”⁹

←3 | 4→The fundamental questions I address in my reflection on Ricoeur’s interpretive method are as follows. How did he develop the concept of the dynamic relationship between the world of the text and of the interpreter? Why did he concentrate on a semantic approach to the examination of language when most contemporary linguists presumed that the meaning of a sentence was reducible to its structure of signs and words? How do Ricoeur’s hermeneutical insights enable preachers to hear a fresh word and gain a new perspective on the world of the text by appropriating the sense and reference of the text for the benefit of their congregations?

Kathleen Norris, a key voice in Christian spirituality, regards prayer as mystery, saying, “Prayer is not doing, but being. It is not words but the beyond-words experience of coming into the presence of something much greater than oneself. It is an invitation to recognize holiness, and to utter simple words—Holy, Holy, Holy—in response.”¹⁰ The prayerful and meditative reading of Scripture draws the reader into the mystery of a close relationship with God, with God inviting the reader to take off their shoes and stand on holy ground (Exod. 3:5). For Bernard, the mystical and dialogical engagement with Scripture is regarded as the core value of the faithful’s love toward union with God in Christ through the Spirit.¹¹ Bernard emphasizes that the world of the reader is shaped by encounters with God that are contemplated and mediated by the Word. He considers the Bible the pure and perennial source of the spiritual maturity of the believer.

Bernard’s homilies on the Song of Songs illustrate how the reader’s spirituality matures through their transformative reading of Scripture when engaging in mutual union with the divine based on God’s love. In other words, Bernard aims to expand the reader’s ability to engage in a prayerful and meditative reading of ←4 | 5→the biblical texts. Bernard’s way of reading Scripture helps contemporary readers understand what he means by an experiential encounter with the text. In addition, his account of his union with the divine invites readers to seek both the objective of biblical study (information) and also to enter into the existential aspect of the text (transformation).

A key contributor to the contemporary discussion on Christian spirituality, Thomas Merton, expresses the significance to the preacher of participating in the existential aspect of the text through their prayerful reading of Scripture. For Merton, “[T]‌he most important need in the Christian world today is this inner truth of God’s love nourished by a Spirit of contemplation: the praise and love of God, the longing for the coming of Christ, the thirst for the manifestation of God’s glory, truth, justice, Kingdom in the world.”¹²

The act of contemplating God draws the preacher into the unfathomable abyss of God’s beauty, truth, and goodness. The preacher then leaves the abyss and conveys to others what they have smelled, heard, tasted, touched, and seen through the contemplation of God’s glory (1 John 1:1–4). At this time, the message is not merely about delivering biblical interpretation based on facts, which spring from the author’s intended meaning inscribed in the text and historical or scientific hermeneutical methodologies. It is also about sharing the mystery that conveys God’s love to both the preacher and the hearers.¹³

Finally, through this transformative reading of the biblical text, preachers who have encountered the loving God hope that their congregants will experience this love through their preaching. Preachers are also being shaped sacramentally through the Spirit by the community’s experience of the holy encounter. This reciprocity between the preacher and the gathered community enhances the union of the people of God in Christ with God through the working of the Holy Spirit, who is present sacramentally in them. This is what I call a transformative homiletic, and I consider it an essential element of the spiritual formation of the both the preacher and the congregation. This type of homiletic builds up the body of Christ. Thus, to paraphrase St. Ignatius of Loyola, the love of the Spirit propels both the preacher and the congregation to see more clearly, to love more dearly, and to follow God more nearly. In sum, the transformation of the preacher’s life by their encounter with God changes the lives of others, and this supports the ←5 | 6→transformation of the faithful into the image of God through the works of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18).