3.5 stars. Hauerwas is not a great preacher, but he is often a good one, and sometimes very good. These are dense, theological sermons, but they are often not deeply exegetical, which is unfortunate to this reader. For instance, one repeated tic he has is to make a jump to the Eucharist (much as many evangelical preachers make a jump to the Cross) without really doing the work of laying a path from the text. This is likely a function of seeing the sermon as one whole with the liturgy moving toward the Table, but others make these connections better. This is best read for people who want to read Hauerwasian theology, not for people who are looking for a great book of sermons. ( )

Stanley Hauerwas makes a valiant attempt to be a voice and challenge to preach theology that continues to be needed in the church. He puts this to pen in this work titled A Cross-Shattered Church: Reclaiming the Theological Heart of Preaching. Hauerwas is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University.

This theologian works to show how the sermon is the best context for doing good theology in A Cross-Shattered Church. He writes, “I am convinced that the recovery of the sermon as the context for theological reflection is crucial if Christians are to negotiate the word in which we find ourselves.” The book includes 17 sermons preached by Hauerwas, which he considers his best theological work. They are divided into four sections: Seeing, Saying, Living, and Events. Sermon titles cover a broad range of topics, including (among others): Believing Is Seeing, The Glory of the Trinity, The End of Sacrifice, Was It Fitting for Jesus to Die on a Cross?, Only Fear Can Drive Out Fear, The Appeal of Judas, Slavery as Salvation, To Be Made Human, and Water Is Thicker than Blood. Professors and students of theology, pastors, and those interested in what Hauerwas has to say about theology and preaching will value this work.

Perhaps as important as the sermons that he offers is the introduction to the volume in which Hauerwas issues the call for theologically grounded preaching.

He sums it up clearly when he says, “One of the most satisfying contexts for doing the work of theology is in sermons. That should not be surprising because throughout Christian history, at least until recently, the sermon was one of the primary places in which the work of theology was done. For the work of theology is first and foremost to exposit Scripture. That modern theology has become less and less scriptural, that modern theology has often tried to appear as a form of philosophy, is but an indication of its alienation from its proper work. I am, therefore, making these sermons available not only because I think they are my best theological work, but because I hope they exemplify the work of theology."

We see sermons that are authorized by Scripture or sermons submitted to the words of Scripture equip us for life in the world but as a people capable of being an alternative to the world. One of the ways sermons point to God is by relating all of history as God's story. Hauerwas observes, "As Christians we seem to be living lives we do not understand...Sermons, therefore, should help us locate our lives, especially the incoherence of our lives, in God's story."

I felt the thunder in his words when he said, "I suspect that the deepest enemy of truthful preaching in our time is not only the loss of confidence in the words we have been given, but also the lack of trust many who preach have that God will show up in the words we use." I find the book a nice shot in the arm for the sacredness of the sermon for the pulpiter who stands behind the sacred desk. I would recommend along the same line a book by John Piper “The Supremacy of God in Preachinig”. ( )