Abstract
Stewards of the Mysteries of God: Preaching the Old Testament—and the New
Patrick D. Miller
Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2013. 180 pp. $23.00
As one who teaches Old Testament at a seminary, I am often asked, “Is there a book you recommend on preaching the Old Testament?” With the welcome appearance of Patrick Miller’s latest book, my answer is an enthusiastic “Yes!” This is not to say that other similar books lack merit. Volumes by Davis, Kaiser, Gibson and Robinson, Achtemeier, Rutledge, and Kent, Kissling, and Turner, and others are valuable. And some are more comprehensive than Miller’s. But if a preacher is looking for one book to enter into the broader conversation about preaching the Old Testament, Miller is the place to start.
The volume is a collection of essays and sermons from Miller’s long and distinguished career as a leading Old Testament interpreter. The book consists of essays and sermons. The first half has six essays on preaching the Old Testament, the second half has 21 sermons from Miller. Thus, the reader is afforded a chance to engage both the theory and the practice of preaching the Old Testament. The six essay chapters are versions of lectures or essays that originated elsewhere. They explore theological and theoretical challenges of preaching the Old Testament in light of the New Testament and of Christian doctrine.
In the first three chapters, Miller explores the theological grounds for preaching the Old Testament. In “The Old Testament and the Pulpit,” he challenges preachers to study and preach the Old Testament, because its “central character has taken hold of my life and is taking hold of yours” (3). Miller asserts theological rationale and exegetical guidance for preaching the Old Testament as Christian Scriptures. The Old Testament is a book “that challenges us and comforts us, that speaks truth to power and goodness to evil. Our interest in these books is not finally antiquarian; it is so that we can learn better how to praise God and live our lives” (4). In “Preaching and Teaching the Old Testament,” Miller continues the theological argument for preaching the whole of the Bible. Here Miller defends the confessional category of “Old Testament” (as opposed to alternatives such as “Hebrew Bible”), because the confessional category “points to the wholeness and indivisibility of Scripture” (14). This indivisibility, of course, exists in the very person of God: “Because the primary subject of the Scriptures is the God who is at work in the story they recount and in the world in which we live …” (15). In the third chapter, Miller specifically explores the theological grounds for preaching the Old Testament—especially Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22—at Easter.
In the next three chapters, Miller more specifically addresses the preaching of Psalm 51 (ch. 3) and of the Ten Commandments (chs 3 and 4). Those familiar with Miller’s extensive scholarship may be forgiven if they detect in Miller a preferential option for the Psalms and Ten Commandments. And those familiar with Miller’s theology may also be forgiven if they notice Miller placing the Old Testament in dialogue with Reformed theological categories (note that the volume’s concluding sermon on Psalm 136 and Ephesians 1 is titled “Our Life in Praise of God”).
The first six chapters are masterworks of Reformed biblical theology. As soon as I finished chapter 6, I wanted to flip back to chapter 1 and start reading again. One criticism of the book’s first section is that some readers may simply want more—a more comprehensive engagement with the whole of the Old Testament canon (including chapters on preaching the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and Wisdom) and perhaps an exploration of the genre of narrative (in addition to psalms and commandments). Miller notes, “the coherence of scripture” is “provided by the story” (16) and that “it is particularly the human stories we live and remember that especially help us connect with the text and its message” (xvi). In this light, an independent chapter discussing preaching on Old Testament narrative would be welcome. But “wanting more” is more of a compliment than a criticism.
In the second section, consisting of representative sermons, readers will experience themselves being preached to and, also, learning with and from a gifted preacher. The first six sermons—“On the Ministry”—charge and instruct preachers. These sermons evidence Miller’s context of preaching in a seminary for seminary students. Miller also includes sermons appropriate to various liturgical contexts: Advent, Christmas, Holy Communion, and the like. Throughout these sermons, Miller practices what he teaches in the first half of the book. He preaches on the Old Testament as Christian Scripture, fearing neither the messages of Old Testament texts in their own right, nor fearing to move from the Old Testament to the New when such a move is appropriate. Great preachers find their own voices, and learn to preach in their own register, in their own style and voice. Miller is such a preacher. These sermons practically leap off the page, resounding in Miller’s deep, rich voice—even for those who have never literally heard him.
The volume also includes three funeral sermons. The easiest time to preach the Gospel is when the law is undeniably present in the room—as it is during a funeral. The three funeral sermons are a special gift, because they proclaim the Gospel so clearly. In two of the sermons, Miller proclaims this identical phrase: I cannot prove this, of course, but I do not believe that we are misled by the gospel and the church’s experience. Christian hope is not desperate. It is trusting and reliable, which means that we can take what comes in this world knowing that the God who is with us now will keep us forever and make our lives full. (122, 126)