Reviewed Book: Rossing, John P. A season of saints: sermons for festivals and commemorations after Pentecost. Lima, Ohio: CSS Pub, 1992

Mueller, David G.

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 23Issue 1 Essays in the History of Interpretation Article 155-1-1997A season of saints: sermons for festivals andcommemorations after PentecostDavid G. MuellerFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationMueller, David G. (1997) "A season of saints: sermons for festivals and commemorations after Pentecost," Consensus: Vol. 23 : Iss. 1 ,Article 15.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol23/iss1/15Book Reviews 93text. “I endeavor to describe what actually happened back then or the sym-bolic/fictive world of Israel, thus enabling students to experience for them-selves the religious meaning of that report at various stages of the canon’’ (p.137). In doing so he discovers that God always does the unexpected, eventhe contradictory, that which is “beyond human calculation”—as in theastonishing assertion that God “repents” of wreaking intended vengeance(cf. especially, “God and the Unexpected” on Joel 2:1-2, 12-17a). Godrefuses to be enslaved by the human drive toward tidiness—in theology asin everything else.The exquisite attention to the text is an integral part of Crenshaw’sdefiant yet humble NEVERTHELESS of faith. In a fine study of Habakkuk(“When God’s Silence is Better than Speech”) he comes to the gripping“Even if..passage: “Even if the fig tree fails to bloom and no fruitappears. . .the produce of the olive fails. . .small animals are cut off. . .andcattle are missing. . .yet I will exult in Yahweh, I will rejoice in the Godof my salvation.” Crenshaw comments, “The prophet who has just hadhis religious convictions shattered by reality speaks the unspeakable, uttersthe great ‘nevertheless’ of faith. I may have no food in the pantry and noprospects of any, yet I will still praise the Lord—nay, more than that, I willtruly experience joy in the God who defies human understanding” (p. 82).It is the “nevertheless” that, I believe, the church as a whole needs tolearn to utter in an age when God is an option. Crenshaw can be a modelof such a stance, and a model too for the quiet, persistent, and personalnature of such an apologetic.Eduard R. RiegertWaterloo, OntarioA Season of Saints: Sermons for Festivals and Com-memorations After PentecostJohn P. RossingLima, Ohio: C.S.S. Publishing Co., Inc., 1992105 pp.During a time in the church when narrative theology and the use ofstory-based sermons is growing, this book of sermons is an important con-tribution to the resources of the church. It is especially so for the seasonafter Pentecost, when, as the author correctly points out, most congrega-tions assume declining participation and attendance over the summer, andmiss out on the celebrative nature of this season of ‘green’ growth in theliturgical calendar as well as creation.John P. Rossing is a graduate of Saint Olaf College and Luther Semi-nary. He is a doctoral candidate at Emory University.94 ConsensusThe book is a series of 15 sermons based on the lives of Christian saintscommemorated in the calendar of Lesser Festivals and Commemorationsin the Lutheran Book of Worship. The sermons have been used in thecontext of worship at All Saints’ Lutheran Church in Lilburn, Georgia whereRossing is a part-time staff member.I found each of the sermons to be excellent devotional reading as Rossingsuperbly combines the saints’ lives with those of our own. Preachers willfind inspiration for their own sermon preparation. Laypersons will find thatindeed we can celebrate our own lives as saints by the grace of God. Infact Rossing encourages creativity in compiling our own list of saints tocommemorate and celebrate.I would recommend this book for both clergy and laity; a book thatincludes a sermon on the commemoration of Mary, Mother of our Lord,palatable to a Lutheran heritage, is indeed worth having.David G. MuellerBentley, AlbertaHomeward BoundHarold L. WarlickLima, Ohio: C.S.S. Publishing Company, 1991181 pp.Harold Warlick is identified as . .minister to the college and chairmanof the department of religion and philosophy. High Point College, HighPoint, North Carolina.” The Library of Congress Catalogue data tells usthat he is Baptist. The book is subtitled “Messages about Life after Death”.But the data describes them as “sermons about life after death”. It is notaltogether clear, then, what the content and function of this book are. Themessages/sermons have titles, but no biblical texts are prefixed, and theyvary in length from very short (four pages) to very long (fourteen pages).Thus, they may be anything from brief college chapel addresses to privatelycomposed personal meditations.The book appears to be thematic, connected throughout by the themeof life after death, as the subtitle promises. In his Introduction, Warlickaffirms that “We are all on a homeward bound journey” (p.7). Loss of spir-itual home and inheritance, he says, is our great tragedy. He also confidesthat this is a book of middle age; hence the importance of the “vision ofhome”. The first meditation/sermon is indicative: “The Child Points theWay”. In the ensuing pages he often juxtaposes the child of Bethlehemwith the journey home and the promise of eternal life.Warlick is a very good writer. His homiletic style (we will assume thatthese are sermons) is generally to begin with a contemporary situation.

A season of saints: sermons for festivals and commemorations after Pentecost

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A season of saints: sermons for festivals and commemorations after Pentecost

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