On Friday evening 20th September we had a pre-launch event for the Latvian translation of God is in the House. It is was a pre-launch because some production issues have meant that the book has not been printed yet. Life does not always go as planned.
Cadburys used to have a TV ad that claimed that there is a glass and a half of milk in every bar of their milk chocolate. In the spirit of that ad I think that I have poured 40 years of my life into the book God is in the House. People who read it say it is very “me.” We all have our distinctive personalities, tone and style.
At the launch it was interesting to hear a selection of extracts from the book read in the Latvian translation. Latvians present seemed to be pleased with the results.
I have been visiting Latvia since 1993. I have lost count of how many times I have come. It must be 200 or more. I realise that there will be a time when I am not able to travel here but this translation is one of the ways I hope I can continue to contribute to the life of the Latvian Church. I see the translation of the book as a lasting gift to the Latvian church; it is a love gift from my heart to theirs.
God is in the House grew out of four decades of preaching and thinking about preaching, and many good questions from students. It was while teaching on Mark’s gospel at one of our School of Preachers weekends that I first got the idea for thinking about a sermon as being like moving through a house. It is a simple idea that appeals to me as a visual thinker. I tend to think in pictures, so this is a model that works well for me.
Everything significant in Scripture begins with a voice: creation comes into being through the speaking God; when Jesus is born, he is called the Word. He is the eternal Word revealed in space time history. When we turn to Scripture, we have the Word written. As Jim Packer put it, “The Bible is God preaching”. The genius of good preaching is that hearers do not merely hear the voice of a human, they hear the voice of God.
In the book I tell the story of two men who make a TV programme about Italy. One is an English historian, the other is an Italian chef. They visit two eating places. The chef tries to explain what is different about them and what makes the second place so special. The chef said that in the first place they had good food and excellent service, but that in the second they had experienced hospitality.
The preaching that I commend in God is in the House is about offering hospitality — welcoming people in, being a good host — so that people might come to meet the master of the house, Jesus.
All good preaching is a variation on the invitation “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
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