How much does a hooker cost? Questions for ministry

“Andy, how much does a hooker cost?”  As soon as I said that, I realized I had posed the question rather poorly.  There was a very long pause on the other end of the phone. 

“Preacher, why do you want to know how much a hooker costs?”  Andy was a member of my congregation in suburban Atlanta and deputy sheriff in one of the Atlanta counties. 

“Andy, I am working on my sermon for Sunday about the guy in the Bible who hires a hooker.  He over pays by a long shot and I wanted to get a point of reference for my sermon Sunday.”

Another long pause.  “Okay, hold on.”

I hear Andy lower the phone and ask the officers in the room, “What is the going rate for a hooker?”

Pause

“No, it is for my preacher,” I hear Andy say.

Suddenly, I am having second thoughts about this whole sermon.

Andy returns, “One of the vice guys here said you can get a crack monster for $5, typical rate for a street hooker is between $40 and $75.  High-end call girls can go as high as $1,000 an hour.  It all depends on what you want.  Does that help?”

“Yea, I have more information than I can use.  Thanks, Andy.”

“No problem, I am really looking forward to hearing this sermon.”

Come Sunday, Andy and his wife, (their kids were in Junior church) were on the second row as I preached about Judah and Tamar, the ancestors of the Messiah.  While the price of prostitution was only a minor part of that sermon, Andy listened with special attention.  Unexpectedly, I had entered into his world for the sermon.  The Bible was, in a new way, something he could relate to.  Judah and Tamar were not just names from a list in the Bible; they were two novices in the world’s oldest profession.  Andy may have worked cases of such novices.  The events of the Book were connected with the life he lived.

In the contemporary church we hear-to excess-about relevant preaching.  Sometimes that is little more than a cliché or a rehashing of the latest book, or sermon series by a super star, mega-church preacher.  Let me suggest that there is a better way to make preaching relevant.

First, return to the histories and teachings of Scripture.  Clearly we need to be contemporary but not to the exclusion of the Word of God.  I recently heard a sermon in which the preach spoke apologetically about read a lengthy passage of scripture.

Second, draw out the timeless and timely themes.  One of the great things about scripture is how it seems like it could have been written yesterday.  The themes of scripture seem at times to be lifted from the news feed on your tablet.

Third, what I discovered by accident, ask people in your congregation about how their reality parallels the world of the Bible.  The best way to do that is by questioning your people.  What I did was an accident.  But with a little forethought and effort you could mine a mother load of teaching moments from you congregation.

P.S.  Thanks to everyone who participated in last week's survey.