This Friday, December 1, marks 500 years from the first sermon delivered in this pivotal series on 1John

 

  

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Friday, December 1, 2023, marks the 500th anniversary of the beginning of this sermon series of twenty-one sermons by Oecolampadius preached every evening during Advent in December 1523 (leaving out Sundays, but leading upon toe Christmas Eve). Though it was a weekday (evening) series, the lectio continua style of straightforward, comprehensive Bible teaching (1) represented an historic reclamation of patristic expository preaching, and (2) set the standard that would be implemented by ordinance in all the pulpits of Basel some five years after these sermons were published. Though Oecolampadius was gone by the time Calvin arrived in Basel, every church in town was ringing with the form of preaching offered here. There can be no doubt that Calvin will have had a copy of the series, which sold through several editions in multiple languages very quickly. Surely for this reason, among others, Oecolampadius can be called, and indeed he has been called, Calvin's "spiritual father." 

Not only are the sermons lively, accessible, and illuminating, Oecolampadius' selected book of the Bible, The First Epistle of John, proves a perfect focal point for this Advent series, for a fresh approach to the then-current debates over the doctrine of justification, and as he himself says, the book is a veritable "Handbook for the Christian Life." 

Here is the playlist of videos consisting of one 30-minute introduction to "The Reformation of Preaching" and 16 very short intros to the individual (or occasionally groups of) sermons:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZZ9pVHWq-xaT3XJ5qBOIwmzg55ZPLx4X

Kindle available at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Sermons-First-Epistle-John-Christian-ebook/dp/B075WRG9CV/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1664564991&sr=1-1

Paperback available at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Sermons-First-Epistle-John-Christian/dp/197589202X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1664564991&sr=1-1

Hardcover available at Barnes & Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sermons-on-the-first-epistle-of-john-johannes-oecolampadius/1128121419?ean=9781668519998

499 years old, now going on 500

This historical and pivotal sermon series began on December 1, 1523. It evidently ran right up through Christmas Eve.

2023 would be a great time to have a Bible study on 1John, with Oecolampadius' sermon series to guide you. 

Here is a playlist of 17 videos consisting of a 30-min Introduction and sixteen short summaries by Oecolampadius' leading biographer, Ernst Staehelin (a contemporary colleague of Karl Barth); the summaries are newly translated and read as introductions to Bible Study sessions.

Meanwhile, as further evidence of just how groundbreaking this series was, check out this link; notice whose name appears first and notice the categories:

Tradition = Reformed and Genre = Sermon / Sort = Date (Oldest)

The title in question is the third on the list. The first is Oecolampadius' translation of a patristic sermon, the second is a collection of three sermons from 1521, which merit translation, but do not quite represent the full breakthrough to the Reformation, as they were produced while he was still in the monastery.

For the hardcover version of the Sermons on the First Epistle of John, and also for additional translations of related material, ... these Works of Oecolampadius are appearing at Barnes & Noble.

The "Mere Christianity" of its day

 

  

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Next year (2023) is the 500th anniversary of this popular and pivotal sermon series, first preached in Advent in 1523. 

Looking at the history of preaching, especially through the work of the late Hughes Oliphant Old, it is hard to overstate the importance of series of 21 sermons on the First Epistle of John. Casting about for a literary comparisons, allowing for differences in genre, technology, and context, and measured in terms of influence, the best comparison that springs to mind is C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. Both are challenging, but still accessible to the persevering lay reader. In hindsight, it really was momentous, a major milestone in the Swiss Reformation.

"What does the fire chief say?"

 

  

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Next year (2023) is the 500th anniversary of this immensely popular and important sermon series, first preached in Advent in 1523. 

Reading the opening of Sermon Ten, it is hard not to think of Kierkegaard's short piece from the Attack on Christendom, entitled, "What does the fire chief say?" 

There are times when one needs to preach like the fire chief at the scene of a conflagration, and even times when the beloved apostle had to write in this urgent tone. Half a millennium since this sermon was preached, but it could have been, and perhaps it was, written for just such a time as this.

The "purest Gospel"

 

  

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Next year (2023) is the 500th anniversary of this immensely popular and important sermon series, first preached in Advent in 1523. 

Once the Reformation in Germany had taken hold under Luther, based in particular on his re-discovery of the theology of Paul (Romans and Galatians), further south in Basel, Switzerland, Oecolampadius' serial exposition of 1John likewise tackled, among other things, the doctrine of justification by faith, and strongly confirmed it, while at the same time affirming the fact that good works testify to the genuineness of a living faith and offer us reassurance that we truly have the Word of God abiding in us.

In Sermon One of this series, which was enthusiastically received by the Wittenberg theologians, when Oecolampadius introduces the human author John as the author of the Gospel and the Epistle, he refers to the latter, this epistle as, "itself the purest gospel." This is super-essential material, the stuff of confirmation, a short course in Christian basics, and here it is, finally translated into English for the first time as of 2017, for just such a time as this. 

Why not soak in this sermon series with your congregation in its 500th year, the series that reconnected preaching to the patristic tradition of lectio continua expository preaching, after 1000 years of drift? [Let me know if you want to buy in bulk for your Sunday school, adult Bible study, pastor's reading group, confirmation, or new member's classes, and we can work something out.]

Jesus trusted his mom to this guy

 

  

Cloth w/ DJ                                      Kindle                                      Paperback

Next year (2023) is the 500th anniversary of this popular sermon series, first preached in Advent in 1523. 

Throughout the series, and indeed throughout his correspondence, Oecolampadius continually refers to the Holy Spirit as "the anointing" (1John 2:27) to invoke the divine authority that lies behind the inspiration of Scripture. But here, in Sermon One, as he introduces the human author of 1John, he takes the traditional line that the author of the Gospel and the Epistle(s) are one and the same: John son of Zebedee and brother of James. And though he banks far more on divine inspiration, he says of the human author, in essence, "Look, if Jesus trusted this guy with his mom, you can trust him, too!" (my paraphrase). Who can argue with that?

Is it budget season? Is it time to develop your 2023 preaching plan? Why not read this sermon series in its 500th year, the series that virtually re-calibrated preaching after 1000 years of drift? [Let me know if you want to buy in bulk for your Sunday school, adult Bible study, pastor's reading group, confirmation, or new member's classes, and we can work out a discount window.]

Six weeks to Advent: A timely reminder to "Waste Not the Fragments"

Now is a good time to order this inexpensive new commentary on Year D's suggested texts for Advent. Enough fresh texts here for several adult Bible study or Sunday school sessions. Order one per student; put your own questions to text, commentary, and conversation partners.

Adult Bible Study material for Lent

In Year D, I suggested the six Sundays of Lent afford a good opportunity for a lectio continua series focusing on a shorter epistle, that is, if one follows the old Westminster Directory rule of thumb: one chapter per week. That is a lot of text to treat in a 20-minute sermon, but it is doable if you keep the illustrative material (and personal stories) to a minimum.

Sermons, of course, can and do make for good discussion starters for Bible studies, and the more they conform to classical exposition, the more they can serve as Bible studies in and of themselves.

Here are two six-week "studies" worth considering for your adult Sunday school class: one on Galatians and one on the six petitions of The Lord's Prayer.

            

Or for a shorter, but evocative study for exploring the themes of repentance and suffering, endurance and healing, consider The Secret of Salix Babylonicus.

As mentioned in an earlier post, there are some good discussion questions for this Parable of the Weeping Willow over at Story Path. To which one might add some consideration of the redemptive role of music in the story. It sure seems to me those with an interest in music therapy should find rich fodder here.

Do we really need another biography of Calvin?

Behind this book, but never quite stated, is the strong hunch that, insofar as preaching is learned more by imitation than by direct instruction, Calvin the expository preacher basically learned to preach in Basel. More specifically, one can argue — in part from silence, more likely by process of elimination, and most convincingly by virtue of the Reformation Ordinance of 1529 being in effect in Basel for six years when Calvin was there writing his first edition of the Institutes — that it was from the pulpits of Basel Calvin heard the preaching that would form him, that he would come to imitate, and of which he would become the premiere practitioner. Put another way: where else in all his travels in cognito after the disastrous sermon he wrote for Nicholas Cop (which Karl Barth says is obviously Calvin's and which attempts and fails, like many a student sermon, to say everything all at once), did he hear regular expository preaching sufficient to form him as a preacher? As I see it, that is the missing link in all the biographies of Calvin, and I've lost count of how many there are.

Meanwhile, if we study (from the other end) the rise of Oecolampadius and the reformation of preaching in Basel that he represents; i.e., that he modeled and practiced, and that Basel eventually prescribed, we can likewise make the case that, despite the gradual pace of the progress of Basel's reforms and the variety of approaches to preaching Oecolampadius used in the eight years between 1523 and his death in 1531, the model for the expository preaching that Calvin heard in Basel, almost regardless of where he worshipped from Sunday to Sunday, was that of Oecolampadius and (at its root) this very sermon series, the first complete biblical exposition to survive from the Swiss Reformation.

The hypothesis (or hunch) in a nutshell: By a providential and inspired trail of influence, the spark of simple exposition leaped from the 4th c. preacher John Chrysostom to his translator Oecolampadius, igniting the "house lamp" of the Reformation; through him it spread to the ministers of Basel, caught hold of Calvin by way of their preaching, and through Calvin it reached the world. This hypothesis is admittedly simplistic and in some respects all too "linear," for it makes no mention of Zwingli, Capito, Bucer, Farel, et al., but it (at very least) recognizes and states the obvious point that few Calvin devotees care to admit: that Calvin did not invent or adopt his approach ex nihilo or even from the mere advice of certain other reformers; it also fills most plausibly the influence gap, the yawning silence of the first Basel period, acknowledging the company of preachers (Myconius, Karlstadt, Wissenberg, et al.) through whose sermons the Spirit most likely formed Calvin as a preacher, those who shared and modeled for him the calling to teach the Scriptures from the pulpit clearly, methodically, comprehensively. I also recognize that many members of this company were also newly arrived when Calvin came, many perhaps did not hear Oecolampadius himself in the pulpit, but they came committed to the program of biblical exposition that he, more than any other individual, (re)established.

To preach and teach the Scriptures comprehensively. That, in many ways, is all that Year D aspires to do. At a minimum, I hope the sermons of the Reformer of Basel can now help preachers when the lectionary, or when Year D, turns to 1John, the epistle of which I think, at this juncture in history, the church stands in greatest need. Better still, I hope preachers will take up the task of preaching through the letter faithfully and thoroughly, verse-by-verse. Perhaps some pastors and educators will see in these sermons a worthwhile (adult or young adult) Bible study that can fill half a program year, or a new member program that, along the lines of Alpha, lays out a course in basic Christianity. No doubt something like this is what Oecolampadius had in mind when he offered the fruit of his labor to a young Christian and described it as "a handbook for the Christian life." Perhaps some hearty souls will see in this nightly Advent series a rich devotional their congregations can enjoy this December. However they are used, whoever reads them, and wherever they now make they way in the world, may Oecolampadius' Sermons on the First Epistle of John once again — as they did nearly 500 years ago — serve to strengthen and confirm readers in their faith in Christ, breathe new life into the church, and, above all, give glory to God.

Christian education and liturgical resources

Advent is coming, and with it a new liturgical year, and for RCL users, a new cycle. If you plan to use Year A at all, you may want to have this on hand:

After a long year and an ugly election season, you may also be ready for something lighter this Advent and Christmas. Written to "delight," this story is probably most suited to a family night or fellowship gathering, but perhaps it has been adapted for pageants; you might also think of it as an extended Christmas card for a congregation, a thank you gift for key families, a welcome gift for visitors, etc. However you use it, know that it will remind people of the Christ of Christmas.

Where worship is concerned, if you haven't looked into Year D yet, it is not too soon to plan ahead:

  

Meanwhile, if you still have any adult ed courses to plan, imagine 6 or 7 weeks in the study of the Lord's Prayer ...

and 6 to 9 weeks rediscovering an important, but forgotten Reformer.

The seventeen chapters in this piece are very short and could easily be read two or three at a clip. For many an adult ed class or book group, you could well spend a whole semester on these two studies alone.

These are just a few — hopefully helpful — pieces developed over the years in small church ministry, and one (the translation) that has arisen from the nagging sense that we still have a lot to learn about our identity and mission as Christians in the Reformed tradition from the actual Reformers (there are more than just Luther and Calvin) who got the ball rolling. In short and paradoxically, clues to the way forward always seem to demand attending to the past, if we are patient and teachable enough to search out the great treasures of the tradition. Obviously, that applies to scripture above all, especially to those basic, but neglected essentials like the Lord's Prayer.

Spread the Word!

Christian education and liturgical resources

As the summer flies by all too quickly, you may find yourself in need of doing some planning for the fall, both for Sunday school and worship, in which case, I could well imagine 6 or 7 weeks in the study of the Lord's Prayer ...

and 6 to 9 weeks rediscovering an important, but forgotten Reformer.

The seventeen chapters in this piece are very short and could easily be read two or three at a clip. For many an adult ed class or book group, you could well spend a whole semester on these two studies alone.

After which, you may be ready for something lighter at Advent and Christmas. Written to "delight," this story is probably most suited to a family night or fellowship gathering, but perhaps it has been adapted for pageants; you might also think of it as an extended Christmas card for a congregation, a thank you gift for key families, a welcome gift for visitors, etc.

Where worship is concerned, if you haven't looked into Year D yet, it is not too soon to plan ahead:

  

On the other hand, if you want to restart the RCL cycle with Year A and the Gospel of Matthew, you may want to have this on hand:

These are just a few — hopefully helpful — pieces developed over the years in small church ministry, and one (the translation) that has arisen from the nagging sense that we still have a lot to learn about our identity and mission as Christians in the Reformed tradition from the actual Reformers (there are more than just Luther and Calvin) who got the ball rolling. In short and paradoxically, clues to the way forward always seems to demand attending to the past, if we are patient and teachable enough to search out the great treasures of the tradition. Obviously, that applies to scripture above all, especially to those basic, but neglected essentials like the Lord's Prayer.

Spread the Word!