Readings
Reading I: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 |
Preaching TipProverbs, Not Sound Bites Made to Stick is a book about how to market an idea, how to get a message to “stick”. While it was not written for homilists, it does have some great nuggets of wisdom that can help us in our weekly mission to make the Gospel message “stick” to our parishioners. We may have heard in our seminary training to focus on a “core message” for a homily. If we try to do too much in one homily, we will overburden the congregation. Instead, we must have a core message that gets spoken about from different angles. However, a core message is not a sound bite. Rather, a core message should be thought of more like a proverb. A sound bite can be too gimmicky or too superficial. But a proverb can contain deep human and spiritual wisdom that resonates with the heart and soul of the congregation. Made to Stick says: “To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must relentlessly prioritize. Saying something short is not the mission – sound bites are not the ideal. Proverbs are the ideal. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound.”
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