THE END OF WORDS:  THE LANGUAGE OF RECONCILIATION IN A CULTURE OF VIOLENCE
by Richard Lischer
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005. Pp. 179

Reviewed by Susan K. Hedahl

             This work is Lischer at his usual best.  He re-locates preaching through a process which he describes as tracing "a path from some of the frustrations and dead ends of language through the nurturing tasks of reading the Scripture and re-narrating the story, to the true and eternal end of language itself: the message of reconciliation." ( ix)

            Lischer uses four main categories to discuss the work of the preacher today; Vocation, Interpretation, Narration and Reconciliation.   His thinking demonstrates the urgency of assisting the preacher in negotiating a changed world in which he compares the contemporary preacher to the early prophets who "will speak against the grain of their environment among people with a diminished capacity to hear." (5).

            In discussing the preacher's vocation, Lischer offers a lapidary phrase about the preacher's work:  "The sermon, in fact, is Jesus trying to speak once again in his own community….." ( 8)   Lischer is also wise about the fact that preaching is a devalued activity in today's world.  

            The chapter on Interpretation asks the preacher to look at the various ways the Bible is read.  There are some excellent, succinct critiques of a number of contemporary proposals on how to relate to Scripture. Lischer defines the purpose of Scripture as "to save people from sin, form them for community, and equip them for lives of discipleship in the world." (65)

            The chapter on Narration calls attention to the shifts of perception about the role of the bible-as-story.  Lischer employs literary criticism, reflections on the role of a digital culture and post-modern thinking.  In his re-evaluation of narrative he notes that "the point of narrative preaching is not to reconstruct the past but to celebrate what is alive in it and play it forward in ever-changing settings." (114).

             Reconciliation is the concluding part of this book. He opens with a damningly clear statement about busy pastors:  "…we have been preoccupied so long with capturing our culture's attention that once we have it we have forgotten what we are supposed to say." (132). Rather than quote more from this chapter, this reviewer invites you to a superlative summary of what the goal of preaching is all abut.

             This book is for pastors. It can well be used in the seminary classroom, too. Pericope book groups may also benefit from this work.   The only critique of its contents is that there is much from the traditional male homiletical point of view that could profit with the inclusion of input from female and black homiletical scholars and even more on what it means to preach in a wildly pluralistic world.   These are the gaps, but in no way do they clip the wings of a poetic, heady, scholarly and well-written work. The reviewer commends this book to you!