In Praise of the Formulaic

 I have been told many a time that just holding to Law Gospel preaching is deficient because it is "formulaic."  And we get that a lot as preachers - we hear "formulaic" or "repetative" and we certainly don't want our preaching to be that... right?

 Actually, let's pause and think about this.  Why would we think that being "formulaic" would be a bad thing?  If there is a formula, all that means is that there is a recognized and repeated pattern so that we know what is going on.  That's what the Lutheran Church thrives on.  That's what we claim, more than any other denomination, that the Church of Christ Jesus is to be.  Especially Confessional, Liturgical Lutherans.

If someone said to you, "The Divine Service is too formulaic" - would you worry about needing to spice it up, or would you say, "Good"?

Do we complain about the Confessions being formulaic - they certainly follow and seek to establish/maintain the formulas and patterns that our Churches teach.

Doesn't scripture tell us as pastors to follow the sounds pattern of doctrine?  A pattern, a formula.

But say you don't think these are good enough - I mean, that's not what we're talking about when we say formula.  We mean that if you just present a sermon the same way it gets dull and no one will like it.

The thing is, that's never, ever been true for any type of spoken presentation.  

Homer - totally formulaic.  Epithets abound.  And folks followed his patterns and riffed off him for a long time.

Genre - formulaic, dealing with expectations.

Poetry - formulaic patterns that are to be followed. 

Plays - formulaic

Jesus' preaching and teaching - formulaic.  (I don't know Jesus, that sermon on the plain sounds too much like that sermon on the mount!) 

Paul's letters - totally formulaic.

The idea of Rhetoric itself is that of a formula of speech. 

And shall we talk about music?  Songs?  Concertos?  Overtures?  Symphonies?  Pop songs?  The Blues?  Formulaic. 

Or consider tv shows or movies.  We had that lament that TV shows back in the day were formulaic... and yet, there's a reason they were.  The audience needs to know the expectations they should have.

This is something that I think has been shown more with a lot of the streaming shows.  They are disorganized... you don't know how long an episode is going to last, you don't know what resolution the show will end with.  They become unsatisfying. 

Really, if we are being honest - when someone complains about things being formulaic, they mean they are just bored with the topic.  I think the whole series of Jurassic Park shows are... meh.  They aren't my thing.  My youngest son loves them.  And there's a formula - and he loves the formula.  When is the guy going to get eaten!  I'm a bit bored of it... but that's not the formula's fault.  The problem isn't that those movies and shows are formulaic.

There's always a formula.  There's always a pattern.  And the people who complain about things being formulaic... they really are calling for a different formula, a different schema.

But Paul called the tune.  We preach Christ and Him Crucified.  I was determined to know nothing among you but Christ and Him Crucified.  As oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death til He comes. 

You say preaching Law and Gospel is formulaic.  You say always going to the Cross in all things is rote or trite.  I will ask, "So, what do you think is more important than the Cross?"  That's the real question at hand.