Upon his retirement from Wake Forest Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, the church published a collection of Richard Groves’ Wake Forest sermons. It is a welcome sight for those who value the liturgical role of the sermon. Groves’ collection dares to speak of Jesus in the public square, bearing witness that preaching remains a transformative word. In a thematic verse for the whole collection, the former Alliance of Baptists leader wrote, “I am not prepared to relegate Jesus to the private domain of interpersonal relations.”

Whether he was preaching in response to American military attacks, the Southern Baptist Convention’s fight over the Bible, about Baptist freedoms, or on the occasions of Martin Luther King’s Holiday, All Saints’ Sunday and Easter, or over topics such as forgiveness, theodicy, and the death of his wife, Rosemary, his sermons reflect the wrestling with scripture by a pastor who loves the Bible and longs to connect its word to his educated congregation trying faithfully to live in these days. He explains, “What is true in the country is true in the church.  We want religion that goes down easy and solutions that do not cost us anything.” These sermons speak of a Christianity that costs.

With amazement he observed the common response to the U.S. bombing of Libya in Old Way & New Way, “There was such an immediate and unquestioning acceptance by Christian people of what we had done, with no effort being made to justify that acceptance in light of Jesus’ teachings about the way we ought to go about relating to our enemies.” In Redemption of a Broken Young Man, Richard tugs at the heart of anyone who has betrayed a loved one when he imagines Peter telling Luke about the moment Jesus caught his eye while he was denying him. He writes, in paraphrasing Peter’s restoration through Jesus’ voice in John 21, “I trust you, even if you don’t trust yourself.” Portraying Hosea in a narrative sermon he notes, “Forgiveness that is too easy is worse than no forgiveness at all, for it effectively buries the issue that divides.” Commenting on the continued racial divide imbedded in our nation, he observes in an MLK sermon that racial reconciliation is typically imagined by whites as “Let’s get to know each other,” while for blacks it is about working for social justice. For true racial reconciliation to happen, he notes, talk will have to match walk.

For 23 years Richard walked the talk at Wake Forest Baptist Church, now the rest of us can enjoy those talks. Copies of Living in the Mystery are available for $20 plus shipping through the church office at 336-758-5297 or wfbc@wfu.edu.

You can also read Tim Moore's new book, The Three Religions in the Bible: How Their Arguments Developed the Bible and Keep it Alive Today here: http://www.authonomy.com/books/28827/the-three-religions-in-the-bible-how-their-arguments-developed-the-bible-and-keep-it-alive-today/