If you have never read Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’, treat yourself. Find a copy on Amazon and ‘waste’ a few hours with a good read – especially Chapters Seven to Nine and its famous Father Mapple, a sailor and harpooner in his youth, who later entered the ministry.
Arriving at the Whaleman’s Chapel one evening, storm-pelted and covered in sleet, Mapple lays aside his tarpaulin hat, pilot cloth jacket and overshoes and in the absence of stairs, climbs hand over hand into an old and lofty pulpit by way of a “perpendicular side ladder, like those used in mounting a ship from a boat at sea”. Finally gaining his height, Mapple leans over the pulpit, and drags up the ladder “till the whole was deposited within, leaving him impregnable in his little Quebec”. By this act of isolation, the New Bedford chaplain withdraws himself from all worldly connections to muster all attention on the spiritual task at hand.
The 1851 classic is too descriptive to trust my words to describe the scene, so I will leave it to Melville:
“Nor was the pulpit itself without a trace of the same sea-taste that had achieved the ladder and the picture. Its panelled front was in the likeness of a ship’s bluff bows, and the Holy Bible rested on a projecting piece of scroll work, fashioned after a ship’s fiddle-headed beak.
What could be more full of meaning?- for the pulpit is ever this earth’s foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God’s quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favorable winds. Yes, the world’s a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow.”
The imagery is an inspiring one, for sure. But I sometimes wonder if it isn’t just a nostalgic reminder of by-gone days, where the person behind the pulpit and the message delivered from it were considered more relevant; days more suited to Melville’s 19th century than our 21st concerns.
Someone once said, “If the whole world has gone to Hell,
it is the pulpit that has led it there.” Ouch!
When God instituted the autumn Feast of Tabernacles (Numbers 29:13-32), he commanded Israel to sacrifice 70 bulls (13+12+11+10+9+8+7; a so-called countdown to perfection). According to the Talmud (b. Sukkah 55b) and based on Genesis 10 with its descendants of Noah, these 70 bulls corresponded to the 70 nations of the world that lived beyond Israel, underscoring that these nations be restored to the Most High God. Whether Jewish tradition is accurate, is difficult to know given that there is no correspondence between bulls and nations in any earlier text. Still, it lends credence to the view that Israel found itself in the rather unique position of interceding on behalf of the entire world – and when she obeyed, the nations were blessed; when she rebelled, the nations suffered in kind.
Now fast forward! I wonder if the church, in some measure, serves in that same role these days — as a channel through which blessing and curse flow? For example, Jesus said that his disciples are both ‘Salt’ and ‘Light’ (Matthew 5:13-14) in the world . . . and by default to the world. The metaphors would certainly have been understood by His men.
Disciples of Christ are preservatives, retarding moral decay (neg.) and promoting righteousness (pos.) in the world; inhibiting sin’s power.
Disciples of Christ are witnesses to the reality of Christ; bright and unmistakable; offering hope, but warning of danger too.
If this is the relationship of the church with our world, and I believe it is, then surely the significance of the pulpit, the one Melville says “leads the world” and the “Holy Bible” which gives this “earth’s foremost part” authority to speak to the seas of nations before it, cannot be overstated.
In the early days of church history, especially the 4th and 5th century, pulpits were particularly popular. By the medieval age (5th to 15th century) however, most were set aside in favour of the altar, and by default, the Mass. Travel, as I have, through some of the great cathedrals of Europe and your eyes will be drawn to an elevated platform, where front and center lies — the altar. It took the Reformation to restore the pulpit to its place of prominence . . . and it is common to see it literally built into the side of one of the massive church pillars that stretch heavenwards. Like Father Mapple, you ‘enter’ into the pulpit and folks below sat ‘under’ the teaching of the Word of God. Impressive imagery!
Think of it! The Word never conquered until it was made flesh!
In a similar way, preachers fulfill this role each Sunday!
I know! Those nostalgic, heady days have passed, and not likely to return in my life-time. Still, in more recent years I have found myself pinning for the days when physical pulpits were impressive, like the remarkable stone pulpit in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, with its amazing depictions of toads and lizards biting each other, symbolizing the fight of good against evil . . . and that absolutely stunning ornate pulpit in the Strasbourg Cathedral, France, built in 1485. Covered with colonettes, gables and niches filled with sculptures like Christ on the cross, apostles, and others, I resisted (barely) climbing the curling sculpted ‘butterfly wings’ design and walking ‘into’ the pulpit to preach.
These days, most pulpits in North America are much less inspiring, looking more like thrown-together IKEA furniture or Walmart specials. Hard to find spiritual symbolism in that ever-omniscient music stand doubling as a ledge for keys, Kleenex, hand sanitizers or believe-it-or-not, a bag of Frito-Lay chips … before the Bible gets anywhere near this ‘sacred’ place. I cannot say I like those modern slimline transparent pulpits either, which, among other things, make it really challenging to pull up your fly when your wife is embarrassingly flagging you from her pew seat to fix the crime scene!
I confess that it is not the pulpit as church furniture, but the metaphor of the pulpit standing as this ‘earth’s foremost part’ however that really underscores for me both the sacred place and duty God has entrusted to fallen men and women; that it pleases Him that “by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (I Corinthians 1:21). Of course, contextually Paul is not suggesting the act itself is silly, only that the message of the cross is what makes folks wrinkle their nose and say, “that’s foolish”.
Yes, Jesus is central, not the Bible! However, it’s the grand
narrative itself that reveals Jesus to us and unhinging from the First Testament will only substantially reduce our understanding of Him.
Now Noah never used a pulpit and the most famous sermon Jesus ever gave came from a grassy knoll overlooking the Sea of Galilee, not Dallas, Texas, so I am not suggesting preaching cannot happen in a variety of ways, in a number of settings. Still, the place of the pulpit in the church as a metaphor for making the gospel known remains a significant one.
If I can build on Herman Melville’s seafaring motif … and quote him at times:
It’s the pulpit that presents itself before a stormy world, offering safe passage through, with the help of a higher, inscrutable authority; “this sure Keel of the Ages”.
It’s the pulpit that confronts the seas of public opinion and contrary wills, including unyielding Ahab’s (1 Kings 16:31), who defiantly chose to resist both God and nature in pursuit of contemporary Moby’s.
It’s the pulpit, as this world’s “foremost part” that points us in the direction of first duty – obedience to God, for, as Ahab rightfully says, there can be only "one Captain that is lord”.
It’s the pulpit that reminds us, as Melville’s prophets Elijah, Gabriel and Fedallah, the harpooner, do that our lives are a voyage towards death and dark endings and, prophecies cannot be ignored without devastating consequences.
AND … it’s the pulpit that bears the earliest brunt, meets this world’s chaos head-on, “preach[es] the Truth to the Face of Falsehood” and follows quickly with a shipload of grace and mercy for every seeking desperate ship-mate.
The pulpit is a good metaphor of how, in the words of Robert Mounce, a link is established “between God’s redemptive act and man’s apprehension of it”. Since God has not called the pastor to silence, it is no small thing to be the voice that trumpets that connection.
If you are a preacher reading this and these Covid-days of empty sanctuaries, live-stream messages and government mandated rules limiting contact with your flock [whether alive or dying] have you feeling unmoored from the sacredness of your calling . . . then take a 30 minute ‘Time Out’. I am serious! Find your familiar, soothing chair … close your eyes … and recreate in your mind’s eye the picture of Melville’s pulpit — and start to believe again; believe that God is still speaking … believe that proclamation can/does make a different … … believe that in God’s divine alchemy, through YOU the Word of Scripture and the Word made flesh are set loose in the world. Believe — because it is fundamentally true: the pulpit is the prow! ALL the rest comes in its rear.
We cannot treat the Bible like a Subway order: “Gluten-free Italian, cheddar, garlic aioli, cucumbers, pickle chips, but hold the Righteousness of God for ordering the death of ancient Canaanite tribes.
A sobering word about the Scriptures is in order here as well … since it is not enough that the pulpit ‘leads the world’; it must appeal to a transcendent authority if it is to survive gale-forces and arrive at safe harbour with its cargo. This is why Melville speaks of the leading edge of the vessel, where "the Holy Bible rested on a projecting piece of scroll work”.
I recently read where a guest ‘sermon’ to a congregation was on the subject of sustainable food. For the sake of accuracy, in their own words, here is what the ‘preacher’ talked about …
“… gardening, and about how important it is that children grow up with a close relationship to the land …. nutrition, and how produce is infinitely more nutritious when it's fresh …. about farmers, their increasing age, and the fast-shrinking number of mid-sized farms …. and most importantly, I pointed to how powerful individual, personal choices are … develop gardening programs; [and how] we can support local farmers' markets.”
The good news, I guess, is that following the service folks “… ate homemade, local snacks and talked about building urban gardens.” I suspect a ‘sophisticated’ Pentecostal would have enjoyed that experience! And ‘No’ the story is not apocryphal.
Have we strayed so far from the Reformation and embraced so quickly the Enlightenment and beyond that even the Scriptures are compelled to fight their way to the pulpit for a hearing . . . or, even worse, have we abandoned the inspired text all together and made it just another secular text? Some might swiftly reply, “Not at all. I give (or, my pastor gives) full attention to the Scriptures every Sunday.” OK, on the surface, such a response seems genuinely honest, but let’s test it for authenticity!
All preachers think their sermons are biblically centered, but how much of the Word is in this center? Do you regularly preach from both the Old and New Testament … habitually the New Testament … or mainly the Gospels? Is that sweat on your brow?
For anonymity’s sake, I will call him ‘Paul’ the Pentecostal. He never preaches from the Old Testament. As far as he is concerned, the God of the Old is not the Jesus of the New. For him, each is an ontologically distinct divine being. So much for Exodus 34:6. So in a stroke of genius, over-confidence, arrogance or contempt [you decide], ‘Paul’ excises 39, apparently non-inspired books from the biblical canon.
But there is more. ‘Paul’ the Pentecostal does not like most of the Epistles, either. It seems the villain, the Apostle Paul, is a misogynist and a homophobe! His love affair is almost exclusively with the words of Jesus. Good thing he has the Red-Letter Bible to make sure he does not stray from the words of Jesus, eh? Then there is ‘Timmy’. He eschews the Older Testament too. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John please – with an occasional serving of an epistle to make things interesting, are his pulpit’s bread and butter themes.
The preacher’s job is not to create a Jesus everyone can live with;
When we do this, we divide Jesus against Himself.
Now I understand that Hebrews with its themes of contrasting priesthoods, guilt and purification can be a challenge, and studying the apocalyptic visions in Revelation takes at least a teeny-bit of understanding of other Bible books — but surely congregations deserve to hear the whole counsel of God . . . and not just narrow folk-canon, cherry-picked, selections.
If you are thinking I am making this all up — I wish. Now perhaps this band of brothers is small (hope so!) — but frankly I am starting to think there could be more than one babbling, modern evangelical flirting with that old Christian heresy of Marcionism (144 AD) out there in Pentecostal-land besides Andy Stanley, that non-denominational, Northpoint guy. It would seem logical that their next step is wearyingly predictable – Supersessionism. One thing seems certain, they have taken to heart the words of that great American theologian, Frank Sinatra, "I did it my way". Still, it begs the question of whether it is the right way? You can probably guess where I land.
According to Melville, “the Holy Bible rested on a projecting piece of scroll work”, suggesting metaphorically that the scriptures actually lead outside the safety of the prow itself. In other words, the Bible stands before … in front of … spearheads … precedes … paves the way for the pulpit’s efficacy, effectiveness, success. While preachers are an instrument for the declaration of the Good News, the authority, power and clout, resides in the Scriptures themselves. God asks only that we speak this Truth out!
We should remember this when we consciously ignore or ‘soft-peddle’ the more uncomfortable themes in scripture or are ‘uneasy’ with the authority of certain parts of the inspired canon. We should remember this when culture pushes extremes like gender pronouns … or when activists in gender-land try to rewrite gender identity and turn folks into genderless unicorns … or push to characterize in utero dismemberment of the unborn as ‘choice’. There are few things as absurd as trying to sound academic when the average person-on-the-street knows it’s cultural nonsense and pseudoscience.
Have we become so smart that we choose to be stupid?
Preachers should not fall into this trap. Fealty to all of Scripture, with its warm and sometimes chilling message, not what ‘we’ fancy or what the preferred moral social group of the day pushes, is what God expects of his servants in the pulpit. His Word is not simply inspiring; it’s inspired.
From Exodus 32 we learn that Moses had been gone for little more than a month (forty days) on Mt. Sinai when the absence of teaching from God's revelation pushed the people to ask his brother, Aaron, to build a Golden Calf. It was then that the people "cast off all restraint" . . . and fell into religious prostitution before the Golden Calf. The modern pulpit should give heed to this scandal and learn from it when tempted to dismiss huge swaths of God’s Word.
In Father Mapple’s sermon on Jonah, he speaks like an informed evangelical pastor: “And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists." [Chapter 9]
Even Herman Melville himself, that Calvinist, turned atheist, who bashes both God and Christianity in his so popular 1851 classic, speaks truth not easily dismissed: “Heaven have mercy on us all – Presbyterians [or Pentecostals] and Pagans alike - for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.” [Chapter 17]
Yes, “The World is a Ship on Its Passage Out.” The Church’s part is to point the vessel to a safe harbor so that all ‘soul’s’ might gain home. Therefore, any strategy that diminishes the role and importance of the ‘Pulpit’ and the ‘Holy Bible’ is to hear the warning of the ‘almost prophetic’ Melville [Chapter 65]: “I tell you it will be more tolerable for the Fejee that salted down a lean missionary in his cellar against a coming famine” . . . “than for you”. (Matthew 24:11) “OnlySaying…”