Traditional preaching, along with the mainline churches in which it has been most prevalent over the years, is losing its appeal for growing numbers of people who are caught up in the dangers and confusion of our fragmented world. Many are hungering for a more powerful and challenging message rooted in Jesus' life and teachings, seeking clues about how to live faithfully amid the destructive social and personal pressures created by our nation's exploitation of its position of global dominance. The sermons in this volume emerge from the conversion story of a Southern, white, Presbyterian pastor who was transformed by the civil rights struggle and who has chosen to live on the boundary between mainstream and marginalized people. Rooted in an understanding that Jesus' gospel message is subversive of many of the dominant values and practices of our culture and our world today, they are intended to be disturbing sermons. But they disturb for the sake of healing and hope, always pointing to Jesus' good news of the liberating possibility of beloved community, inclusive of us all.
