SERMONS: BIBLICAL WISDOM FOR DAILY LIVING

Peter J. Gomes

William Morrow & Co.

256 pp., $25

Even at Harvard, it is not enough to nourish the mind. People also need something for the soul. As head of Memorial Church, Reverend Peter J. Gomes has the formidable task of feeding the university's "spiritual hunger." But this is a task extends beyond exploring the scriptures. Hailed as one of the seven best preachers in America, Gomes satiates the religious appetite with sermons that his audience savors, replete with advice on how to join the practical to the spiritual--from how to focus for an exam to how to extract principles out of an amoral world.

The result is an appeal that permeates Christian and secular worlds both. Gomes' sermons compel his audience to capitalise on their talents--even if they are unsure about what those talents are. As Gomes likes to tell his undergraduates, "You all have a future. You just don't know what it is yet." The contagion of his passion is unavoidable; we emerge from his sermons feeling inspired, not just about spirituality, but, remarkably, about who we are. Gomes knows that "words influence. Words are power." In his new books Sermons, he concentrates the power of 40 his most compelling homilies.

Although reading the words in Sermons is not quite as satisfying as listening to Gomes say them, the message is not lost. Even on paper Gomes' sermons are readable, funny and quenching to anyone who has felt spiritually parched. With quips like "Who is not annoyed by Martha Stewart?" and the observation that too many people pray to God only before they take an exam or purchase a lottery ticket, Gomes' Sermons makes preaching more entertaining than didactical.

But the book does more than provide a chuckle. It is Gomes' attempt to contextualize the Bible for modern day life, or what he refers to as "awakening a sense of the divine" in a peculiar mix of Memorial Church's parishioners that includes people who seek biblical wisdom and people who seek his star-preacher attraction. For Gomes, the bible contains the "eternal truths that...have the capacity to speak to our ever evolving set of our circumstances." His book adapts and interprets these truths for all parishioners. And he adds the welcomed reassurance that "We have no right to expect all of you to become like Mother Theresa." In instructing how to be a Christian without being a saint, Gomes writes about the universal struggle that puts spirituality at something more than familiarity with the Bible: "In an anonymous and indifferent world, it is...our hope to make something more of our time here than mere survival or existence."

His perennial theme is how to tap into one's own potential. The result is that Sermons has the flavour of being written not by a preacher, but by a motivational speaker. It is hard not to feel invigorated speaker. It is hard not to feel invigorated when Gomes wants us to spend, not merely Sunday but the rest of the week, pondering that "Everyone of us is born with endowed opportunity...God has destined you for something unique, something singular with your name on it. Your job in life is to find out what that is."

Of course his book explores other themes beyond self actualization. In one sermon that traces the etymology of the word "humbug," Gomes illuminates sources for Christian hope within a pessimistic world. In a homily that looks at relationships, Gomes writes that "The bulk of interpersonal problems tend to be those communication. Why can't we say `I love you', `I need you,' `I fear you,' yes, even `I can't stand you'?"

In a later sermon Gomes names fear as the culprit: "Everybody is fearful, terrified of some public or private demon...It is fear not only holds us together, but keeps us from being whole." On the threshold of a new millennium, Gomes worries that this sense of fear may be particularly potent. People are anxious that "There is a limitation to improvement. Our circumstances, instead of getting better, and better, may be getting worse and worse." But with the optimism that is the preacher's hallmark, Gomes offers his congregation an inoculation: emphasis that "you are not stuck in materialistic world;" you "can aspire beyond your circumstances."

Yet there are questions that Sermons does not answer. Upon examining whether religion can be symbiotic with academia at Harvard or anywhere else, Gomes asserts that "Theology is the queen of the sciences; there is no antagonism between faith and reason."

It is a puzzling claim. And one that ,indicates that in the confusing arena of ideas,rhetoric sometimes takes over where natural reasonmay lead. Gomes, of course, has no problem withrhetoric. His self-assured air combined and deepvocal tenor compels few to question his words asanything but gospel. And so, looking upon his fullcongregation on Sundays at Memorial Church, Gomesconcludes that "Godless Harvard" is not Godless atall. He illuminates a backlash to the scientificemphasis on quantification and demystification.Gomes says that the realization that "science hasnot produced a utopia" has buoyed a risingspiritual tide that "makes it easier to preach in1998 than in 1978."

But those who have seen documentaries aboutPeter Gomes on television know that the mediaattention he has brought to Harvard and MemorialChurch has originated form more than just thesagacity and self-assurance of his sermons. Therest of the world seemed to ascend the steps ofMemorial Church back in 1991 when Gomes' publiclystated that he was a homosexual. Although mostapplauded his announcement, a small but vocalgroup demanded his resignation and even held acandlelight vigil in front of the church.

Seven years later, although the controversy hassubsided, the effects linger. Gomes reflects onthe incident which proved that an institution thatis intellectual might not necessarily be tolerant.

After a long pause, Gomes admits that he looksback on that time with a degree of gratitude. Eventhough the intimate details of his private lifewere made the open subject of debate, he believesit helped to make Harvard a more interesting andtolerant place today. And as much as thecontroversy polarized the campus, Gomes reflects,a price has to be paid for diversity and thatprice is tolerance.

What Gomes has decidedly less patience for isthe people who expect him to capitalise on themedia attention he has garnered. Gomes' lifeconforms to the vision of an American successstory. The son of a cranberry farmer, Gomes'father offered a tepid response when he learnedthat his son wanted to be a preacher. But sensingthat he had found his life's vocation, Gomespursued the path he felt destined to. And, seeinghim at the pulpit, it is hard to imagine him doinganything else.

Games however, does not welcome all of theattention his passion and resilience has drawn. Asa homosexual African American Republican, Gomeshas met tremendous political pressure to furtherhis minority associations. He has resisted. Gomeshas fought to retain his autonomy and independenceand he maintains with unabashed pride that theonly adjective in front of my name is "Christian."

Almost a decade after the controversy thatshone the media spotlight into Memorial Church,Gomes declares with a smile, "I was interestingbefore 1991 and I like to think I'm even moreinteresting today."

It appears as though people agree. MemorialChurch is still full on Sundays with theever-changing tide of graduate and undergraduatestudents, knowing that anyone with a "spiritualhunger" can either hear Gomes or read Gomes--andfind themselves feeling decidedly full