I never heard him preach, but he has influenced my preaching as much as anyone.
The late Eugene Peterson, who would have turned 90 on Sunday, has formed me in my pastoral and preacherly identity in more ways than I can number. A quick glance at my bookshelves, I count ten of his books, although I know there are more buried in boxes and scattered at home. Through his writings, Peterson has helped me to see the congregation as a story-formed community, and the preacher as the one with the holy vocation of connecting its story with the Story of God.
In honor of the legacy of Pastor Pete (as he came to be called by his parishioners), I want to share with you a particular insight about preaching from Peterson which I have been ruminating on of late, in addition to the “dirty little secret” of his own sermons.