A Psalmic-Theological Homiletic to Korean Immigrant Congregations

This paper intends to offer a strategic proposal for a new homiletic theory, namely “a psalmic-theological homiletic” for first-generation Korean immigrant congregations who have experienced the pain of displacement (c.f., marginality and translocality), who have relatively low socio-economic status, and who struggle with their purpose in life as immigrants in the United States. This proposed homiletic is deeply rooted in the theology of the Psalms and its rhetorical movement. This re-envisioned mode of eschatological and prophetic preaching in times of difficulty seeks to recover ancient Israel’s psalmic, rhetorical tradition aimed toward faith. Korean immigrant preaching must intentionally reinforce immigrants’ faith through the reaffirmation of Jesus Christ as the foundation of Christians’ true hope, liberating immigrants from a prosperity-oriented hope based on their shamanistic heritage. Korean immigrant preaching must also reclaim God’s sovereignty by envisioning God’s new future in the midst of Korean immigrants’ current marginalized situation. Therefore, the proposed homiletic’s theological-rhetorical strategy attempts to both transform hearers’ habitus of living in faith and enhance their hope-filled life through communal anticipation of God’s future coming to those on the margins. In other words, this proposed homiletic intends to facilitate Korean immigrant congregations’ reorientation to God and their communal involvement (as a new habitus) in God’s eschatological kingdom vision, emerging from the margins—precisely the opposite of worldly exclusion and bigotry against marginalized others. Specifically, this proposed homiletic critically adopts key features from psalms of lament and their typical, fourfold theological-rhetorical movement (i.e., lament, retelling a story, confessional doxology, and obedient vow) as now core elements of a revised Korean-immigrant preaching practice. This homiletic involves critical and theological readings of Walter Brueggemann’s Cadences of Home: Preaching Among Exiles (1997) and Claus Westermann’s Praise and Lament in the Psalms (1987) in light of the Korean immigrants’ specific view and their contextual situation. Through critical readings on both biblical scholars’ works, my psalmic-theological homiletic consists of (a) lament for the immigrant’s suffering (in unjust situations); (b) re-telling the story or remembrance of God’s redemptive activity in the past; (c) confessional doxology as a celebration of God’s impending reign in hopeful expectation; and (d) obedient vow as a form of faithful practice. First, the rhetoric of lament as God’s voice for marginalized immigrants is a tool of theological critique of the people’s worldly suffering, and representatively embraces voices of the voiceless and marginalized peoples as the voice of God’s own grief. Second, recounting God’s earlier deeds allows the hearers to cling to God’s reality in desperate times because remembering the historical story not only evokes a cognitive memory, but brings the people into God’s presence. Third, the rhetoric of confessional doxology seeks to declare a living, confessional faith in the mode of praise due to God’s unfailing love on the edges. Finally, the rhetorical step of obedient vow intentionally intensifies Christian immigrants’ spiritual commitment to the word of God in terms of the church’s embodiment of the proclaimed gospel.