Abstract
Luke A. Powery is the Dean of Duke University Chapel and Associate Professor of Homiletics at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. He is the author of several books, including Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching and Dem Dry Bones: Preaching, Death, and Hope. Powery is ordained in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Rise Up Shepherd! is the product of the intertwining of Powery’s background in music and his current ministry in the liturgical context of Duke University Chapel (p. x).
Powery recognizes in the preface the driving force behind this book: the realization that our world is fractured and in need of hope for reconciliation. He sees the canon of African American spirituals as an answer to our problem, as they were created in a brutal period of American history for enslaved peoples, yet they resound with words of hope for a brighter future. The Spirituals embody the “future present hope” that connects well to the prevalent Christian perspective of the “now-and-not-yet” Kingdom of God (p. ix). The season of Advent is the season of the coming of hope, the coming of Christ to bring light to this fallen world. Powery insightfully combines these powerful heritages of the spirituals and the season of Advent into a little book that can easily be read and understood by many people, from laypersons to intensely busy clergy. Although reading the short devotionals does not take a lot of time, the reflection that can occur throughout the day, week, and season of Advent on these great pieces of Christian tradition will have the possibility of effecting the reader’s connection with both God and humanity.
Powery divided the book into four weeks of daily devotional reflections for the season of Advent. Each week has seven devotionals with titles taken from the spiritual to be reflected upon that day. The titles are eye-catching, ranging from “Ain’t Dat Good News?” to “Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow.” Each day begins with three or four Scripture readings from the Psalms, the Epistles, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. Following that are the lyrics for a spiritual, a reflection and expansion of the spiritual for what it might mean for readers today, and a prayer for the day.
This devotional abounds in hope for a future that is better than the present, a future hope shaped by the words of the enslaved people of American history. The context of the authors of the spirituals is what gives their words even more credence, even more power, and even more authority, because these words of hope come from the voices of marginalized persons (p. xi). In a world that continues to be filled with tension, injustice, and sin, this devotional and the spirituals upon which it is based can give readers a renewed hope that God hears, sees, and knows the cries of people against the injustices of the world, and that God will be with those who seek a brighter future for all peoples of the earth. The title of the book, Rise Up Shepherd! speaks to that hope just as the early church spoke their hope in the refrain, “Come, Lord Jesus” (p. xiii).
A great strength of this book is its brevity; the impact of the content is such that many words would drown out its power. Another strength is the marginalized perspective that is given front and center attention in this book, in a context in the world where many times marginalized voices do not get published and circulated widely. A third strength is Powery’s ability to take a marginalized, alternative narrative of certain spirituals in the book and broaden the understanding and application, so that persons of diverse backgrounds are still able to connect with its meaning. The only noticeable weakness of the volume is the unusual usage of the same spiritual for two different days of devotion without mention of intentionality, when every other day contains a unique spiritual to itself.
Rise Up Shepherd! would be a great devotional to read as a church body, especially for a church looking to either remember the heritage of the spirituals or introduce that heritage to a congregation that has little prior knowledge of the richness to be found. For one who has grown up with these songs in their spiritual repertoire, the devotionals are surely to take an even deeper form of reflection as these songs connect memories of one’s past with another’s past, of one’s future with another’s future. For those who have never heard certain spirituals included in this book, Powery’s reflections and prayers will surely aid the newcomer to a greater appreciation and respect for the rich theological heritage of the spirituals.