Against the easy assurance of a too-enculturated religion, Walter Brueggemann refocuses the preaching task around the decentering, destabilizing, always risky Word that confronts us in Scripture - if we have the courage to hear. These powerful essays, previously available only in journals, are here combined with a newly composed preface and introduction. Includes a foreword from the Reverend William H. Willimon. Contents Foreword William H. Willimon Preface Introduction: At Risk with the Text 1. Preaching as Reimagination 2. The Preacher, the Text, and the People 3. Ancient Utterance and Contemporary Hearing 4. An Imaginative "Or" 5. That the World May Be Redescribed 6. The Social Nature of the Biblical Text for Preaching 7. The Shrill Voice of the Wounded Party 8. Life or Death: De-privileged Communication 9. Preaching to Exiles 10. Preaching a Sub-version 11. Truth-telling as Subversive Obedience