In literary criticism, there is a school of interpretation based on “reader response”; in a sense, this is what is missing in homiletics texts: how the preacher and congregation work together to create the sermon using interplay and interaction. In the semiotic sermon, you cannot escape interplay. It is there whether you want it to be or not. Metaphors are by definition experiential, interactive, and relational. EPIC preaching is at its best when it turns images into props and when those props become interactive icons that people can take home with them. Jesus was a master at this.
