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The brevity of The Pastor: A Spirituality (Fortress, 2006, $20) belies the depth of reflection contained between the book's covers. Unsurprisingly, author Gordon Lathrop — a retired professor of liturgy at the ELCA's Philadelphia seminary — centers the pastor's spirituality in the worshipping assembly.

This assembly is "a gathering place for communal encounter with [the] larger meaning" of Christian faith and life (p. 4). Worship is a symbol redolent with other symbols: Word, baptismal washing, Lord's Supper, prayers, and remembering the poor. The pastor moves among these symbols, drawing attention to their paradoxical nature — that is, each symbol is, in some sense, "broken." Moreover, the pastor also is a symbol, "broken" yet efficacious, for the sake of the community.

Lathrop outlines a catechism for pastors to live by. "Whatever a spirituality for pastors may turn out to be, it will surely include the life-long relearning of the symbols with which pastors deal and also, along with that relearning, the life-long venture — and danger — of living as a symbol" (p. 18). These symbols are so critical for the pastor and the people that they must be "learned by heart."

As the pastor prepares to preside in the assembly, the Lord's Prayer occupies center stage, with a focus on the fourth (daily bread) and fifth (forgiveness) petitions. "Preparation for leadership in the assembly will... keep bread and forgiveness central, strong, simple, unobscured, clear, accessible" (pp. 32-33). Next comes preaching — "an assembly-based event, a biblical event, and an eschatological event for the sake of faith" (p. 46). Third, the pastor serves at table, for "Christianity came into existence as a meal fellowship" (p. 62). Finally, the pastor reminds the assembly to care for the poor. Here Lathrop quotes Luther: "As love and support are given to you [in the Lord's Supper], you in turn must render love and support to Christ in his needy ones.... You must fight, work, pray, and — if you cannot do more — have heartfelt sympathy" (p. 80).

In the concluding section of The Pastor, Lathrop shows how the central catechetical texts of the liturgy offer "hope, renewal, and reorientation of the pastor's life" (p. 95). So, ruminating on the Creed feeds the pastor's life of study and prayer. The Ten Words (Commandments) reorient the pastor's life "according to God's life-giving, world-making mercy in Christ" (p. 116). And the liturgical texts for Baptism, the Supper, and the Office of the Keys aid the pastor in facing death in all of its manifestations.

One need not agree with every one of Lathrop's conclusions to be grateful for this splendid book. In a time when "the maceration of the minister" continues (as the late Joseph Sittler described ministerial fragmentation), Lathrop presents a compelling and coherent vision for pastoral ministry. His trademark elegance in expression is matched by a heartfelt passion for the service that pastors render.

Anyone who has studied the life and witness of Martin Luther is aware of the great reformer's legendary sense of humor. But did you know that to date "no major study has been published on this subject" (pp. vii)? In response to this lacuna in Luther research, retired ELCA seminary professor Eric Gritsch has penned The Wit of Martin Luther (Augsburg Fortress, 2006, $7).

Gritsch mainly lets Luther speak for himself, making this book a wondrous brief compendium of old "chestnuts" from Brother Martin. Yet Gritsch also carefully delineates the place of humor in Luther's theological vision. Lightheartedness is the natural accompaniment to being justified solely by faith, that is, "saved from being deadly serious" (p. 7).

What emerged, for Luther, was an ability to find humor in a variety of situations. So, Luther the polemicist could lampoon the veneration of sacred relics — penning a satirical pamphlet that advertised bogus relics such as "three flames from the burning bush ... [and] two eggs and a feather from the Holy Spirit" (p. 29). Luther the Bible scholar speculated playfully on questions such as whether the manure was kept on the lowest deck of Noah's ark or tossed out the window (p. 47). Luther the condemned outlaw used humor to assuage his anxiety, while hoping for more time to "tweak... the pope's nose a little now and then" (p. 66). Luther the family man reveled in the simple pleasures of parenthood, perceiving even in his infant son's robust nursing at Katie's breast the hilaritas of unvarnished trust in God (p. 93).

Lawrence R. Wohlrabe is book review editor for Lutheran Partners and senior pastor of Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Moorhead, Minnesota.

In Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism (W. W. Norton, 2006, $23.95 hardcover), Salon journalist Michelle Goldberg (who says she is a secular Jew) insightfully explores how right-wing religion has created and reinforced a version of Christianity that can foster bellicose policies of domination. President Bush's famous campaign phrase "compassionate conservatism," Goldberg contends, is really an insider phrase that implies an endorsement of a more totalitarian version of Christianity put forth in books by such authors as Marvin Olasky (p. 110).

Although Goldberg has a liberal slant, she does not incite a sense of panic. "Throughout the preceding chapters," she writes, "I've argued that the Christian nationalist movement has totalitarian elements. I want to be clear, however, that I am not suggesting that religious tyranny is imminent in the United States" (p. 181).

Kingdom Coming offers an insightful portrait of American life. Goldberg urges readers to take steps to prevent Christian nationalism from becoming tyrannical.

Whatever Happened to Delight? Preaching the Gospels in Poetry and Parables (Westminster John Knox, 2006, $17.95 paper) is based on the 2003 Beecher Lectures at Yale by renowned preacher and poet J. Barrie Shepherd.

Shepherd contends that most preachers neglect cultivating delight in proclamation. The author doesn't argue that sermons should avoid serious topics or focus on entertainment. But the Good News should contain more joy, and preachers should dare to be more imaginative, poetic, and evocative. Shepherd deftly illustrates this with excerpts from his own poems and sermons.

Reviewer David P. von Schlichten is pastor of St. James Lutheran Church, Youngstown, Pennsylvania.