Setting the stage. A change in hearing ; Proposal and plan of the book ; Introducing distance in preaching -- Aesthetic distance in performance. Aesthetic distance ; Performing distance ; Backdrop for preaching -- Distance in preaching : Fred Craddock's homiletical method. Preserving the text : distance in interpretation ; Protecting the hearer : distance in the sermon ; Respecting the hearer : distance in delivery ; Summary -- Absorption in the sermon : postliberal homiletics. Mark Ellingsen's homiletic ; Charles Campbell's homiletic ; Absorption reconsidered -- Clearing the sanctuary : room and space. Distance reconsidered ; Recent proposals ; Conclusion -- Two sermons. Were you there? : a sermon on John 19:16b-25 ; Sibling revelry : a sermon on Luke 15:11-32.