begins. The congregation expects the gospel to be proclaimed one way or another, and for Jesus Christ to emerge as Savior and Lord—the answer to the sermonic bind. But how? In what way? For what purpose? This unknown middle ground provides the context for sermonic tension. It should be noted in the context of the parallel between sermons and literary plots that the suspense of ambiguity—the not knowing what or why or how—is the key to the attention of the audience. In the case of the movie High Noon,