Some Reflections on Preaching

I took a class on preaching this semester and was asked to write a one page summary of the course. I thought I’d share it here too.

“Any notion that the preacher is less than an ambassador of the kingdom of God reduces the pulpit from prophetic urgency to timid homilies on marginal matters.” Merrill R. Abbey, quoted in Preaching Christ from the Old Testament by Sidney Greidanus

In reflecting on Gospel Communication, I think first of the the image of John Stott preparing sermons on his knees. His Bible is open before him and his head is bowed. Why? Because he is not simply studying abstract truth that he means to relate in a lecture. Rather he is encountering the living God and asking the same for the people he will preach to. This has been the semester’s primary theme for me–though the Gospel itself  is central, the centrality of the Gospel must first be evident in the life of the preacher. If I want to faithfully proclaim the Gospel, I must faithfully live the Gospel.

So the living of the Gospel and the preaching of the Gospel are interconnected, and sermons themselves must reflect this reality. This is because “accuracy is not the ultimate goal of preaching…It is encounter with the King so that the rule of Christ extends over the lives of the hearers.” And an encounter with Christ through preaching can only come when there is clarity, compassion, and conviction. Clarity so that the hearers might see Christ. Compassion so that the hearers might feel the love of Christ. And conviction so that the hearers might leave to live for Christ.

And clarity, compassion, and conviction are intimately tied to character. If encounter with Christ is the true goal of preaching, then as a preacher I must be encountering Christ.  If I preach a Christ I do not believe in and love, then those who hear me will not encounter a Christ to believe in and love. If character is central, then my union with Christ is central, not simply for the effectiveness of my preaching, but for the sake of my own soul. So I walk away with this question–does my proclamation of Christ vibrate with the clarity, compassion, and conviction that come from preparing in his presence and feasting as a son at the table of his word?