31 August 2024

In his essay, ‘The Theology of Worship’ in his recently published ‘Reformed Humanism’, Professor David Fergusson says some very significant things about preaching. Let me illustrate with four quotations from the text. They all emphasise the supreme significance of preaching the Word which I think has faded in our own day.

1. ‘For Luther, the Word of God could be described as present in, with, and under the words of the preacher.’ As Fergusson points out, Luther is using sacramental language to describe what is going on.

2. ‘In interpreting the message of the Bible for a given time and place, the sermon becomes again the Word of God.’

3. ‘Preaching is neither a monotonous action that simply repeats in timeless fashion a single message, nor a paraphrase of the Scriptural passages that have already been read….The preaching of God’s Word is facilitated both by Scripture and the ongoing action of the Spirit.’

4. ‘Where the preacher speaks, there God too will address us. This attaches to preaching, together with the training and preparation invested in it, the highest seriousness.’

It is the unique vocation of the minister of Word and Sacrament to preach the sermon. This requires great diligence in terms of preparation and confident faith  that in the preaching, the  Holy Spirit will reveal to those who listen the living Word of God. This is serious work if not the most important work of all.

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