A reminder as to why we continue to open our Bibles and listen to God’s word every Sunday
Why do evangelical churches major on the sermon rather than, say, sharing God’s word in discussion or in a question & answer session?
Don’t these activities get truth across to people?
Of course, there is a place for such things. But nevertheless in the early church, the public proclamation of God’s word had pride of place, both evangelistically and in the church (Mark 1.38; Romans 1.15). Paul’s command to Timothy, given in the light of Judgment Day, was ‘Preach the word’. And Timothy was to do that when it was in fashion and when it was out of fashion (2 Timothy 4.2-4). Why is that? Why the insistence on preaching?
The answer lies, not so much in the culture of the first-century world, but in the fact that the mode of communication has some vital things to say about what we are communicating. We are to take notice of the well-known phrase of 1960s communication guru Marshall McLuhan: ‘The medium is the message.’
From the New Testament data, preaching may be generally defined as the public proclamation of the message of God by a man commissioned to the task (Romans 10.14, 15). The medium of preaching indicates at least two essential Christian truths.
It speaks of who Christ is
Preaching tells us that Jesus is Lord.
The fundamental confession of the Christian church is that, having died for our sins and risen from the dead in victory over sin and Satan, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and reigns as Lord of all (Matthew 28.18-20; Acts 2.36; 1 Corinthians 12.3; Philippians 2.9-11).
Christ’s word is not therefore, ultimately up for discussion or open to opinion. It comes from his throne. It is to be declared, heard and obeyed. He is Lord! The preacher is meant to be nothing less than a commissioned herald who brings the word of the king. As Christians we have been brought into a kingdom, not a democracy. And we invite non-Christians as well into the kingdom of Jesus.
So we find in Scripture that the true preacher…
• Is sent by God (Romans 10.14,15)
• Is an ambassador of Christ (2 Corinthians 5.20)
• Is one through whom Jesus himself speaks (Ephesians 2.17; Romans 10.14)
• Is one who conveys the message of God (1 Thessalonians 2.13)
It is declaration/proclamation which is congruent or fits with who Jesus really is – Lord of all. The preacher announces the commands of the Sovereign. This doesn’t mean the preacher himself is infallible, but it does mean that when he speaks according to Scripture it is the word of the Lord.
It speaks of what the gospel is
Preaching also indicates the finished work of Christ and the freeness of our salvation.
Commenting on Romans 10.6-8, Jonathan Griffiths puts it like this in his study Preaching in the New Testament*: ‘… the gospel does not require strenuous effort … (People) do not need to reach up to heaven or down into the abyss to take hold of Christ, because he has already descended to earth and been raised from the dead. That is to say, all that is needed to achieve salvation has been done already … All that is required now is a believing response to the proclaimed word (Romans 10.9-11).’
He continues: ‘Here Paul shows that the dissemination of the gospel message through preaching reflects the very nature of the gospel as something given by God and received by humanity – in particular, as something spoken to be heard. Humanity does not need to seek out salvation, but the word of faith is near at hand through the preaching of the gospel (Romans 10.8), so that those in need of salvation need only hear, believe and confess.’
So preaching itself indicates that Jesus is Lord and that salvation is free by faith.
Because this mode of communication which we call ‘preaching’ indicates such things, it should always be central in the life of the church and its outreach.
Our preachers
Putting these two elements of the message inherent in Christian preaching together, we see that the preacher should be characterised by a humble and benevolent authority. There is an authority because he preaches the message of King Jesus. There is a humility, because he serves not himself but the king to whom he is answerable. There is a benevolence, because Christ loves sinners and at the great cost of his own blood offers salvation freely to all through the preacher. All this also reminds us to pray for our preachers.
* Preaching in the New Testament, An Exegetical and Biblical-Theological Study by Jonathan Griffiths. Apollos, 2017. ISBN 978 1 783 594 917
