In my work routine I read various articles and books. When something strikes me, I will mark the page with a small sticky tab. If I have the time I will copy the page and place it on a pile of other "thought provoking" items I think I might like to refer to again. After a while the pile of papers needs to be sorted, and sometimes I wonder what it was that struck me about a certain item, and not being able to remember, the item is "recycled".
I did such a sort this week, and came across something that I had copied long hand a long time ago. It was clearly based on something I had read, but unfortunately the source was not recorded. What was remarkable about this was how it followed on from what I wrote here last week about preaching, testing the spirit of the preaching, and how we listen to the preached Word of God.
Preaching, or the preparation to preach, forms a very large part of my weekly work. You won't be surprised then that the whole enterprise of preaching is something that I think about a great deal. Not only what gets proclaimed, but how and why. Everything related to this unique task which God has given to His church comes under regular examination and question, from the selection of a portion of Scripture which will form the basis of a sermon; the exegesis (study) of the text; construction of a sermon outline; the sermon itself; the delivery; the environment in which the sermon is to be delivered; the ears of the hearers; the condition of the hearts of the hearers; the condition of the heart of the preacher - all these things and more are constantly reviewed. Part of that review process has to do with a certain amount of self doubt - who am I that I should handle the Word of God, and that I should be bringing this before others with authority and conviction when I am as in as great need of the teaching as anyone else? It also has to do with testing what is being done to ensure that it is as God wants it to be, and along with that goes a constant desire to do better and to improve.
That being said however, the command of God to the preacher remains unchanged. From the beginning God's command to those who have been commissioned to proclaim His Word by way of preaching has been "Preach My Word".
By the same token, God's command to the person in the congregation under the proclamation of God's Word remains - "Take special care how you hear".
Where our Lord grants what used to be called the unction of the Holy Spirit - the compelling life blessing of the presence and joy of the Spirit of God upon the preacher and in the hearer, that is when the congregation is richly blessed, even if what God declares through the preaching is something hard to hear (Ps 144:5). Jeremiah, deeply disturbed over the corruption of the prophets of his day was still overwhelmed by the greatness of the Lord and His holy Words (Jer 23:9).
Let me quote the piece I found on my paper pile. As I indicated, I don't know whether it is a proper quote or an adaptation of what I read:
"It is too commonly supposed that eloquence depends solely upon the speaker; that the hearer is only a passive subject, and as such is merely to absorb into him or herself a mighty and powerful influence that flows or supposedly flows out from the soul of the one preaching. It is also commonly believed that the preacher is the only active and passionate agent in the process.
"It will be found however, when the matter is carefully examined and considered, that eloquence, in its highest forms and effect, is a joint product of two factors - of an eloquent speaker and an eloquent hearer. Burning words presuppose some fuel in the souls to whom they are addressed.
"Life in the preacher, and life in the hearer, - vitality upon both sides - this under God is the open secret of successful preaching."