It is imperative that in a serious study of homiletics we do not begin the same without a cursory knowledge of preaching. Before we ask: What is preaching? What is its meaning? What place should it have in the Bible program? Therefore it is desirable that we do not look at or consider preaching as one more discipline in the “curriculum” of a religious preparation. The same within the divine salvific purpose forms an integral part of the plan that in Jesus Christ was developed so that God entered into a historical appointment with the human being.
- The preaching
Preaching is divine-human. This comes from God, through men or women, for men and women. This divine-human dichotomy is discovered throughout biblical history. God through human instruments entered and enters into dialogue with his rational creatures.
For example, the ten commandments were divine in their origin and content, but through Moses (the human element) they reach the people. The priestly ministry is another illustration of this great biblical truth. The high priest became the great representative of men before God and of God before men. In the Latin priest language it is read “pontifex”, whose meaning is bridge builder. The priest’s function was to serve as a bridge between God and men. In our Lord Jesus Christ we have the true “pontifex” or “high priest” (Hebrews 2:17; 3:1; 4:4; 6:20; 7:25; 9:11). Through his sacrifice he has brought us into right relationship with God (Romans 5:1). The writer to the Hebrews says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
In the person of Jesus Christ this divine-human principle is discovered once again. Even his own name composed of him: Jesus Christ integrates his earthly mission (Jesus-Savior) with his divine mission (Christ-Anointed-Messiah). The apostle John declares: “In the beginning (eternity) was the Word (Greek, Logos), and the Word (Logos) was God (Greek, Theos)” (John 1:1). Three eschatological truths are highlighted here: First, the eternity of the Logos, “In the beginning was the Word.” Second, communion and divine relationship, “and the Word was with God.” Third, the divine nature and deity, “and the Word was God.”
Then in John 1:14 we read: “And the Word (Logos) was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.” In Jesus Christ the Theos (God) is united with the anthropos (man). God through Jesus Christ becomes tangible and visible to the human being.
The term Logos means: verb, word and thought. Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh. The Father through the Son communicates and enters into relationship with the world.
The Bible, the Word of God written for all, is divine-human. God inspired it, but divinely chosen men wrote it using their own literary style (2 Timothy 3:16).
Therefore it is to be expected that the preaching be divine-human. The God who spoke with an audible voice to Adam, Eve, Cain, Noah, Abraham and other biblical characters, still continues to speak through preaching. God’s methods of speaking to human beings have been very varied: audible voice, thunder, lightning, winds, the cloud of his glory, the flame of fire, still whistle, the prophet, dreams, visions, urim and thummin, sacred writings , angelic visitations and many other ways.
The writer of Hebrews in chapter 1:1–2 tells us in particular:
God, having spoken many times and in many ways in former times to the fathers through the prophets, in these last days has spoken to us through the Son, whom he appointed heir of all, and through whom he also made the universe.
So far what I have wanted to say is this: God uses the human element to enter into conversation with humanity. Jesus was the divine Word made flesh through which God spoke to humanity. The Bible is the inspired Word of God to holy men by which God continues to speak. Christian preaching is nothing but a divine-human event in which God uses human beings who have been called and commissioned as instruments to convey this message to man.
- Its meaning
In the previous paragraphs I argued a little about the purpose of Christian preaching. Now I will be more precise in defining preaching taking into account the opinion that some colleagues have contributed to the matter. On these statements I will formulate some reflections that I know will be useful. They will help us to have a proper definition of Christian preaching.
- Orlando Costas defines preaching thus
“Likewise, preaching receives its authority from God. That authority follows from the fact that it is a message that is rooted in what God has said. Furthermore, it is a fact that the inherent authority of preaching is the result of the very presence of God in the act of preaching. Preaching is authoritative because the one who preaches is not man, but God through the preacher, so that the word preached truly becomes the Word of God.”1
In his definition, Costas, who was a great exponent of the biblical text, points out the following characteristics of preaching:
First: The authority of preaching “It is from God.” What distinguishes Christian preaching from any other kind of discourse is that reality. The preacher does not rely on his persuasive, logical, or rhetorical arguments to give the preaching an authoritative basis. He rather he exposes the message backed by the authority that God has conferred on him. Preaching without divine sanction is hollow, purposeless, just empty speech or a homiletic exercise.
That authority is not received by homiletical discipline. It has to come directly from God. The preachers who have been used to start spiritual revolutions have been those who have ministered in the authority of the Lord.
Second: According to Costs “That authority follows from the fact that it is a message that is rooted in what God has said.” Preaching is nothing but giving a message from God. At least that is what is expected of a preacher. The preacher is a messenger with the task of giving others the message that God has given him. The greatest danger and the worst presumption is to give our message and not God’s message. When the messenger preaches himself, speaking of his deeds and experiences at the expense of God’s deeds and sayings, he is in grave danger of preaching his own gospel.
Paul, the great theologian of the Christian church said something that is related to the point under consideration: “But I make it known to you, brothers, that the gospel which I preached is not according to man; for I neither received nor learned it from any man, but by revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11–12).
God’s message has to come by divine revelation. It does not occur in the mind of human reasoning. God has to give it. The apostle does not intend in his words to downplay the importance of homiletical preparation in the event of preaching. But he does take it for granted that the message to be preached has to come from above.
Homiletics is not a conduit or receiver to receive the divine message. It is rather a process, a tool, a means, or the way to transmit the divine message to human beings. It is not an end but a means to an end.
The empty preaching of God’s message leads to the proclamation of a “different gospel” (Galatians 1:6), or the announcement of “another gospel” (Galatians 1:8). What someone has called “the gospel according to Saint I.”
Many preachers base their arguments on what was said by Barth, Burtlman, Calvin, Luther, Wesley, Tillich, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and other theologians in general. The highest authority of the gospel preacher is not the philosophical school of contemporary thought or theological school of thought, nor the ecclesiastical creed of the denomination or dogmatic and traditional principles. The authority of the Christian messenger is backed “upon what God has said.” That is, in the written Word: The Bible. Preaching without being rooted in scriptural revelation is the voice of God and not of man! (Acts 12:22).
Third: The preacher is a means, “the one who preaches is not the preacher, but God through the preacher”. If the preachers recognized that it is not their preaching but the preaching of the Lord….
Someone once said to John Bunyan, “You have preached a good sermon.” His disconcerting response was: “The devil already told me as he was coming down from the pulpit.”2
The well-known preacher Spurgeon said:
“God’s message deserves all my ability; and when I transmit it, my whole being should be there; no part of it should go astray or fall asleep. Some, when they go up to the pulpit, are not there.”3
Many, after preaching, return home frustrated and discouraged. They expected different results. Perhaps there were sinners and they did not respond to the invitation of salvation. The sick believers, although they heard the call for divine healing, ignored it. Nobody congratulated them for the preaching.
The preacher must remember that the message is from God. Therefore, the results of preaching belong to Him. All that psychology of full altars for the ability of the preacher is not the true results produced by the gospel. I know of many preachers that if the altar is not filled after their preaching, they use any artifice to satisfy their own ego. God doesn’t like that. He is God and he will know how and when he will work.
Fourth: The purpose is that the preached word and the word of God are the same. Costas affirms: “so that the preached word truly becomes the word of God”. When does God speak in his sermon or in a sermon? It is a very difficult question to answer. The preacher is often without natural knowledge of what God is doing or saying. At other times preachers are aware of what God is saying and doing. But somehow in the preaching event much of what the preacher expresses is truly the Word of God. That is, God speaks directly using the voice of the preacher.
- José M. Martínez defines preaching
“It is the communication, in the form of oral discourse, of the divine message deposited in Sacred Scripture, with the power of the Holy Spirit and through a suitable person, in order to meet the spiritual needs of an audience.”4
First: Martínez considers preaching as “communication in the form of oral discourse”. The preacher does not write for the people but orally announces to the people. More than anything, the task of preaching is the task of speaking and not of writing. Although we do not deny the effectiveness of written sermons to be read. But we are aware that the spoken anointing has deeper effects than the written one. For such…