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The Angst of Preaching

The Angst of Preaching. If I had known I would have not let myself be drawn into it with twenty-four horses. Ingratitude is our reward; and after that we still have to bother ourselves with the sectarians and give account to God on the last day. And for this we have to let the peasants and the no

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The Angst of Preaching

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    1. The Angst of Preaching I have often said that, if I could come down (from the pulpit) with a good conscience, I would rather be stretched upon a wheel or carry stones than preach one sermon. For anyone who is in this office will always be plagued; and therefore I have often said that the damned devil and not a good man should be a preacher. But were stuck with it now. Martin Luther

    2. The Angst of Preaching If I had known I would have not let myself be drawn into it with twenty-four horses. Ingratitude is our reward; and after that we still have to bother ourselves with the sectarians and give account to God on the last day. And for this we have to let the peasants and the noblemen starve us until we feel like turning in our key and saying: Go preach yourselves in the name of all the devils! Martin Luther

    3. The Devil For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

    4. The Devil As a witness to Christ, the sermon is a struggle with demons. Every sermon must overcome Satan. Every sermon fights a battle. But this does no occur through the dramatic efforts of the preacher. It happens only through the proclamation of the One who has trodden upon the head of the devil. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    5. The Devil We usually do not recognize the devil anyway. We do not find him; Christ finds him. The devil departs from him. Satan waits nowhere so for his prey as where the congregation gathers itself. Nothing is more important to Satan than to hinder Christs coming to the congregation. Therefore Christ must be preached. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    6. The Devil The call of Christ and baptism leads Christians into a daily struggle against sin and Satan. D.B. The Call to Discipleship

    7. The Devil In the work of pastoral care the devil himself moves against us. We cannot oppose the devil with anything else but the Word. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    8. Every Sermon Fights a Battle The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

    9. Every Sermon Fights a Battle Music and symbols do not make us without excuse; they do not break down the will! D.B. Lectures on Homiletics

    10. Every Sermon Fights a Battle Preaching is not a matter of artistic presentation; but rather it is occupied with human beings in their sin and need, confronted and encouraged by the Word. D.B. Lectures on Homiletics

    11. Every Sermon Fights a Battle But if God has a design of mercy to them, it is his manner before he bestows true hope and comfort to them, to bring them into trouble, to distress them, and spoil their ease and false quietness, and to rouse them out their old resting and sleeping places, and to bring them into a wilderness Jonathan Edwards

    12. Every Sermon Fights a Battle Let us examine what those locks and bars are which oppose and forbid Christs entrance into the hearts of sinners. And they will be found to be ignorance , unbelief, pride, custom in sin, presumption and prejudices against the ways of holiness. Bars enough to secure the soul in Satans possession, and frustrate all the designs of mercy. John Flavel

    13. The Goal of Preaching Preaching has the dual objectives of establishing the Christian congregation and building it up. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    14. The Goal of Preaching The three elements of education, inspiration, and conversion must be present in every sermon but not as three separate parts of the presentation. That stand imperceptibly behind the sermon. At certain times and for certain purposes one may completely dominate over others. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    15. Word of God - Scripture "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Luke 8:11

    16. The Word of God - Scripture We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers. 1 Thessalonians 2:13

    17. Word of God - Scripture You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23

    18. The Word of God - Scripture Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God 1 Peter 4:11

    19. Word of God - Scripture As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

    20. Preaching the Word of God On this Luther and Calvin were in total agreement. Both had high views of preaching because both recognized that God was present and active in the pulpit. Luther said forthrightly: the preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. Calvin put it even more bluntly. He said that God deigns to consecrate to himself the mouths and tongues of men in order that his voice may resound in them Elsewhere, he describes the minister of the Gospel as the very mouth of God. James Daane, Preaching with Confidence

    21. Preaching the Word of God This emphasis was shared by the Reformers, both Luther and Calvin were convinced that, when the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is being proclaimed, God himself is heard by the listeners. Klaus Runia, New Dictionary of Theology , (IVP)

    22. Preaching the Word of God The preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed and received by the faithful; and that neither any other Word of God is to be invented nor is to be expected from heaven: and that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; for even if he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God remains still true and good. Second Helvetic Confession, Heinrich Bullinger 1566 (Swiss)

    23. Preaching the Word of God On the last day...God shall say to thee, Hast thou also heard that? and thou shalt say, Yea, and He saith further, Why then hast thou not believed? and thou sayest, Oh, I held it for a word of man since some poor chaplain or village parson said it. So then shall that same word which sticketh in thine heart accuse thee and be thine accuser and judge at the day. For it is Gods Word, tis Himself thou hast heard, as Christ saith, He that heareth you, heareth me... Martin Luther

    24. Preaching the Word of God As a sacramental, preaching is not just the priest speaking. It is a divine-human encounter. It is God continuing to reveal himself in Christ, seeking the lost, healing the broken. lifting the fallen, bringing the dead back to life. It is God in Christ calling all to join him in loving toil for the Kingdom. Anthony Coniaris, Preaching the Word of God, (Greek Orthodox)

    25. Christ the Sermon The preacher does not therefore accomplish the application of the word; the preacher is not the one who shapes it and forms it to suit the congregation. With the introduction of the biblical word the text begins moving among the congregation. Likewise the word arises out of the Bible, takes shape as the sermon, and enters the congregation in order to bear it up. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    26. Christ the Sermon The proclaimed word is the Christ bearing human nature. This word is no new incarnation, but the Incarnate One who bears the sins of the world. Through the Holy Spirit this word becomes the actualization of his acceptance and sustenance. In the congregation all sins should be cast upon the Word Preaching must be done so that the hearer places all his needs, cares, fears, and sins upon the Word. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    27. Christ the Sermon The proclaimed word has its origin in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. It neither originates from a truth once perceived nor from personal experience. It is not the reproduction of a specific set of feelings. Nor is the word of the sermon the outward form for the substance that lies behind it. The proclaimed word is the incarnate Christ himself. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    28. Christ the Sermon So Christ is present in the Church as the spoken word, not as music nor as art. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    29. Christ the Sermon This proclamation of the Christ does not regard as its primary responsibility to be giving advice, arousing emotions, or stimulating the will - it will do these things too - but its intention is to sustain us. The Word is there that burdens might be laid upon it. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    30. Christ the Sermon ...when in Gods mercy there takes place a manifestation of the Incarnate Word from the Written Word, by the spoken word, then the incarnate word, the Son of God, truly is present, and truly is alive. In this way men who cannot hope to verify the emptiness of the tomb, or even to enjoy resurrection appearances, may be convinced of the Easter message and encounter the risen Jesus. C.K. Barrett, The Signs of an Apostle

    31. Christ the Sermon Therefore the proclaimed word is not a medium of expression for something else, something that lies behind it, but rather it is the Christ himself walking through his congregation as the Word. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    32. Christ the Sermon The form of the preached word is different from every other forms of speech. Other speeches are structured so that they have some truth that they wish to communicate either behind them or over them, or else they are arranged so as to express and emotion or teach a concept. These human words communicate something else besides what they are of themselves. They become means to an end. (Part 1) DB Lectures on Homiletics

    33. Christ the Sermon The meaning of the proclaimed word, however does not lie outside itself; it is the thing itself. It does not transmit anything else, it does not express anything else, it has no external objectives - rather, it communicates that it is itself; the historical Jesus Christ, who bears humanity upon himself with all its sorrows and its guilt. (part 2) DB Lectures on Homiletics

    34. Theology of the Cross The human word of preaching is not a phantom of the Word of God. Rather, Gods Word has really entered into the humiliation of the words of men. Mans sermon is the Word of God, because God has freely bound himself and is bound to the words of men. DB Christ the Center

    35. Theology of the Cross Jesus Christ, is hidden from us, and exists in the offensive form of preaching. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    36. The Theology of the Cross Thus in proclamation, the risen and exalted one is present in his humiliation.. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    37. Theology of the Cross Preaching is nothing less than God in Christ coming to us again in disguise as he did in Bethlehem. Now he comes through a poor, unworthy priest to proclaim his saving word. Often we fail to recognize the gift because it comes wrapped in a weak person. Anthony Coniaris, Preaching the Word of God

    38. The Text - The Cross When the sermon is regarded as an interpretation, then the involvement of the preacher is that of someone whose self is put to death for the sake of the Word, who dies to his or her own will and only wishes to be a hand servant of God. The preacher must only want what the Word wants. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    39. Theology of the Cross I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

    40. Theology of the Cross But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

    41. The Text The Cross By forsaking my personal ambitions I accompany the text along its own way into the congregation and thus remain natural, balanced, compassionate and factual. This permits the Words almost magnetic relationship to its congregation. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    42. Theological Declaration of Barmen May 1934 8.10 _ 1. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." (John 14.6). "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. . . . I am the door; if anyone enters by me, he will be saved." (John 10:1, 9.) 8.11 Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death. 8.12 We reject the false doctrine, as though the church could and would have to acknowledge as a source of its proclamation, apart from and besides this one Word of God, still other events and powers, figures and truths, as God's revelation.

    43. Theological Declaration of Barmen 8.13 _ 2. "Christ Jesus, whom God has made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption." (1 Cor. 1:30.) 8.14 As Jesus Christ is God's assurance of the forgiveness of all our sins, so, in the same way and with the same seriousness he is also God's mighty claim upon our whole life. Through him befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of this world for a free, grateful service to his creatures. 8.15 We reject the false doctrine, as though there were areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ, but to other lords - areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.

    44. Theological Declaration of Barmen 8.16 _ 3. "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body [is] joined and knit together." (Eph. 4:15,16.) 8.17 The Christian Church is the congregation of the brethren in which Jesus Christ acts presently as the Lord in Word and sacrament through the Holy Spirit. As the Church of pardoned sinners, it has to testify in the midst of a sinful world, with its faith as with its obedience, with its message as with its order, that it is solely his property, and that it lives and wants to live solely from his comfort and from his direction in the expectation of his appearance. 8.18 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church were permitted to abandon the form of its message and order to its own pleasure or changes in prevailing ideological and political convictions.

    45. Theological Declaration of Barmen 8.19 _ 4. "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant." (Matt. 20:25,26.) 8.20 The various offices in the Church do not establish a dominion of some over the others; on the contrary, they are for the exercise of the ministry entrusted to and enjoined upon the whole congregation. 8.21 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church, apart from this ministry, could and were permitted to give itself, or allow to be given to it, special leaders vested with ruling powers.

    46. Theological Declaration of Barmen 8.22 _ 5. "Fear God. Honor the emperor." (1 Peter 2:17.) Scripture tells us that, in the as yet unredeemed world in which the Church also exists, the State has by divine appointment the task of providing for justice and peace. [It fulfills this task] by means of the threat and exercise of force, according to the measure of human judgment and human ability. The Church acknowledges the benefit of this divine appointment in gratitude and reverence before him. It calls to mind the Kingdom of God, God's commandment and righteousness, and thereby the responsibility both of rulers and of the ruled. It trusts and obeys the power of the Word by which God upholds all things. 8.23 We reject the false doctrine, as though the State, over and beyond its special commission, should and could become the single and totalitarian order of human life, thus fulfilling the Church's vocation as well. 8.24 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church, over and beyond its special commission, should and could appropriate the characteristics, the tasks, and the dignity of the State, thus itself becoming an organ of the State.

    47. Theological Declaration of Barmen 8.25 _ 6. "Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." (Matt. 28:20.) "The word of God is not fettered." (2 Tim. 2:9.) 8.26 The Church's commission, upon which its freedom is founded, consists in delivering the message of the free grace of God to all people in Christ's stead, and therefore in the ministry of his own Word and work through sermon and sacrament. 8.27 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church in human arrogance could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of any arbitrarily chosen desires, purposes, and plans.

    48. The Text - Relevance And now the end has come. So listen to my last piece of advice: exegesis, exegesis and yet more exegesis! Keep to the Word that has been given us. Karl Barth 1935, to his students in Germany prior to his deportation to Switzerland

    49. The Text - Relevance ...preaching which is relevant to the present age must be essentially exegesis, exegesis of the Word that alone has power to make itself present, exegesis of Scripture. The act of presentation, insofar as it can be achieved by us through any method at all is strict and exclusive reference to Scripture. DB No Rusty Swords

    50. The Text In all speaking and acting in the church I am concerned with the primacy, with the sole honor and truth of the Word of God. There is no greater service of love than to put men in the light of the truth of this Word, even when it brings sorrow. The Word of God separates spirits. DB No Rusty Swords

    51. The Text No sermon should be produced without the use of the original text. The preacher should make an exegesis, using the lexicon and concordance, prior to the use of commentaries. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    52. The Text But in real proclamation the text is the beginning, the middle and the end. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    53. The Text Preachers do not bring the Scripture into the pulpit for their own use; they must allow themselves to be used by it for the congregation. They must entrust everything to the scriptural word. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    54. The Text Steinmeyer said, Never ask what [subject] you should preach about, but always from what [which text]! DB Lectures on Homiletics

    55. The Text .If preachers want to be certain about the truth of their preaching they should devote themselves exclusively to the word of the text.

    56. The Text The text gives the sermon its form. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    57. The Text Every text permits a countless number of possibilities of arrangement. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    58. The Text If preachers want to be certain about the truth of their preaching they should devote themselves exclusively to the word of the text. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    59. The Text The torment of waiting for fresh ideas disappears under serious textual work. The text has more than enough thoughts. One really only needs to say what is in it. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    60. The Text The early Protestants described themselves not as servants even of the Church, but as V.D.M., verbi divini ministri. (Servant of the Divine Word). P.T. Forsyth, The Ideal Ministry

    61. The Text - Relevance It has pleased God to speak to us through the words of the Bible. Therefore the sermon must be an interpretation and not an application. Every application on our part indicates that we stand above the Word rather than underneath it; that we regard it as a principle that has to be applied to each individual case. The only true application, however, is Gods own self, and God alone. The maximum concreteness we can achieve is through factual exposition of Gods word. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    62. The Text - Relevance It is quite strange that there is still a widespread view that there must be something more than textual exegesis, something going beyond it, more concrete. - What more concrete can there be today than the textual exegesis of certain chapters of the Apocalypse, of the Prophets or the Sermon on the Mount or the parable of the Good Samaritan? Is not textual exegesis, insofar as it really takes this text as a testimony of the living Christ, everything here? Is not this precisely the surprising thing, that today we can take almost any text and only need to expound it clearly and sharply and factually and it becomes relevant to us? DB No Rusty Swords

    63. Relevance Where Christ is spoken of in the word of the New Testament, relevance is achieved. The relevant is not where the present age announces its claim before Christ, but where the present age stands before the claims of Christ DB No Rusty Swords

    64. Relevance The so-called concrete historical situation is ambiguous. Both God and the devil are at work in it. It cannot become the source of our understanding and proclamation of the Word of God. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    65. Relevance But where the question of relevance becomes the theme of theology, we can be certain that the cause has already been betrayed and sold out. DB No Rusty Swords

    66. Relevance Can the preacher have and authoritative, concrete word for a concrete situation? God alone is concrete. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    67. Relevance The basis of the preaching church is not flesh and blood, customs and culture, and its form is not one of cultural unity, but rather its basis is the Word and its form is obedience. To attempt to get close to the culture of the people and to the contemporary scene is actually to get separated from both the contemporary scene and the people. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    68. Relevance We believe that the peace of the church can be restored only by a general consideration of the cross of Christ. The lack of peace in our church is an expression of unforgiven guilt. At the cross of Christ sins are forgiven and the peace of the church is made sure. Therefore only that community is at peace which finds its way back to the cross in the recognition of common guilt. DB No Rusty Swords

    69. Relevance When we ask ourselves, What shall I say today to the congregation? We are lost. But when we ask, What does the text say to the congregation? we find ample support and abundant confidence. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    70. Relevance In every text stands the One God; in every text the same God speaks. God speaks in Romans 13 as well as in Acts 5:29. DB Lectures on Homiletics Ro 13:1-2 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Acts 5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority.

    71. Relevance Gods spirit battles only through the Word of Scripture and of confession, and only where my insights are overwhelmed by Scripture and confession can I know myself to be overwhelmed with the Spirit of God. DB No Rusty Swords

    72. Relevance The relevant is and begins where God himself is in his Word. The Holy Ghost is the relevant subject, not we ourselves, so the Holy Ghost is also the subject of interpretation. The most essential element of the Christian message and of textual exposition is not a human act of interpretation but is always God himself, it is the Holy Spirit. DB No Rusty Swords

    73. Relevance The most concrete part of preaching is not the application I give, but the Holy Ghost himself, who speaks through the text of the Bible. Even the clearest application, the most distinct appeal to the congregation, is irrelevant so long as the Holy Ghost himself does create the concretisimum of the present. DB No Rusty Swords

    74. Relevance The Word for the concrete situation is not this or that concrete thing which I have to say about the so-called concrete situation, but Christ himself as the Lord, the Judge and the Saviour. DB No Rusty Swords

    75. Relevance .The true concrete situation is not the historical one, but rather the situation of the sinner before God who wants to be assured before God and with God. The answer to this true concrete situation is the crucified and resurrected Christ who calls us to faith and discipleship. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    76. Relevance The contemporary situation is not sufficient to determine the content of the sermon; the dealings of God with humanity as they are testified to in the Bible and made known through the teachings of the church are sufficient. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    77. Relevance ...the church preaches only one sermon in all its messages and this sermon is not dependent upon current events and the circumstances. It is one truth to which the church testifies. DB Lectures on Homiletics

    78. Relevance When a minister preaches about God and Christ and eternity etc. these days, the congregation listens in the usual way. But let him merely say in these times, with the war - presto, their ears prick up, that is something to preach about. Everybody sits up straight to get every word, the women take off their hats so they wont miss a thing - but it does not matter much what is said about God and Christ. Soren Kierkegaard, Soren Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers.

    79. Preaching the Word of God The sermon is first and foremost the joyous cry of Christ. (Luther) DB Lectures on Homiletics

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