Preaching and Preachers

The Sermon and the Preadlingpreaching has been greaterthan it is in this presenttroubled modemworld.Whatthen is preaching?Whatdo I meanby preaching? Let us lookat it likethis. There, is a man standingin a pulpit and speaking, andthere,arepeoplesittingin pewsor seatsandlistening. Whatishappening?What is this? Why·doesthat man stand in that pulpit? What ishis object? Why doesthe Church put him there to do this? Why dotheseotherpeople come to listen?Whatisthis manmeantto be doing?What is he trying to do? What ought he to be doing? These it seemsto me are the great questions. We must not rush to consider techniquesand methods and 'the problem of communication'. It is becausethese preliminary questions have not been asked, and faced,that peopleget boggeddownin all the detailsand discussions. Thisis the big question and the controlling consideration-what is thisman doingthere?Anytrue definition of preaching must saythat that man is there todeliver the message of God, a message from God to those people. Ifyou prefer the language of Paul, he is 'an ambassador for Christ'.That is whathe is. He hasbeensent,he is a commissioned person,andhe is standingthere asthe mouthpiece ofGod andofChristto addressthesepeople. Inother wordshe is not there merely to talkto them, heis not there to entertainthem. He is there-and I want to emphasisethis-to do something to thosepeople; he is there to produceresultsof various kinds, he is there to influence people. He is not merely toinfluence a part of them; he is not only to influence their minds, 017only their emotions, or merely to bring pressure to bear upon theirwills and to inducethem to somekind of activity. He is there to dealwith the whole person; and his preaching is meantto affect the wholepersonat the verycentreoflife.Preaching shouldmake such a differenceto a man who is listening that he is never the same again.Preaching, in other words, is a transaction between the preacherandthe listener. It does something for the soul of man, for the whole ofthe person, the entire man; it deals with him in a vital and radicalmanner.S3