Preaching: 'A picture of the gospel'

I am grateful as a pastor when writers communicate eloquently the significance of preaching in the life of a church. David Mathis, executive editor of Desiring God, posted Sunday a profound piece – titled “When Grace Is in the Pulpit” -- on the proclamation of God’s Word and the church’s response to it.

As Mathis points out, preaching is not all there is by any means to corporate worship, but it is a vital part. He writes, “The other elements of the gathering follow the rhythm of receiving from [God] and responding back to him, but in preaching we move into the posture of simply receiving, whether it’s a full half hour or just 15–20 minutes.” Our congregation would add, “Or 45-50 minutes.”

You can read all of the post here, but I have pulled out some of Mathis’ comments below I think might be particularly help for a congregation:

When we put ourselves under the preaching of God’s word, it is one of the precious few moments in life today when we close our mouths, and confront the temptation of responding right away, and focus our energy and attention to hearing with faith.

The act of preaching itself is a picture of the gospel. As the preacher stands behind the Book, doing his level best to re-reveal Jesus to his people, our Lord is put on display, not for give-and-take and the mingling of our efforts together in some mutual enterprise. Rather, we sit in the seat of weakness and desperation. What we need is not some boost from a trusted fellow to get us over the wall, but the rescue of the Savior for the utterly helpless.

The best of preaching serves the worshiper in the joy of self-forgetfulness, and preacher-forgetfulness. Preaching that goes on and on about the preacher himself, or is always angling at how the hearer should apply this or that to daily life, does so at the expense of tapping into the very power of preaching, namely, a preoccupation with Jesus. True Christian preaching swallows up the listener again and again, not with self or the speaker, but with Jesus and his manifold perfections.

The great goal of preaching, as well as the sacraments and the various other spiritual disciplines, is this: knowing and enjoying Jesus. The greatest incentive for attentive listening as we gather for corporate worship and sit under the preaching of God’s word is that we may know him (Philippians 3:10).