The sermon is not a cat video or an epic fail or an advertisement for another new and improved product you just have to have. It is the holy Word of God, proclaimed to the holy people of God, as an act of faith in God. It’s a miracle, really.
It kind of works like the sacraments, I think. Not exactly, but similarly. The sermon is human words spoken by human lips, but those words and those lips are indwelled by God. God works through the proclaimed words to communicate the realities of his love and grace. It’s divine speech. God’s will, his character, his mission, his desires–it’s directly revealed to us by God through the preacher.
It’s not a lecture, not a book report, not somebody telling you what to do, not somebody giving you new information. It’s a direct message from our holy Lord. Preaching is not us talking about God; it is God talking directly to us.
As such, the hearer should come into a sermon prepared to hear that Word from our God. The hearer should have already read and prayed through the sermon text before Sunday, anticipating that the Lord will speak to her or him. There should be an expectation. There should be an openness and eagerness to receive what God wants to give through the sermon. I tell people all the time that the sermon is just as much about the posture and attitude of the hearer as it is about the preacher or the words he speaks or the style in which he or she preaches.
The Sunday sermon is a holy moment of direct communication between the present God and his redeemed people. I wish more of us came to church each week with that understanding.
Peace,
Allan
I understand your point and agree that people should come prepared to participate in all aspects of the service, including the prepared lesson. However, I would suggest that they must also come prepared with discernment (I John 4:1 as a starting point). Unless you are simply reading Scripture, there is a human element in the delivery. Indiscriminate listening leads to “ok, everybody drink the kool aid now”, or any number of other examples.