Learning the Call: The Glory of Preaching

(This post is intentionally linked, in title and content, to an earlier one in this series: Answering the Call)

As I noted in my last post, we are now into my seminary years. Early in my journey of answering God's call in my life I really had no idea where he would lead me. As I began seminary I knew that the time for clarity would have to come soon. I had 3 years of study and practicum ahead of me; after that, I would need to make some decisions. 

At this point in my journey, as I started to study at Regent College, I leaned fairly heavily towards becoming a teacher/professor. I had found, through my undergraduate degree and now again in Seminary, that I deeply enjoyed the process of research and writing, thesis and argument, and the life of the university appealed to me. Books are, after all, much easier to work with than people! They sit on the shelf until you want them, they go back to the shelf when you are done, they never change... You might be laughing as you read that. After all, this whole blogpost series is, at least in part, about how dangerous and powerful books are! What can I say? I was young and naïve. 

There were, however, hints even in my earliest days of seminary that I was both called to and enjoyed other things. One of those hints, which became clearer each year of study, was that the professors I learned the most from, and who taught me the best, were those who had been pastors and/or those who had deep pastoral hearts. Another of those hints was found in what became one of my favorite set of classes: The classes on preaching. 

I took the first class on homiletics (the art of preaching) in my first year and was privileged to study under Darrell Johnson. I was quite nervous going into the class. I was afraid of public speaking (like most of us I think?). I was also afraid of failure and this class required us to preach in front of our peers and receive peer reviews, as well as feedback from our TA and professor. The whole thing was nerve-racking. But I had to take the class; it was a core requirement for MDiv students, so I signed up to get it over with. What I got was an introduction to Darrell Johnson and the glory of preaching. It was, as I say, another of those hints of where God would lead me in years to come. 

What about the book? The Glory of Preaching was our textbook. In it Darrell Johnson walks through both the theory and practice of preaching, all with a foundational belief that "whenever a human being, Bible in hand, stands up before a group of other human beings, invites the gathered assembly into a particular text of the Bible and as faithfully as possible tries to say again what the living God is saying in the text, something always happens. Something transformative, empowering, life-giving happens." More than anything else it is this fundamental belief and teaching that stands out from this book for me. It has become a foundational touchpoint in my own ministry and I have reread this book several times when I needed to hear and be strengthened, once again, by the faith of this great preacher and pastor. 

As for the rest of the book it is solid, clear, helpful, and good. I can't recommend it enough to other pastors and preachers. Johnson skillfully interweaves the biblical teachings on the living and active word of God with the practical steps of moving from text to sermon and all of this with the person of the preacher. He urges us to live in the prayers and songs of scripture, stand in the mystery of God, and let nothing else (especially the ideologies of the world, the good advice of our times, or the wisdom of men) stand in the pulpit with us or replace the word of God as our subject and guide. 

Most of you will not read this book. That's ok. But you could, and you would learn and grow from doing so. 

Note: This post is part of a series which I began here. To see all the posts in the series click the label at the bottom of this post "20yrs40bks".