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Tasting the Glory of Christ in the Preaching of the Word by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous
     During the course of my doctoral work at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, I studied the history of the interpretation and proclamation of the Bible from the days of Jesus until now. Over the years, this journey has been long and fruitful, for I have unearthed troves of fresh wisdom about the function of preaching in the life of the church, chief of which is the truth that there’s nothing new under the sun!
     For example, consider the following quote from Augustine (A.D. 354-430) who, as you may know, is one of the most important figures in Christian history. He wrote in about A.D. 403, “My preaching almost always displeases me. For I am eager after something better, of which I often have an inward enjoyment before I set about expressing my thoughts in audible words. Then, when I have failed to utter my meaning as clearly as I conceived it, I am disappointed that my tongue is incapable of doing justice to that which is in my heart. What I myself understand I wish my hearers to understand as fully; and I feel I am not so speaking as to effect this. The chief reason is that the conception lights up the mind in a kind of rapid flash; whereas the utterance is slow, lagging and far unlike what it would convey” (Augustine, Catechizing the Uninstructed, chapter 2).
     I feel what Augustine felt almost every Sunday. At times this feeling is mild and at times it is nearly paralyzing, but it is almost always there. Augustine was a wise and seasoned preacher when he wrote this, and I accept his explanation as to why there is such a gulf between the experience of truth in the soul of the preacher and the power of truth expressed through the mouth of the preacher. But it seems to me that the wisdom of God is at work here in another way that has to do with you, that is, those who mainly hear sermons rather than preach them.
     I think God has designed preaching to expose the truth that is inherent in the Word of God and to lay out the path by which the listeners may taste the glory of that truth. But in order to taste the glory, they must trod the path themselves. Hopefully, they will see true passion in the preacher and be moved by what they see, but at the end of the day that experience is but an invitation from the Lord that says, “Come near to me, my child, and let me show you marvelous things in my Word.” God uses sermons to instruct and inspire, but in the end, he uses them to invite his children to come deeper into the fruit and joy of his wisdom.
     So, Beloved, listen well to the sermon today, but then draw near to your Father and let him feed you with the glory that fed this preacher all week long.

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