The Gospel

Watch this clip taken from the movie "Amistad." Stop it at the 3:28 mark. See the Gospel preached to two African men through the use of pictures. This scene brought a tear to my eye as I considered what God can accomplish through the various means of preaching His word. Oh that we would have a conviction to proclaim the gospel to those who do not know it!

Part of Thesis Proposal

This is a part of my thesis proposal. I left out some of the technical stuff. Please let me know what you think if you have any thoughts.

INTRODUCTION
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and from the north even to the east; they will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.” These words from the book of Amos have been ringing throughout the ages. One can easily peruse the historical literature of any generation and find a longing for the word of the Lord to be proclaimed. Our day is no different.

In an age when all truth may be questioned and any form of authority is under attack, the role of the preacher is in limbo. Some are questioning whether or not preaching is valid. Others, less extreme, are trying to find “new” forms to preach the word of the Lord. Maybe we need more dialogue, more narrative, more transparency, more technology, more, more, more. A short visit to the local Seminary library or Amazon's website will let the preacher know that the material on preaching has certainly become over inflated.

But the question remains, even after the overload of books on the subject, “where can I go to hear the word of the Lord?” Maybe the problem in our day is the same as in the day of Amos. The lack of hearing the word of the Lord has to do with the lack of Godly prophets to proclaim it. Preachers are prepared to write sermons, to be creative, and to be aware of the changing tides of culture. But these are not the primary objectives of the preacher. Until the preacher has heard the word of the Lord, he has nothing to say. Until there is silence, the preacher can not hear the whisper of God's word to proclaim. Our preachers must first be transformed by the Lord God Almighty and then they may begin the task of preaching. God's work on the preacher is primary to the task of preaching.

Thesis Statement
When God is transforming the receptive preacher and establishing His authority in the preacher, then the potential for spiritual transformation in the hearers is increased.
Notice that the most important element in the condition is God. It is God who transforms the preacher into a receptor for His word. It is God who establishes authority in the preacher. It is God who brings about transformation in the hearers. God is the catalyst for preaching, the subject of preaching, and the force in preaching. This can never be forgotten.

As it concerns our studies here, the work that God does on and in the preacher is our major point of emphasis. For this reason, most of the material discussed herein will be about how God transforms the preacher and establishes authority in the preacher. The two key words in these sections will be “receptive” and “His”, meaning God. The preacher must be receptive to be transformed and the only authority that is of any good to the hearers is God's authority.

Finally, in thorough study of the Scriptures and the related reading on the subject, one can not deny the role that the spiritual receptivity of the audience plays in the preaching event. For this reason, the word “potential” is chosen. Most of the prophets did not receive a good hearing. Paul and the disciples were all persecuted in numerous and various ways for right preaching of the word of the Lord. Jesus was crucified for speaking the very words of life. It is critical to remember that effective preaching is not measured by how well the hearers receive the words of the preacher. Rather our only measurement for faithfully preaching the word of the Lord is the spiritual transformational work done in the life of the hearer. Outside the scope of this paper is the discussion of what the hearer needs to bring to the preaching to make it a holistic life transforming event. What will be discussed is how if the preacher decreases and the Lord increases, the hearers are more able to see Jesus and not the preacher. In this way, potential to be transformed by the Lord is increased.

Research Significance
As stated above, there is always a need within every generation to fight for the right preaching of the word of the Lord. It is constantly being called into question, both in terms of the why and the how. But what ultimately brought about the concern for this subject was a noticed lack of emphasis on the work of God in the preacher in the literature and classes for preaching. Among the many books on preaching, most are really books on sermons, sermon writing, sermonizing, or how to do preaching in a new way. If there is anything about the work of God on the preacher, it is usually left to a small chapter at the beginning or end and then forgotten throughout the rest of the work. As far as classes go, I could not remember discussing this subject much at Florida Christian College in my foundational preaching classes, so I went back to the syllabi. Much to my dismay, I found an introductory lesson on the subject of the preacher and his inner life. From that point forward it seemed quite lacking.

In short, the significance of this work is to raise awareness that the most important work in preaching is God's work. God's work on the preacher. God's work on the hearers. God's work before the sermon. God's work during the sermon. God's work after the sermon. There are enough sermonizers, creative story tellers, moralistic teachers, and social justice promoters. There is a great need for a renewed generation of preachers who are shaped by God to proclaim His word with His authority so that lives will be transformed. I am quite concerned that the most important part of preaching, God, has been taken for granted in the current state of preaching. If the statements made throughout appear obvious to the reader, then praise be to God.

Research Scope
Most of the scope has been discussed within the defining of the thesis statement, but there are several other important things to consider. God will be used throughout the paper in various ways. In researching this topic, it becomes quite apparent that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all play a role in the preaching of the word. Therefore, as is appropriate each one will be discussed in how they work in the preacher and the preaching event. If a distinction is not made, it is to be understood that the whole Godhead is in view.

Also, the preacher will be spoken of in the masculine third person throughout. This paper is not meant to discuss the roles of women and men in preaching. The assumption of the author is that men are to proclaim the word of God in the preaching event. Although this is an important issue of debate, in order to be efficient in both time and space, those discussions need to be had elsewhere.

The preaching event refers to any setting where the word of the Lord is proclaimed by the preacher to an audience of hearers. The number of hearers is not significant, but in view is certainly not a discussion between two friends over coffee. It needs to be understood that there is certainly a Biblical distinction of “crying out” or “proclaiming” the word of the Lord versus discussions or dialogues in scripture. This issue will be dealt with marginally in the last section of the paper. Both believers and unbelievers could be present at the preaching event.

Transforming and spiritual transformation will be discussed in greater detail in the paper, but it needs to be said up front what is not meant by these words. Emotional responses, moral changes, and intellectual understanding may very well happen as a result of the transformation being referred to here, but they are not the goal. The idea behind transformation is the transformation into the new life in Christ. The goal is to become what God wants us to become, His children, His people, His bride.

God's Whisper

"What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops." Matthew 10:27

"Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance." Psalm 42:5 NKJV

"The word of God at the ear is a whisper, at the mouth it is a shout." Preaching by Fred Craddock

What is all this talk about whispering and shouting?First, let us begin with the whispering. I realized something today in a bit of study. The rabbi's used to ask a question about the creation account in Genesis. What did God do before He spoke in Genesis 1:3? The natural conclusion would be that He was silent. I do not even pretend to understand the depth of this, but I think it can teach me something. When God speaks, things happen. His Word is powerful, transformational, creational. When God opens His mouth and His Word comes forth, it will bring men to their knees. But His word has power because of His silence. His silence is just as authoritative as His word. Can you imagine the agony of God's silence? It is difficult enough for us to find 1 minute of silence in our world today and not feel uncomfortable. But can you imagine the consuming agony of experiencing divine silence? I would venture to guess that it feels a lot like death. That when we perceive that God has been silent, we need to realize that there is death in that. What a scary and fearful thought that we would not be able to hear God.

And yet, we see from the scripture that when God speaks, we may not hear it because of our own loudness. Psalm 42 carefully uses the word disquieted. That sounds very old english, but break it down. The word literally can just mean LOUD! I can't hear God because I'm too LOUD! Unless we are still and quiet before God, we can not hear Him. If we are making too much noise with our lives, then we will not hear the whisper that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 10:27. This is also the paradox of the Gospel. Many are called, but few are chosen. Hearing they do not hear and seeing they do not see. God has spoken to us in His Son and yet there are so many who did not, do not, can not hear it. Why? Because they do not have ears to hear the voice of God in a simple whisper. We want the shouting of signs and wonders. We want Him to write it in the sky or send us a flashy email. We like our word from God in a shout and yet He gives it to us in parables. But the problem is not that God is not speaking up, the problem is that we can not hear. He has given enough word, enough signs, enough manifestation. We should not need any other thing than Jesus, the Word.

Now, here is the magnificent thing. Once we have heard that whisper of God, we then are told to shout it from the rooftops. Wait a second, I thought God spoke in whispers? No, God speaks in shouts, we hear in whispers. Remember when Jesus was in Jerusalem and the Father's voice thundered from heaven? Only Jesus understood the words. Remember when Paul was on the road to Damascus and there was a great flash of light and Jesus spoke to him? But only Paul, not his traveling companions, heard what Jesus said. When we preach the word we shout, not necessarily in form of course, the revelations of God to His people and to the world. We can do nothing about whether they hear the whisper of God in that or not. All I can do is to proclaim the truths of God and pray that one lonely, lost soul might hear the voice of the Good Shepherd in that. I plant seeds and hope that it finds good soil, knowing that most of it will be scattered on the path. I proclaim the gospel with all my might, hoping that they hear whatever it was Elijah heard in the cleft of that mountain. I shout from the rooftops, because I hope that somebody might hear what Jesus whispers:

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, 
calling for you and for me; 
see, on the portals he's waiting and watching, 
watching for you and for me. 

Why should we tary when Jesus is pleading, 
pleading for you and for me? 
Why should we linger and heed not his mercies, 
mercies for you and for me? 

Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing, 
passing from you and from me; 
shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming, 
coming for you and for me.  

O for the wonderful love he has promised, 
promised for you and for me! 
Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon, 
pardon for you and for me. 

God, be merciful to me, the sinner!

God, be merciful to me, the sinner!
Though I was shrouded in darkness,
Your everlasting light shone through.
Though the eyes of my heart were blind,
You have granted me sight.

God, be merciful to me, the sinner!
There is no greater sinner than I.
Is there anyone who has offended You?
Then I have done it just as much!
Praise be to God that You take me just as I am.

God, be merciful to me, the sinner!
When all seems lost
And I feel the enemy crouching in around me,
Swoop in and bear me up on Your wings.
God, be merciful to me, the sinner!