How not to preach

That’s the provocative—and very accurate—title of an essay in the current issue of America magazine by John J. Conley, S.J.

Good advice, through and through, concluding with:

Permit me to offer two positive counsels to preachers.

First, fall in love with God’s word in Scripture. Let the great hymn of creation, fall and redemption become your personal theme song. Walk around in the Bible. Pitch your tent in it. If possible, learn biblical Hebrew and Greek. You are giving your congregation a word of hope that no government and no psychological technique can provide, because it is a hope rooted in Christ’s conquest of sin and death itself.

Second, love the people addressed by your sermon. A distinguished Protestant preacher once remarked that he began each week with an hour in his church. He walked up and down the aisle, imagining the various parishioners he would see on a typical Sunday. He asked God to show him how the sermon he was preparing could actually meet their particular needs and questions. It is in the persevering study of God’s word and in this loving intercession for one’s listeners that the Holy Spirit really begins to teach us how to preach.

But read it all. Share it with a preacher you know.

Image: One of the pulpits in Worcester Cathedral, England via Wikipedia