Preaching Out

I wonder if the idea of “preaching” began with Jesus.  There is preaching and there is teaching.
And there is also the ego vein that makes one think he or she has a message that everyone in view wants to hear, or the speaker wants to entice people to think one way or the other - or the preacher pours out the homily, the speech, the sermon each Sunday and at times it encompasses a bit more than just someone in the pulpit speaking. 

Preacher also means parson, clergy, priest, evangelists, minister. Really anyone who stands in the pulpit and speaks his mind related to the Bible is a preacher. And some of them go to the wild extreme of being almost soaring astronauts, lifting themselves off the ground, coming down from the pulpit to make a point, trying to set minds on fire and to bring a doubter to the Lord, to believe in the Lord, and to love the Lord as the organ leaps in to signal it’s time to continue the service.  

Some read their well written sermons. Some yell out whatever is in their spirit - whatever they chose from the testament - or whatever stirs up in their soul to say that day to that group of people or congregation, with hopes someone would get it, would pick it up and run with it, would transform a life from sin to goodness. This is a huge task. So, where did preaching begin? 

There are all kinds of preachers from radical to simple, from beautifully scripted, to wild and crazy yelling and pointing and trying to make the sin within the congregation rise and be thrown away.  Some of us prefer the historical type of preacher who updates what happened in the days gone by to compare them to what is going on today. Some are personal stories of how the preacher survived humorous or drastic moments. Some think they have power to transform a congregate from evil to being set free because they chose Jesus, from exposure to confession that leads to salvation. Some preach by giving his or her opinion about a passage in the Old Testament or the New or both together. And they walk the audience through each word like it was a diamond in the rough, something one discovers if they just follow the words of the preacher. 

I wanted to know where preaching started. And as far as I can find, it began with Jesus. There were lessons in the Synagogues, and one could learn much by listening in that space, but for a man or woman to stand up and give his heart and soul into a story or show the congregation how things from the old days, the Old Testament, could help solve problems in modern times. Or one can give a message from his or her heart, while putting hope alive to save the church or each other. So, I did a bit of research and learned there are four preaching types in the modern churches. 

It started in Luke 4, when Jesus had been filled with the power of the Spirit, and the power of his ministry began to spread throughout Galilee and all the surrounding areas. He was praised by everyone. When he arrived in Nazareth, home of his mother Mary, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, which was the norm. Then he stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll, found the place where it was written. 
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. We are told that the eyes of all the synagogue were focused on him. Then Jesus said to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  I’m sure it was almost shocking to those in the synagogues. 
And in this gospel reading, we are told He began to teach - not preach in the synagogues. 

Teacher preachers, anxious to explain the texts in the Bible, examen the verses word by word, and in logical order. Someone called it left-brain referring to stir up emotions as they build their point tiny brick by tiny brick.  Then there are herald preachers, dramatic in style, who deal with God’s gift starting with a single block and building on that. They are the emotional holistic types who want a response from their congregation like Billy Graham, Martin Luther, Karl Barth. 
There are Inductive preachers whose stories and sentences must be something the congregations is dealing with. This style hangs on going back into Scripture to find examples to share with them. It’s evangelic, political, pastoral somehow, and apologetic, which defends Christianity against anyone or anything that diverts itself from doctrine.  Then there are narrative preachers, who like to tell a story or a parable that gives some humor and some relief to the congregation, since they can often identify with the story told. Max Lucado and Barbara Brown Taylor use this method.

So, it seems to me preachers, of various types, and sermons, of various styles and themes, began in the time of Jesus.  If one wants to get charged up and have a real celebration, go to an African American Church. If one wants a strict, down the line kind of service, go to the Roman Catholic church, but you need to be a Roman Catholic. It is strict and formal and beautiful above all because most of the elegant Catholic and Anglican cathedrals or the Orthodox churches were built to the glory of God and were filled with the extraordinary art from the Byzantine through the Renaissance to Baroque as the great artists planted in our minds their concepts. 

 ~ Rev

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audrey@audreytaylorgonzalez.com
www.audreytaylorgonzalez.com