Children’s author William Mayne wrote four books about the choir school of Canterbury Cathedral where he had been a
pupil. In these stories choirboys could be called out for devising games to be
played during the sermon. Somewhat like the joke now going around that
choristers should wait for the sermon to check their mobile phones.
Why
sermons? What does a sermon do? Clearly it teaches; it has a purpose to educate
often through elucidating the Scriptures. This is why you don’t interrupt a
sermon. They don’t seem to be interactive. In some churches asking questions
after the sermon is encouraged, but that would be disrespectful during the
sermon itself. A Baptist friend told me a sermon doesn’t come from the pastor
but it comes from God through the Scriptures. ‘It’s loving and it’s free,’ she
said. So you listen. Every proper church service needs a sermon, or at least a
homily.
I like
Dominican spirituality. ‘Praise, bless, preach.’ And what is preached is veritas: the truth. The truth is contained
in the Gospel, or, rather, the Truth is Jesus Christ. Preaching this is a
responsibility and an honour. Listening is a privilege and a blessing. Study,
preach, listen, be present. Now.
We were talking about this very subject last night. Andrew McGowan's new book contains essays and yes sermons in which he reminds his students that preaching is a ministry of the Word, an extension and expression of the Word as revealed. If only some congregations were reminded of this from time to time. A sermon is not just a glorified lecture or a break from the other stuff in the service or an improving talk on a Sunday morning. For Anglicans, at least, Word and Sacrament abide together, interact and explain the other. Traditionally the sermon follows the Gospel because we have the Word fresh in our minds and may now be brought to further elucidation of its mobile reality.
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