WHAT IS PREACHING? GOD'S NEWS WE CAN USE

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Rom. 10:14-15)

This chapter aims to answer the question, "What is preaching?" A complex, demanding activity such as preaching requires a multidimensional description. Examining the authentic and inauthentic Pauline Letters for their homiletical wisdom, I offer three characteristics of effective preaching.

In spite of its multiple parts, my understanding of preaching could still be considered minimal. Effective preaching might entail more than I present. I wonder if effective preaching can contain less than I discuss and still claim to be an earnest witness to the gospel.

Insights from Romans 10

According to Olin Moyd, preachers "are just town heralds bringing the news from another source. They do not make the news but are the news reporters." The image of the preacher as a herald or heavenly reporter is rooted in the biblical tradition of prophetic proclamation. Furthermore, this image has considerable popularity in the African American churches that have formed me. Having preached in a variety of African American churches, I have discovered that Paul's declaration about the preacher in Romans 10:1415 is frequently uttered prior to the sermon. Paul, quoting from his Jewish predecessor Isaiah, exclaims in Romans 10:15, "As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.'" Paul's words function almost like a liturgical affirmation in many African American churches.

Some churches regularly recite liturgical affirmations. For example, after the reading of scripture a worship leader will declare, "This is the word of God for the people of God," and the congregants will respond, "Thanks be to God!" In many African American contexts Paul's words in Romans 10:14-15 are often employed as a liturgical prelude to preaching. In the churches of my youth, right before the sermon I regularly heard this odd biblical affirmation about a preacher's feet being beautiful. Though the imagery seemed strange, those who uttered this scripture made it clear that the arrival of the preacher was a moment of great awe and joy.

Closer investigation of Romans 10:15 has clarified the strange imagery of "beautiful feet." The Greek word in this verse often translated "beautiful" (h?raios) can also be rendered "timely," as in the sense of arriving at the appropriate moment. Thus, one could render Paul's statement: "How timely are the feet (that is, the arrival) of those proclaiming good news!" In other words, the arrival of the preacher, God's reporter, is always a welcome event because the preacher has the late-breaking story of God's salvation.

God's News We Can Use

In the twenty-first century, information has become the "god" of many people. Or, information and its retrieval in cyberspace have become "god-like." Tom Beaudoin suggests that the expansiveness of the information in cyberspace causes many people to imagine the World Wide Web "as a metaphor—however imperfect—for God." He further observes, "Cyberspace highlights our own finitude, reminding us that we can never be fully cognizant of all that is happening.... In this way, cyberspace illuminates our human limits. Yet it also mirrors our desire for the infinite, the divine."

A fascinating development of the Information Age has been the insatiable desire for news. Large corporations have based their economic futures and their claims to fame on providing news around the clock. CNN, C-Span, MSNBC, and the Weather Channel are attempting to satisfy our craving for twenty-four-hour news.

Not enough people are raising this question: Does more information necessarily mean better information? Just because we have more information and more news does not mean it is useful news. In a world where reports about homicides take precedence over stories about heroes, we are hard-pressed to discover news that is beneficial and spiritually uplifting. Thus the primary responsibility of the preacher is to provide God's news that people can use. As mentioned, the Greek word for "gospel," euangelion, means "good news." Early Christians used the word euangelion to make a counterclaim against Roman imperial culture. Throughout the first-century Mediterranean world, persons referred to the imperial benefaction of the caesars in Rome as "good news."

But, in defiance of the belief that ancient or contemporary "caesars" have had any good news, Christians have always declared that good news is not found in caesar but instead in Christ. God's action in Christ is the true good news, and it is news that we can use.

Before we can talk profitably about preaching from Paul's Letters we need to determine what constitutes preaching in the first place. What is preaching? Preaching is the faithful, passionate reporting of God's useful news. Let us examine more closely three defining characteristics of this gospel reporting.

The Faithfulness of Preaching: Cross-shaped Proclamation

Effective preaching seeks to be faithful to time-tested, theological criteria. One criterion that might...