Sermon Sources and Content: Theology and Preaching
The days of preaching entire sermons as doctrinal exposition may be gone forever, and to that more than a few preachers and hearers will say, "Amen." Rarely do preachers, Protestant or Catholic, stand and deliver entire homilies on the atonement or sanctification, and certainly not in the style of earlier generations.
Nevertheless, theology matters in preaching. Preaching that does not attend to theology can become vapid, wrapped in unexamined piety and the mutability of human experience. Some voices are calling for a recovery of theology in preaching that can help correct, on the one hand, a propensity of biblicism in contemporary homiletics and, on the other hand, a dangerous drift towards subjectivism.4
Theology is present in all preaching whether the preacher is conscious of it or not. A careful review of one’s own theological convictions and those of the congregation can help the preacher develop sermons that are challenging and nourishing for the congregation. Listeners of preaching hunger for sermons that help them make God-sense out of their lives and the events of the world.
In Claiming Theology in the Pulpit, Burton Cooper and John McClure help preachers identify the theological roots of their own preaching in order to strengthen the place of theology in the pulpit. They suggest a theological typology that can be broadly applied to most preaching. Preachers who want to "locate" themselves and their congregations theologically will find concrete help in this new offering. Sermons with greater theological clarity and depth may follow.
Another equally helpful resource is Ronald Allen’s Preaching Is Believing. Allen provides a clear discussion of the relationship between preaching and systematic theology. He demonstrates the link between interpreting scripture and theological meaning making in the congregation. Clearheaded theology in preaching helps the congregation think more faithfully and clearly about the claim of the gospel upon its life. This book invites preachers who ordinarily look to scripture as the primary source for preaching to look again at the role of theology.
- See Thomas G. Long, Edward Farley, eds. Preaching as a Theological Task (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996).
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