Sunday's upcoming sermon is entitled, "How to Listen to a Sermon." The basic thesis of the sermon is that sermons are not products of a preacher. They are products of a congregation. The best sermons come when the whole congregation participates in listening for God to speak to us. When we use the phrase "Word of God" many people I know, including myself, think of scripture. The Bible is the Word of God. I have been more recently persuaded to say that the Bible becomes the Word of God. It has the potential of being revelatory but that potential is not realized unless the reader enters into the text with openness.
Alexander Campbell, one of the earliest leaders for the Disciples of Christ, said in his Christian System, that there is a "Understanding Distance." That is, around any source of sound or voice there is a circumference outside of which the voice cannot be understood intelligbly and within which the voice can be understood. Campbell said that the center of the understanding distance with regard to scripture is God. The circumference is humility.
I would contend that if the preacher is the only one striving to come within the understanding distance, then preaching isn't occuring. The preacher is engaged in an individualistic spiritual discipline, helpful for him perhaps, but the Word of God is not being proclaimed. Similarly, and this probably happens with greater frequency, a preacher can avoid coming within the understanding distance. Members of the congregation can actually be there without their preacher and receive the Word of God despite the preachers effort to draw all the attention to himself. But in the best case scenario, the preacher and congregation hold one another mutually accountable for entering into the understanding distance and listening for God to speak.
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