8 November 2005

Richard Jenson writes of the word and sacraments as the means of grace. He uses Luther's words about the sacraments in the small catechism to speak of preaching in "Currents in Theology and mission."

In preaching, the word is associated with the finitude not by the presence of earthly elements but through the presence of the human preacher who with his/her bodily voice brings Christ into the lives of believers and deifies its recipients. (Jenson then quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer.) "The proclaimed word has its origin in the incarnation of Jesus Christ himself. As little as the incarnation is the outward shape of God, just so little does the proclaimed word present the outward form of a reality; rather, it is the thing itself. The preached Christ is both the Historical One and the Present One...the proclaimed word is not a medium of expression for something else...but rather it is the Christ himself walking through his congregation as the Word." (p.436)

It must be very clear that Jenson and Bonhoeffer do not say that the preacher is the Word. Rather Bonhoeffer refers to the proclaimed word as Christ walking through the congregation. The voice brings the Christ and the voice enters the life of the recipients. In all that we have been saying about the indwelling of Christ, it is here as the Word cuts us to the heart that our entire being is transformed. In past days we have talked about divinization taking place. I would like to push that a bit and come around to the notion of how we are stewards of the life within the Reign of God because that life...that Word for life...has been passed among us in the mere speaking of the truthfulness of the Light of the World. The Word may be the Christ walking through the congregation, but the congregation is also, you could say, the Christ walking through the world as we take the story that grasps us and changes us and we then become that life changing word all along the way.

Connection: There are so many ways to be stewards of the Reign of God. It may begin by simply hearing any of the stories of how God rescues and saves God's people simply because God has this love for us that will not end. All of the sudden, we are handed that word and we become a part of its life unfolding within...yes, the ordinary stuff of this day.

Our hearts long to be fed by your promises that enable us to live with confidence so that we will never be afraid to be vulnerable to others just as the Word was so vulnerable, it became flesh among us. Breathe on us, O God, and let your Spirit take us and make us as one with you. Amen.