The Weight of the Word

Few stories highlight the power and responsibility of preaching like Nathan’s confrontation with David. This can certainly be a day for pulling back the curtain and speaking directly with the congregation about preaching. How do you prepare? What preaching wisdom shapes your approach to crafting and delivering a sermon? How do you understand the role of preaching in the wider context of worship?

That said, this week is about more than the preacher and preaching. It is about the Word of God for the people of God. While the preacher helps open up the Word, proclamation can happen in many modes during worship. Consider how you might invite the congregation to share in the proclamation of the Word by singing scripture, offering a testimony, or responsively reading a psalm. Perhaps you might recruit some congregants with a gift for theater to act out the encounter between Nathan and David to help the congregation experience the story anew. You might also consider making the preaching more conversational this Sunday. Perhaps invite a couple of laypeople to reflect on a couple of questions and come up to talk with the preacher during the sermon. Consider asking those gathered to think about some questions; then invite them to discuss the questions with one another in the pews. Whatever you choose, find ways to emphasize that the weight of the Word calls for everyone to listen and participate, not just the preacher!

Consider, too, how your visuals and liturgy might emphasize the Word. Perhaps invite congregants to bring their family Bibles to place on the altar or go find Bibles throughout the church to display—everything from a children’s Bible storybook to a youth Bible to a large altar Bible. Think about including a blessing of the Bibles that are on the altar and in the space as a way to ritually emphasize the power of the Word and the ways scripture opens us to receive the transforming, life-giving Word of God. It is important to draw the congregation’s attention to the difference between the Word and the words in the Bible. The scriptures are not God. When we proclaim and receive the Word—whether sung or read or preached or acted out—we encounter God through the stories, wisdom, psalms, and teachings in the Bible. When we hold the weight of the Word together in worship, we grow together in love of God and neighbor as the Word encourages, challenges, edifies, and instructs us as the gathered Body of Christ.