Ritual Notes: the sacrament of preaching

Preaching is a sacramental act.  That's not to say that it is a proper sacrament like baptism and communion, but that it is sacramental in nature.  An outward sign that produces an inward spiritual grace.  Therefore, when the word is right preached, by faith and, the Spirit uses it like a double edged sword to cut through the marrow to reach the heart.  The Spirit then produces the fruit from whatever is preached in the life of the believer.  

Sacraments work similarly.  They are outward signs of inward spiritual grace.  But they are not empty signs.  The prayer book calls them effectual because they do something.  When we recieve baptism, water mixed with the word, a form of preaching, the Spirit of God uses that to create, confirm and strengthen faith in much the same way thay audible preaching does.  

So then when the priest proclaims God's word to believers it is not actually him who is speaking but the Holy Spirit through him.  Cutting down to the inward most parts of our souls comforting and transforming us into the image of Christ.  

This then is why preaching is not less than or greater to the sacraments in an Anglican context but rather equal to them. Word and sacrament work together to enliven the sinful soul into a new creation.  

This is also why the modern American notion that it's me, my Bible and Jesus alone is a grievous error.  Too many Christians spurn preachers and preaching because they believe that preachers are unnecessary and even hindrances to lively faith.  But it is through the preaching of the word that the Spirit works not through personal Bible study and alone time with Jesus.  

God works through sacramental means.  Take for example the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5. Naaman was a Syrian general (not a jew) who came to the prophet Elisha for healing.  Naaman was suffering from a skin disease.  Probably leprosy.  Elisha told him to wash 7 times in the Jordan.  Initially Naaman was angry about this but he did as Elisha had commanded and was healed.  

Could Elisha have healed Naaman without sending him to wash in the Jordan?  Of course.  But that's not how God was going to do this.  The healing came by means of water.  Specifically the water of the Jordan River.  Sound familiar?  It should.  Jesus was baptized in the Jordan.  What happened to Naaman was a foreshadowing of this.  

Like Naaman we are healed not by the waving of a hand or some unseen force buy via outward means of grace.  Word and sacrament.  It is of course God who does the healing but He does it through objective means.  Word and sacrament.  

This of course has implications for us as we live out our lives in what has come to be know as COVIDtide.  Many have stopped going to church because they can watch it online or read the Bible for themselves.  But that's not how this works.  That's not how anything works.  God has given us the preaching of His word and the administration of His sacraments for our use and to not use them would be detrimental to our faith.  

So avail yourself of the sacraments.  They are God's good gift to us.  

The above picture is that of Thomas Cranmer preaching his final sermon before being executed by Mary Tudor for the crime of teaching justification by faith alone.