JW September 27, 2014 A Jagged Contention

A Jagged Contention

Preaching and Proclamation

“Proclamation, is explicit declaration of the good news, the gospel, the kerygma… Proclamation is more specific than preaching because not all that we ordinarily call preaching – teaching, edifying, ethical exhortation, persuasion, apologies for Christian living – is necessarily proclamation. At the same time, proclamation is more comprehensive because it occurs apart from formal preaching, most notably in the sacraments and the liturgy, but also in the everyday mutual conversation of Christians.”

– Gerhard O. Forde, “Theology is for Proclamation” (1-2)

Question:

To make his argument regarding proclamation Forde clarifies his terms; most notably a distinction between preaching and proclamation. Is this distinction helpful for assessing the mission and ministry of the church?

Add your thoughts to the comments section below.

9Comments

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1

lisamarie24209 on September 27, 2014 at 3:02 pm

Yes I think it is helpful. Proclamation is fully objective or outside of us. Preaching can be either objective or subjective, and tends to be mostly subjective and legalistic if specific proclamation is left out.

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Ross on September 27, 2014 at 5:59 pm

Forde’s clarification is immensely helpful when it comes to proclamation. As I’ve lamented before, not all preaching proclaims or delivers Christ. Proclamation however demands that we “deliver the goods.” In proclamation, Christ actually does something, He forgives sins, He grows faith, in proclamation, the Word does something (it is performative and actually accomplished God’s purposes)!

Proclamation doesn’t allow us to preach “about” God or “about” what God has done, proclamation delivers to the hearers, exactly what God has done. We preach Christ, we don’t preach “about” Christ. This happens not just in the sermons, but also in the administration of the Sacraments, the liturgy and hymns of the church, and confession and absolution, to name just a few.

I think the distinction between proclamation and preaching is a good starting place for assessing the mission of the church as such a distinction helps us get rid of the “junk.” The extra stuff that doesn’t deliver anything substantial. Like Lisa noted above, there can be a lot of subjective things that take place in preaching or in worship. Since God’s gifts are not subjective or based on a feeling, but rather His unfailing Word, the gifts are objective and should be delivered as such (certainly not manipulating emotions to create a subjective response). If worship, the Divine Service, is about God delivering His gifts to His people, and the church exists to dispense these gifts of God, than the church must make sure that the things taking place in worship exist for the purpose of delivering salvation and forgiveness to the people in an objective way.

Since we’re encouraging lively discussion, I might add this for consideration…

If proclamation is to take place in the everyday conversations of Christians, how can the church encourage that proclamation too actually occur? I understand the importance of Christians forgiving each other and proclaiming what Christ has done in their vocations, but how can the church encourage further proclamation? What does that look like? Is there more to it than just Christians forgiving each other? And how does the mission and ministry of the church (especially one that focuses on truly and faithfully proclaiming and delivering God’s gifts) equip everyday Christians to engage in proclamation?

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Joel hess on September 28, 2014 at 1:57 pm

Forde manufactures a helpful distinction to keep the preacher and the church focused on his God given goal, but is it biblical? Again I like it, the preacher should be bold and directly declaring repentance and forgiveness, but do we honestly conclude that the Holy Spirit does not give gifts unless it comes in the form of proclamation or declaration. Just being annoying

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  Scott Keith on September 29, 2014 at 9:58 am
  
  Joel,
  You asked: “but do we honestly conclude that the Holy Spirit does not give gifts unless it comes in the form of proclamation or declaration?” I respond, what is the promise? Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Mark 15:15-16, “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” We are time and again reminded of the question, “How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” (Rom.10:14-15). The answer is, “They cannot”– the reason being, from Paul in Romans:10:17, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Hebrews 1:1-2, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” What is the message of the Son that saves? 1 Corinthians 15:1-11: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” So in conclusion, do we honestly conclude that the Holy Spirit gives gifts unless in other form of proclamation or declaration? The sacraments too, of course, convey both the Holy Spirit and His gifts, but they do so in that they are connected to the Word of proclamation. I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This is my body… This is my blood… Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all of your sin. You get the idea. This is what Forde way saying: “At the same time, proclamation is more comprehensive because it occurs apart from formal preaching, most notably in the sacraments and the liturgy, but also in the everyday mutual conversation of Christians.” Explicit declaration of forgiveness is what brings repentance, forgiveness, faith, and freedom. Nothing else will do. Hand over the freaking goods!!
  
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joelahess on September 30, 2014 at 7:28 am

Scott, you have made it clear that the Good News gives salvation and that the teaching, preaching, speaking of God’s Word produces and/or sustains faith. it is also clear that the church is explicitly directed by Jesus to point fingers and speak directly to real people and saying ‘you repent’ and ‘you are forgiven’. it seems like Forde suggests that the holy spirit won’t do his thing when you are doing a bible study, etc. the distinction of proclamation vs. preaching is fun to play with but the scriptures – especially paul’s letters seem real general in terms what preaching the Word looks like. i think someone can come to faith through one of Paul’s letters, even though Paul never once specifically and directly tells the modern reader to repent. again i’m just being antagonistic.

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Scott Keith on September 30, 2014 at 5:41 pm

We all know you are an antagonist. Here is my question: if a non-beiever attends one of your Bible Studies and you are covering genealogies in Genesis chapter 5, does the Holy Spirit work through that Bible study to convert the sinner? I would contend that only the Gospel holds that promise and thus proclamation is different than teaching, maybe even preaching. This may be splitting hairs, but nonetheless the point is to hold proclamation to the task of forgiveness of sins on account of Christ. Teaching and exhortation are necessary and valuable too, they are just not proclamation. Does the Holy Spirit do His thing through them? I think so, but through the teacher He informs and exhorts. Forgiveness of sins, engendering of faith, and strengthening in the faith happen through proclamation proper. (See previously listed verses.) I think what you ask is valuable, but I think the difference is clear and easily discerned. Would you say that the Holy Spirit works through Stewardship Sunday to bring people to the faith? Not that He is incapable of doing so, but is that the promise? Just as we acknowledge that God can be found in the trees and in the leaves, we nonetheless tell people to find Him where He has promised He will be, i.e. in the Word and Sacraments. So too, look for forgiveness of sins and engendering of faith where it is promised and exhortation where it is promised.

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joelahess on October 1, 2014 at 6:50 am

well, you have never heard me do a bible study on a genealogy!
So when we say that God works through the means of grace, Word and Sacraments, by Word we mean ‘proclaimed law and gospel’ and not just a clip from scripture. Perhaps the case of Philipp and the Eunuch demonstrates this as the Eunuch was reading scripture but needing preaching.
Still, even though a pastor does not declare the gospel (as he should) and instead simply talks about the gospel, the holy spirit may still convert and strengthen, which He definitely does in heterodox churches that literally don’t believe in proclamation or declaration, but just ‘preaching about…’
The importance of declaring and proclaiming is clear throughout scriptures beginning with Genesis 1 – Let there be light!

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Scott Keith on October 1, 2014 at 8:29 am

On this we agree, I think. You seem to desire a narrowing of context and I am desire for people to run to the promise. God works in ways that are exceptionally mysterious to me and His word in every context has power. But the question here is: What is proclamation and is it the job of a pastor, or any believer for that matter, to proclaim the Good News in a first order declarative way? Where is the promise not the possibility? The promise is in the declared forgiveness of sins on account of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ for you. You damn well ought to hear that, or preach that, on a Sunday morning. Why do we always want to focus on the possibilities when God gives us a promise?

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joelahess on October 1, 2014 at 5:40 pm

Excellent. Love the promise/possibility distinction . Copyright it

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A Jagged Contention

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