That one sermon, unforgettable, because it hit you squarely in the heart: This one was tailormade for you. Thirst for God was slaked! One thing you are certain of is that this was not just the word of the minister. This was from God, bread from heaven. He spoke.

This one time comes so often totally unexpected, unsolicited. At another time it comes as an answer to prayer. Now it is as a softly falling rain. What was withering blooms again. Then it is like a refreshing swig of water.

Biblical Explanation⤒🔗

This is what happens when the Holy Spirit travels along with the preaching. When he opens the words in such a way and impresses them on the heart, then it becomes the word from heaven. You are then unmistakably and unavoidably listening to the voice of God as powerful and direct as Abraham has ever heard it. We are reading about this all the time in Scripture. Paul summarizes it powerfully in his letter to Thessalonica: “Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). And a little further on, he writes, “And we thank our God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word from men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). At work, how? The same apostle describes it powerfully as “the power of God for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

Continuing Purpose←⤒🔗

The previous listening experience is more than a pietistic occasion. It is no less than a thoroughly biblical happening; stronger yet, Scripture itself owes its existence to this. Check it out; one after the other, in one way or another, experienced the voice of the Living One. Time after time it was a heavenly revelation. With this, the words took on an eternal dimension. It is repeatedly confirmed: that all flesh is like grass, every word of man flies away, but the word of God is forever. These are words with an eternal value. This is why these words were not allowed to be lost but were entrusted to paper, with the aim that people will read and hear these words over and over, that they will be explained and presented in new situations and to different ears. The written texts were spoken in different contexts. Amazingly they are continually experienced as “viva vox”: a living voice. The words of “I am who I am” maintained his power and are unchangeable. All the earlier words of justice and grace, love and faithfulness, became flesh and blood in Christ. God expressed himself as never before into the most intimate detail, wrote J. H. Bavinck, pointedly. The gospel speaks of this revealed mystery. The apostles, taught and led by the Spirit of the resurrected One, give witness of this (Luke 24:45-49).

Silent Overpowering←⤒🔗

Even today the Living One is speaking. This happens primarily through the witness of convicted speakers. Stated in a somewhat old-fashioned way, he approaches in the cloak of his word and addresses us in the power of his Spirit. This kind of preaching is a preaching in spirit and power which is experienced while listening. This happens without much fanfare in silent overpowering. To address us in the power of the Holy Spirit there shall be preaching, and with that goal there will be listening. Paul was utterly convinced of this and wrote that the relationship with God originates and is maintained through this process of preaching and listening:

How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?... Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ.Romans 10:14, 17

This is not new, but it is important that this gets through to us again. This is even more pressing in our days, where listening to the preaching is under pressure and questions are asked about its usefulness and its blessing. Could one of the reasons for this be that what we wrote is no longer realized individually and in the community? Do both the preacher and the listener still realize that in the preaching something must be happening? Do we still realize that great things are accomplished, and that the eternal God speaks the Word in this manner?

Realization←⤒🔗

The living Christ wants to use these means to make himself known. It is sin when this realization ebbs away and the wonder ceases to be. If this prayer—“I will listen to what God the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints” (Psalm 85:8)—diminishes, then it will only be a matter of time before the practice of preaching and listening will be over. The farther the realization that God wants to speak through the preaching drifts away, the more difficult it becomes to experience anything through the sermon. The sermon becomes the essay of the minister about which everyone has an opinion and attaches a mark. You can see and hear this all around you. Everyone has his own expectation from the sermon. One longs for a spiritual pep talk with which one can go into a new week. Another wants an interesting expose that satisfies intellectually. The next one asks for a short and powerful story which the younger ones can also follow. There are as many opinions as there are people. Meanwhile it gets ever more complicated for preachers. The listeners are getting increasingly discontented because they do not get what they want. How long can we maintain this? This question is asked more and more, also within our own circles. Here too, this listening to sermons seems to be having less and less effect.

Repentance Urgently Needed←⤒🔗

There is a lot to say: about those ministers who need to improve, about those hearers who are listening differently than in the past. All of this does not help much, for if we want to get out of this stalemate, we will need to return to the core. We need to get back to the mystery that the Lord out of all things wants to express himself using the spoken word. When you ponder this, you realize how special this is. Even as the Glorified One does Jesus continue to come down, as he uses our tongues and our mouths. Continuing incarnation is the word for it. It makes you stand silently in awe. The question for the hearer becomes this: Are you ready to accept this? Are you prepared to receive the necessary heavenly message via “this broadcast filled with crackles and background noise?” Are we succeeding in maintaining the faith that the Lord has expressed his preference in addressing us in common sermons? Can we handle  looking for him in this humble form? Or are we slowly getting too good for this?

Prayer←⤒🔗

Imagine that we as preachers and we as hearers together return to a custom to pray for this attitude together in preparation for the Sunday. Imagine that we do so with heart and soul, filled with common longing, persevering in prayer because we believe that the Almighty always has plenty on his mind that he wants to share with us. Imagine that we do this, even when we are not waiting for just that message. Then ministers would know what to preach and hearers would be wiser than ever. Very plainly it would show how timely the word is that writes, “Faith is from hearing the word, and listening through the (declared) Word of God.”