Preach Magazine Issue 1 - Creativity and innovation in preaching | Page 15

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DAVID HULL

The Joy of Preaching
Music from Handel’s Messiah immediately
resounds in my mind whenever I hear the
text, ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy
King cometh unto thee’ (Zechariah 9:9 KJV).

D

uring a very traumatic time
for the nation of Israel, when
many felt they had been
abandoned by God, the prophet
Zechariah spoke with great hope
of a coming King who would reign
in righteousness and gentleness,
and therefore he called the people,
however dark and difficult the
days were, to rejoice. When Handel
wrote his Messiah, he was clearly
determined that the theme of
rejoicing should shine through.
I have read a number of books about
preaching, but I haven’t come across
many authors who have written
about ‘the joy of preaching’. I do
wonder, though, whether many
of us who preach need to recover
a sense of this joy. All too often, it
seems, the pressure of preparing
another sermon – or even two –
before Sunday, the need for careful
research with commentaries and
detailed biblical exegesis, making
sure we have the right structure,
with three points of application
and a corresponding number of
contemporary illustrations, and
a fitting balance of humour and
seriousness, can all consume our
attention to such an extent that we
lose sight of the joy of our calling.
Yet, to be a preacher is one of the

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greatest privileges in the Christian
Church. Though there is a place in
preaching for all emotions of life,
surely joy should be the outstanding
characteristic. If Old Testament
prophets could look forward with hope
and call upon their hearers to rejoice,
how much more should Christian
preachers today be able to speak with
joy of the call to rejoice? After all,
the apostle Paul called his readers to
‘Rejoice in the Lord always’. He was so
keen for them to grasp his message
that he repeated it, ‘I will say it again:
Rejoice!’ (Philippians 4:4).

TO BE A PREACHER IS
ONE OF THE GREATEST
PRIVILEGES IN THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH. THOUGH THERE
IS A PLACE IN PREACHING
FOR ALL EMOTIONS OF
LIFE, SURELY JOY SHOULD
BE THE OUTSTANDING
CHARACTERISTIC

When CS Lewis wrote his
autobiographical account of coming
to faith, he entitled it Surprised by Joy,
for it was the sense of joy that most
overwhelmed him. I wonder, if someone
was to visit a church for the first time,
whether they too would be surprised
by joy, or whether they would be more
surprised by the lack of it. Sermon
writing techniques are, of course,
important, but let’s make sure that
neither technique, nor anything else,
ever stems the flow of joy through our
preaching!

seeking as the Lord of Joy himself’.
He is the one who rejoices over us
with singing (Zephaniah 3:17)