Preaching the Prophets with honor
Elizabeth Achtemeier
October 1, 1997
In many churches, the least-preached part of the Bible is the prophetic literature. Few sermons draw from Zechariah, Nahum, or Amos.
So how can we preach the prophets well? In fact, what does it really mean to be prophetic?
Here, a seasoned scholar answers those questions by pointing out four qualities of the prophets—qualities needed in any sermon we preach from the prophets.
The prophet loves God's people
The stereotype of prophetic preaching is making judgments and castigating people's sins. The image is too often of God and the preacher standing on one side against the sinful people in the pews on the other.
I used to teach seminary satellite courses. I remember one preacher who could not preach his way out of a paper bag. I worked with him and struggled to find out why he couldn't preach. It turned out that he hated his congregation. He said, "They're a bunch of egotistical jerks." His view was that he and God were on one side and the people were on the other.
But actually he was all alone. God was with the people!
The Lord loves his sinful folk, so the Lord's prophets love them too. Throughout the prophetic writings, Israel is, to be sure, always stubborn, stupid, blind, and whoring. "That worm Jacob," as Isaiah calls him. But Israel also is, in the prophetic writings, "the Lord's dear son, his darling child, his chosen servant."
Because the prophets bear the word of God, they bear also God's love for his foolish children. To preach from the prophets rightly, we can never overlook the prophets' identification with their sinful people. The God of the prophets is not only a righteous judge; God is also redeemer and re-creator.
To be sure, the primary message of the preexilic prophets is one of radical wrath. ...
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