This month’s preaching article concludes a series that gives readers a taste of several different aspects of preaching. Articles discuss preaching’s purpose (why we preach), content (what we say), form (how we arrange what we say), context (where and to whom we preach), and finally, today’s focus, the person of the preacher.

“The person of the preacher” is a phrase I was not acquainted with until a few years ago. This phrase, which may sound unusual or awkward to our ears, represents a hot topic of discussion in some homiletical circles. In short, discussions about the person of the preacher revolve around this question: when a sermon is preached, how important is the person preaching it?

This is typically not a question that Lutherans spend much time thinking about. To Lutherans, the preacher doesn’t matter as much as the message does. Many in the wider homiletical academy, however, approach the question very differently, saying that the preacher—especially his or her cultural identity—matters a lot.

Dennis Matyas, a Lutheran (LCMS) pastor, seeing how confessional Lutherans viewed the person of the preacher differently than many other Christians do, wanted to look into this topic further. Why the disparity? He had his hunches, but he wanted to explore the question. This became the topic of his doctoral dissertation, a summary of which he presented at the 2023 theological symposium at Concordia Seminary (St. Louis). (Interested readers can watch his presentation here.)

First, Matyas gave a snapshot of how many in the mainline homiletical academy view the person of the preacher. Many put a strong emphasis on the cultural identity of the preacher. How, for example, should a preacher of one ethnic background preach to people of a different ethnicity? Should he preach in that context at all? If the listeners have experienced racial discrimination and the preacher has not, how can the preacher relate to their experience? Should he dare to tell them anything? If so, what should he say and how should he say it in a way that does not presume knowledge of what they’ve been through? Or should his cultural identity lead him to stay silent?

The Lutheran homiletical tradition, Matyas notes, doesn’t really ask such questions, or at least it hasn’t historically. Why not? Because Lutherans believe that it’s the Word, not the preacher, that matters. Yes, AC XIV reminds us that no one should publicly preach unless properly called, so in that sense the person matters. But Lutherans are quick to point out that it’s not the preacher—his skill, his eloquence, his personality, his experience—that makes the Word effective. That power is the Holy Spirit’s alone. The person of the preacher is not what we should focus on. Rather, preachers should learn to get out of the way, proclaim the Word faithfully, and let the Spirit do the rest. In fact, it’s an immense comfort to a preacher when he realizes that it’s not up to him to make his message effective. That’s the Spirit’s work.

Nevertheless, Lutheran preachers are attentive to the words of Scripture that speak to them as preachers. Think of the pastoral epistles. Paul tells Timothy, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16). It’s not as if Timothy’s life had the power to save, but the way he lived his life was still important in its own way. About his own ministry and that of the other apostles Paul wrote, “We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited” (2 Corinthians 6:3). Much of that letter, in fact, is Paul defending his person to the Corinthians against the accusations of the “super-apostles.” It’s not that Paul believed that he himself was the key to his message’s effectiveness; he came “in weakness with great fear and trembling,” content to let the Spirit’s power be in the spotlight (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Still, he realized that his person was related to how—and even if—people listened to him. We could cite countervailing examples of the Word’s power surmounting cultural barriers while the person of the preacher faded into the background. Philip comes to mind, as he explained the prophecy of the Suffering Servant to an Ethiopian man (Acts 8:26-40). Really, we see two truths in action. One is that the power is in the message, not in the preacher. The other is that the Spirit regularly chooses to work through a unique, living person when the message is preached.

Confessional Lutherans have at times spoken of the importance of the person of the preacher, though not using that term. Matyas cites one example we may recognize from C. F. W. Walther. “Think of a time when you will be the pastor of a congregation and make a vow to God that you will adopt the apostle’s method, that you will not stand in your pulpits sad-faced, as if you were bidding men to come to a funeral, but like men that go wooing a bride or announcing a wedding” (Law and Gospel, 406). Doesn’t Walther trust the power of the Word to work regardless of the preacher’s demeanor? Certainly he does. But Walther also wants the gospel to be embodied in the preacher, who knows the joy it brings to him and his hearers and who conveys that joy when he preaches.

Dennis Matyas brings these threads together and adds to them ideas borrowed from Christian philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff. Matyas calls his synthesized view of the person of the preacher “embodied superintendence.” A superintendent is someone who watches over, manages, and cares for the property of someone else. That’s what preachers do. Called by Christ through his church, preachers speak not their own ideas but the words of God. They are ambassadors, representatives of a greater authority. As ambassadors, they are commissioned not to set policy but to convey the policies of the one who sent them. Also like ambassadors, the one who sent them stands behind them, giving their words authority. Matyas cites Concordia Seminary’s Peter Nafzger, who, echoing passages like Luke 10:16 (“Whoever listens to you listens to me”), says that when a preacher proclaims God’s Word, we can say that “God himself is speaking.” Preachers are superintendents of the Word, called to proclaim faithfully and authoritatively the message of the one who sent them.

These superintendents, though, are “embodied.” It’s God’s will that human messengers serve as his ambassadors, and all human messengers have cultural backgrounds and countless additional traits and experiences that make each of them unique. Matyas urges preachers to think of their uniqueness, especially their cultural identities, as “formational but not foundational.” A preacher’s cultural identity is formational in that it is part of who he is, and God calls that man—cultural identity and all—to speak the Word on his behalf. Yet a preacher’s cultural identity is not foundational. It does not, for instance, make it impossible or impermissible for a preacher to speak to people with a different cultural identity than his. It’s true, Matyas notes, that a preacher can never fully know the situation of his hearers, nor can they know the preacher’s. Yet a preacher can speak an authoritative word from God.

The person of the preacher—does it matter? As we said in response to last month’s question, to this question, too, we say no and yes. “Embodied superintendence”—the two elements are always in tension. We preach the Word as superintendents of a message not our own, with a power not our own, so we gladly let our person fade into the background. Yet we speak in an embodied way, as unique individuals. This means that we speak with love for our hearers, wanting to learn about them and their situations. It means that we humbly listen to them even as we speak in their midst. Then we speak, knowing that the Lord promises to work through or despite our uniqueness as his Word goes forth.

Next month, veteran pastor and preacher James Huebner shares thoughts on preaching.

This article in Devote Yourself was contributed by the team that previously created and distributed Preach the Word. View past preaching-related articles at worship.welsrc.net/downloads-worship/preach-the-word.