I’ve been reading John Calvin’s new biography by Herman J. Selderhuis.  It’s terrific – reads like a novel, and I can hardly wait to get back to it whenever I lay it down.

The chapter on Calvin as “preacher” caught my attention, of course.  Calvin typically preached for an hour – three adult services and a children’s service on Sundays, plus preaching services daily.  (Calvin “only” had to preach every other week for the daily services, which meant “only” 10 new sermons or so every other week.)

Preaching has always been important to the Reformed tradition, and we owe that to John Calvin.  He believed in igniting and inspiring faith through the hearing of the Word – as opposed to the rites of the Church, as in the Catholic tradition.

The preacher should preach from a raised pulpit – not to exalt himself but to give authority to the Bible.  He should wear a robe – not to distinguish himself as clergy but because it was the common garment for educated professionals, so that the congregation would know their pastor had been well-trained in the Scriptures.

But Calvin thought preaching should “put the cookies on the bottom shelf,” to use a more modern analogy.  Sentences should be simple, analogies should be plentiful, and people should walk out of church with a clear and simple understanding of what to do in response to the Bible.

The preacher’s role was to study the Scripture in advance.  (If the pastor didn’t first become a student of the text, “it would be better if he were to break his neck while climbing into the pulpit.”)  Then he was to use kindness, enthusiasm, warmth, humor, and illustrations to make the sense clear to the listeners.

But listeners had responsibilities as well.  They were to attend the service regularly and to make a clear effort to learn and follow the Word.  “We do not come to the preaching to say ‘I was there,’ but to reflect on the Word that we have heard.’”

Were you in church yesterday?  What did you hear in the sermon?  How have you given it greater attention and response?