Powerful words come in small books. By the Word Worked is a small book, a book developed from a series of lectures on preaching by the Episcopal priest Fleming Rutledge. What does she mean by the title?
Rutledge places the emphasis on the One animating the Word. The issue is not the preacher but God who is “the animating agency inhabiting the written text as the preacher is led by the Holy Spirit, speaking words that effect what God intends.” The Word then does the work not the fluency or brilliance of the preacher’s performance.
What I love about Rutledge’s style is that she doesn’t mince words — we always know where she stands. Take the importance of the written word. She builds a case for how “God is a God of words . . . [who] lavishly communicates [His] own self to us.” Let me quote her more extensively:
. . . [an error I hear about once a week] is a saying of St. Francis: “Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.” Francis never said that, but it is quoted like Holy Writ. We understand the thought behind this — a gospel preached without the fruits of the Spirit would not be the gospel — but this airy dismissal of words as unimportant needs to be struck down whenever it pops up, because it leads to a wholesale abandonment of the crucial biblical identification of God with His Word.
This is a book about preaching the Bible — God’s words to us. By the Word Worked is useful for the ministry professional, the lay teacher, or the everyday listener. Rutledge speaks of the bond between these people:
The gospel sermon is not a performance by one person for the consumption by a bunch of other people. The sermon is a work in which the congregation and the preacher are both actively participating.
(If you want to know more about this active participation, read about the importance of hearing the word in my latest book Holding the Word on Navpress.org).
Do you want to read a book that exalts and explains the preaching ministry? As someone who teachers or preaches the word do you need a fresh infusion of motivation? Is the centrality and power of the Scriptures being questioned or diminished in your teaching life and in your congregation?
Whether you’re a ministry professional or a committed listener to good preaching, reading By the Word Worked by Fleming Rutledge will help deal with each of these concerns. Even though the book is small the message is huge. Take and read!
