Preaching: Creation

In reading The Cross-Shattered Church by Stanley Hauerwas (whose surname I can neither spell nor pronounce), I came across the following line:

…God’s good creation is not finished.

It struck me: God is not a retired Creator. In the beginning he created, and he is still creating. And as lofty as it sounds, the preacher gets to assist in this act of creating. For a preacher does not preach his own word, but he utters the word of God to those with ears to ear. And when God’s word goes out, it does not return to him void. This was true in the opening chapters of Genesis, and it is true even now. Through the folly of preaching God is creating a community of people for himself. His work of creation is not finished; maybe it never will be, since he is the eternal Creator.

When we preach the word of God, God is creating and re-creating. When we hear the word of God, we are being created and re-created.

Unintelligible

...our task is not to explain 'the meaning' of the text, but rather show how our lives are unintelligible if Jesus Christ is not the Lord.

- Stanley Hauerwas

I'm still trying to figure out if that's the most brilliant piece of advice you can give to a preacher, or a recipe for sermonic suicide.