Preaching as Sacramental

In addition to lots of people comparing / contrasting sermon / preaching and Supper / sacraments here are some people saying that preaching / sermon is sacramental:

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Gerrish, B. A., Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology of John Calvin (Eugene, Wimpf and Stock Publishers, 1993)

John H. Leith (1990): “For Calvin, preaching is sacramental in the context of the order of salvation and as a means of grace, and not in the more general sense by which all creation may be sacramental.” (“Calvin’s Doctrine of the Proclamation of the Word and It’s Significance for Today”, p211) (p76)

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http://mpjensen.blogspot.com/2006/05/george-pattison-on-preaching-as.html

George Pattison on Preaching as sacrament

Oxford Professor of Divinity George Pattison writes in his 'Short Course in Christian Doctrine':
'...if we no longer live in a golden age of Christian preaching, few Christians will not at some point have experienced something of the sacramental dimension of preaching- that preaching, no less than the sacraments more narrowly understood, is a way of God becoming present in time to the believing community. Preaching too can be a way of making-present the 'conversation in heaven' to which God is constantly drawing us. Seeing preaching as sacramental in this way goes against the widespread assumption by both preachers and congregations that preaching is primarily a form of teaching, the aim of which is simply to offer an explanation or application of the biblical text, or to demonstrate the logical, historical or psychological grounds for accepting Christian belief. On such a view the purpose of preaching will primarily be to persuade, convince or, simply to argue a point...' p. 108

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Jordan, James B., Through New Eyes: Developing A Biblical View of the World (Wipf and Stock Publishers, Eugene, Oregon, 1999)

Ch 10: Breaking Bread: The Rite of Transformation

“The performance of this weekly rite in worship is the heart of liturgical piety, and this is seen in both major sections of the worship service. The six-fold performance in the Eucharist, the Holy Communion, is obvious; but it is also performed in the Synaxis, the service of the Word….”

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Ryken, Leland, Worldly Saints: The Puritans as They Really Were (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1986)

“This emphasis on the word (broadly defined to include the Bible but much besides) provides the context for understanding why the Puritans made the reading and exposition of Scripture the primary event in the worship service. There can be no doubt that for these worshipers the Word became a verbal sacrament (even though they would not have used that term to describe it). A sacrament is a means of grace in which the individual believer encounters the real presence of God in a uniquely powerful way. In the public worship of the Puritans, “the Word is made flesh – not to sight, as in images; not to taste, as in the bread and wine; not to smell, as in the fumes of incense; but to the hearing, and dwells among us. Preaching is a sacrament.” [Maclure, Millar, The Paul’s Cross Sermons, 1534-1642 (Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1958), p165] (p125)

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Wright, Stephen, Guest Editorial: The Bible as Sacrament (Anvil, Volume 19 No. 2 2002)

“In worship, the sacramental character of the Scriptures is discerned in the creative tension between the reading and preaching. The particular words of Scripture itself must be heard, but equally they must not be heard in the flat, as if they did not point beyond themselves to the mystery of the gospel. It is the task of the sermon to explore this pointing-beyond, to allow the words on the page to speak of the mystery as a living, present reality. The reading is a necessary anchor and focus for the preaching, but the preaching is a necessary reminder of the sacramental quality of the text.” (p82f)

c.f. also ? Wright, ‘An Experiment in Biblical Criticism: Aesthetic Encounter in Reading and Preaching Scripture’ pp240-267 in Bartholomew et. al. Renewing Biblical (2000)

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Donald Coggan, A New Day For Preaching: The Sacrament of the Word (London, SPCK, 1996)

“Put at its simplest, sacraments are means by which God brings home to us the reality of his redeeming love. In the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist, the appeal is to the eye – these sacraments are God’s verbal visibilia. In the sacrament of the word [preaching], the appeal is to the ear – sermons are God’s verba audibilia. Water, bread and wine are the stuff of baptism and eucharist. Words are the stuff of preaching.” (p77) [Bible God’s word written]

P. T. Forsyth, Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind, p83, “… every true sermon… is a sacramental time and act. It is God’s Gospel act re-asserting itself in detail…. It is a sacramental act, done together with the community in the name and power of Christ’s redeeming act and our common faith.” (p79)

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Burgess, John P., “Scripture as Sacramental Word: Rediscovering Scripture’s Compelling Power” Interpretation volume 52 (1998) pp 380-391

Preaching sacramental too (p389)

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Wright, N. T., Scripture and the Authority of God (London, SPCK, 2005)

“It is also important to remind preachers that just as some of the Reformers spoke of the sacraments as God’s ‘visible words’, so sermons are supposed to be ‘audible sacraments’.” (p102)