Preaching as Sacramental Encounter: Hearing, Seeing, and Encountering Christ

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From its earliest centuries, the Church has understood itself to be constituted by both the proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the sacraments. Augustine captured this balance, insisting that when the Word is preached,

“it is Christ himself who speaks,”

while also distinguishing between the verbum audibile (the Word heard in preaching) and the verbum visibile (the Word seen in the sacraments). In his homilies, Augustine would remind congregations that they “see” the Word in the water, bread, and wine, while also “hearing” the Word in proclamation and reading. Both forms of the Word mediate Christ’s presence, though by different modes. This early distinction laid the foundation for all subsequent Christian reflection on how the Word and sacraments relate in the economy of grace.

Practical Tip: When preaching, remember that your words and liturgical actions work alongside the sacraments. Preaching and sacrament are two channels of Christ’s presence, each reinforcing the other.

Augustine and the Purpose of Preaching

Tom Long, in Senses of Preaching, describes a common scenario: a preacher shaking hands with congregants after the Sunday sermon. What do you hope they will say? Long draws on Augustine’s guidance in On Christian Doctrine:

“To teach is a necessity, to please is a sweetness, to persuade is a victory.”

Augustine would be pleased to hear, “That was a nice sermon” (delight), happier to hear, “That was a nice sermon. I learned something today” (delight and teach), and most satisfied with, “That was a nice sermon. I learned something today. I am going to do something about it” (delight, teach, and persuade).

Practical Tip: Craft sermons that delight, teach, and persuade. Always ask: How will this message shape the listener’s week and actions?

Orthodox Theology: Preaching as Icon in Time

Eastern Orthodox theology approaches preaching through the lens of the iconographic economy, wherein both spoken word and visual icon participate in the same sacramental logic of revelation. John of Damascus explains that just as icons make the invisible visible, preaching makes the eternal Word audible in time. The Orthodox understanding of theoria (contemplative vision) encompasses both seeing and hearing as modes of encountering divine reality.

Alexander Schmemann emphasizes that the homily participates in the “sacramental transformation” of the Divine Liturgy, moving worshippers from this world to the Kingdom. John Zizioulas stresses that preaching, like icons, mediates Christ’s eschatological presence through the work of the Spirit.

Practical Tip: Treat the sermon as part of the liturgical movement. Every word participates in the worshipping community’s encounter with Christ.

Roman Catholic Perspectives: Homily as Quasi-Sacramental

Karl Rahner characterizes preaching as quasi-sacramental, observing that the Word of God proclaimed in the Church mediates grace in a manner analogous to the sacraments: it is a human action through which God is present and active, while retaining a qualitative distinction from the dominical sacraments.

Vatican II’s Sacrosanctum Concilium affirms:

“Christ is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church.”

The Catechism emphasizes that the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist together form one single act of worship.

Practical Tip: Connect your sermon to Eucharistic preparation and participation. Show how the Word heard opens hearts to the sacramental presence of Christ.

Lutheran and Reformed Perspectives: Preaching as Means of Grace

The Lutheran tradition, following the Augsburg Confession, affirms that

“through the Word and the Sacraments… the Holy Spirit is given, who works faith.”

For Luther, the preached Word is the viva vox evangelii, the living voice of the gospel that accomplishes what it promises. Calvin likewise describes preaching as the “external means” by which God draws people into faith, calling it a “kind of sacrament.” Preaching and sacraments are mutually interpretive: the Word explains what the sacraments signify, while the sacraments confirm the Word.

Practical Tip: Preach with the understanding that your words are divine instruments, participating in God’s work of faith and transformation.

Barthian Theology: The Word Made Present

Karl Barth asserts that true Christian preaching is a theological and spiritual act in which Jesus Christ is both the content of the sermon and the “real presence” of the speech act. Scripture witnesses to the Word, and preaching becomes the event in which the Word is proclaimed anew.

“In preaching, the Word of God comes to the congregation, not merely as human speech but as the divine address.”

Practical Tip: Preach with expectation of encounter. Christ may speak through your words—prepare yourself spiritually and exegetically.

Anglican Insights: Formation and Transformation

The Anglican tradition emphasizes the inseparability of Word and Sacrament. The Thirty-Nine Articles affirm that the Church is “the assembly in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered.” Julia Gatta notes:

“Through the eucharistic liturgy we are always being formed and reformed into the body of Christ… Preaching tries to do just that.”

Practical Tip: Use the sermon to connect Scripture to communal formation, guiding the congregation toward both understanding and practice in the context of liturgy.

Modern Theological Perspectives: Preaching as Symbolic Mediation

Contemporary voices highlight preaching as symbolic, participatory, and transformative. Ruthanna B. Hooke observes:

“Preaching is a sacramental event of communion with the triune God … Preaching draws participants into Christ’s dying and rising, and hence into a mode of power known in vulnerability.”

Similarly, Robert Smith Jr. notes that in African-American homiletics, preaching is an exegetical escort into God’s presence, experienced as liberating and transformative. Cleophus LaRue emphasizes the hermeneutic power of preaching grounded in lived experience, while Victor Anderson highlights African preaching as inherently liturgical and encounter-oriented.

Practical Tip: Consider preaching as participatory and embodied. Invite congregants into active engagement, not passive listening—letting them experience God’s presence in the act of worship itself.

Conclusion: Preaching as Sacramental Encounter

Across Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, and contemporary traditions, preaching is consistently recognized as a conduit for Christ’s presence. Terminology differs—sacramental, quasi-sacramental, sacrament-like—but the conviction is universal:

  • Preaching is not mere instruction; it is an encounter with the living Word.

  • Preaching integrates with Word and sacrament, liturgy and life.

  • Preaching mediates transformation, formation, and encounter with Christ.

Final Practical Tip: Prepare sermons as spaces of encounter—delighting, teaching, and persuading—where the congregation experiences the living Christ, shaped by Spirit and Word. Preaching is sacramental in efficacy, attesting to the presence of Christ and forming the Church into His likeness.