By R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
The text is not the preacher's, for the proclaimer is merely the one who makes clear that "I have not written the text." The preacher must listen to the text, dispensing with all the "dearest habits and best insights that I have -- I must give them all up before listening."
With this in mind, Barth offers three warnings. Preachers must not be puffed-up 'clerics,' who "attempt to represent the interests of the good Lord to the world." Nor should they be visionaries: "Preaching that is biblical is never visionary, for holy scripture speaks to reality." Lastly, the preacher must not be boring, even though "the pastor and boredom are (sometimes) synonymous concepts." The only defense against boredom is being biblical. "If a sermon is biblical," Barth maintained, "it will not be boring."
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The problem in Barth's understanding of Scripture comes at the point of the event-character of the Word. Evangelicals should not rejects this event-character, for it is a part of the Bible's witness to itself. But Barth's insistence that the Bible "becomes God's Word" in the concrete Context of an event betrays his refusal to tie his system to a fully authoritative Scripture. This is not an insignificant issue. Barth left no school of thought or circle of disciples. Those figures who followed him have generally been far less biblical than Barth exhorted.
But Barth's Homiletics remains a treasure of twentieth-century homiletical thought. And it came from the mind, heart, and open of a theologian who did not merely think about preaching but was himself a preacher. His parish ministry in Safenwil attracted wide-spread attention. During his mature ministry as professor of dogmatics at the University of Basel, Barth preached regularly in the prisons, taking seriously Christ's command to preach good news to the captives. Barth's sermons and occasional messages are rich in content and they reveal the great heart and incredible mind of one of the great figures of the twentieth century.
As with the introduction to the sermon, Barth rejected a conclusion as both "dangerous and seductive." He pointed instead to the word, "Amen." This, Barth called "an important, comforting, and critical little word." "From this little word," Barth said, "we might unpack the whole doctrine of preaching."