Calvin for his “exposition of worship, the Eucharist, and the doctrine of the church as a corporate royal priesthood participating by grace in the sole priesthood of Christ.” 1
• Preach with church resources. Preachers who follow lectionary readings inevitably engage more readily with the Christian year, as it moves from Advent to Pentecost. But this progression through the seasons can benefit all preachers, especially by remembering pivotal events such as Pentecost Sunday. A friend sadly commented that his (large) independent evangelical church had made no attempt to remember Pentecost Sunday or even mention the Holy Spirit. Christmas and Easter are other key times in which to emphasize the role of the three persons of the Trinity. Further, some preachers, even in non-creedal churches, have found that the Apostles’ Creed provides a valuable framework for preaching key biblical doctrines, including the Trinity.
Preach with Trinitarian grammar.
Just as important as direct preaching on the Trinity, is intentional cultivation of “Father-Son-Holy Spirit language,” for hearers intuitively imbibe their ideas of God from the preacher’s words. Parry calls this the syntax of worship. “All languages have a syntax – a set of rules about how words do and do not fit together meaningfully in that language…the Trinity functions in Christian God-talk in such a basic and foundational way that it starts to function something like a syntax – a set of rules about how Christian language works.”2
When preachers rarely speak of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, hearers instinctively settle for “Jesus only” or “you Lord” language, missing out the wonder and mystery of the triune God. This leads to the fourth challenge facing preachers.
Worship as Trinitarians
In my first article I described preaching separated from worship as “tuneless preaching.” Tuneless preaching “does its own thing,” sounding monotonous, reedy and even discordant as it fails to harmonize in worship. I listed as its first characteristic: “It has an inadequate theology of preaching.” This series on preaching and Trinitarian worship has attempted to redress this major defect. Only when preachers think, act and preach as Trinitarians can they preach tunefully.
Yet, many other characteristics mark tuneless preaching, including: “it severs itself from worship” and “it fails to let Scripture direct the whole act of worship.” In conclusion, I outline some practical steps by which preachers can close the gap between preaching and worship.
Preachers and worship leaders must join together as worshiping Trinitarians. How best can this happen? Let’s identify five vital tasks.
Develop team relationships. Elsewhere I have challenged preachers to develop skills of team leadership in order to lead churches effectively. 3 Sadly, many preachers have poor track records with teams. A survey found that 71 percent of pastors regarded themselves as team players, but only 48 percent of their congregations agreed!