We should ask three questions: How does this text confront me? How does this text judge me? How does this text redeem me? To ask these questions and to listen and hear is to let God's Word -- not one's own -- through the written Word, speak to His people.
The unity of the sermon is of the utmost importance. Related to this idea of unity is that of clarity -- the need to let the hearer understand the over-all theme of the sermon and where one is at eachstep. At no point can the outline be assumed to be obvious to the hearer. These three ideas represent the essence of Scherer's thought on the craft of the sermon: its creative nature, its God-man direction and its unity. He suggests that four questions should be asked about each sermon: What is its central thrust? What is its principal theological concern? What is its relevance? What are the problems in communication?
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In his last book,
The Word God Sent, published in 1965, Scherer offers the reasons for his faith in preaching and presents the fruits of his wide experience as preacher and teacher. The four lectures in this book deal with the substance of preaching, offering the mature convictions of a master of the art. The 16 sermons that follow translate his principles into performance. They are largely expository and doctrinal. He admits that such preaching is not likely to be popular, and to many it may not even seem intelligible. No other claim is made for it except that it wants to stretch itself out toward ends which Scherer believed to have dropped from view.
The type of preaching which he champions is no moralistic "half-hour homily on handicaps and happiness." It is not psychological counsel on the well-adjusted life, nor is it an apologetic for religious beliefs. It is a direct testimony to the gospel, centered in the grace of God who in Jesus Christ confronts self-centered man. With many current trends in preaching Scherer had little sympathy. He had no enthusiasm for making contact with man's interests rather than confronting him with God's word to man.
In the preface to this book Scherer expressed two convictions that came into sharper focus as he turned from the work of the parish minister to that of a teacher of preaching. One is that the Word of God has never to be made relevant. It is already relevant and was so before we arrived on the scene. The other conviction is that "there is not today, there never has been, and there never will be any adequate substitute for preaching." He insisted that "we need never have any fear that what the Bible fashions today will be outdated tomorrow. Because the words written on these pages, although they are the words of fallible men, are the words which God has formed. They are taken up in every generation by the Holy Spirit of God to become that Word."
In the final lecture Scherer presents preaching as a radical transaction. It is radical because it must not omit the offense of the gospel in order to make people good. The gospel as he wished to see it preached means not only an event in history but present conflict. It is not only solace but also challenge, not only succor but also demand, not only summons but also response. He protested vigorously against trimming the gospel in order to make it easier to accept. He says, "In a thousand pulpits the gospel is reduced to a plaintive with a vague promise, held together by a bit of advice."
