This is the second essay is a special series by the Rev. Dr. Nathan Jennings, Professor of Liturgics at Seminary of the Southwest. There will be eight installments in this series presented in intervals through the winter of 2026. A “round up” with links to all eight essays will be available in the spring.
Part II. When Is the Sermon? A Mystagogical Answer
In this series, I offer practical advice on sermon preparation by developing a liturgical theology of the Sermon. Liturgical theology takes the ritual action of Christian liturgy seriously, and develops what is called “mystagogy,” from reflection upon the shape of our shared Christian Eucharistic rite. A service of the Holy Eucharist is mystagogical. Mystagogy means “leading into the mystery.” In this second post of the series, we will look at how the sermon must do its part to lead the faithful into the mystery.
Liturgical theology affirms the fundamentally eschatological nature of the Christian sacramental liturgies. Liturgical theology focuses on the eschatological reality enacted by the rite, rather than focusing on the words used in the service, alone, independent of its ritual shape and eschatological nature. It focuses on the enactment of the eschaton rather than other, later, symbolical meanings imposed upon the rite due to a lost sense of its eschatological enactment, or of its shape. In the title of this post, I’m making a gentle play on words. When the Sermon falls in the ritual is also when it happens eschatologically, because mystagogy reveals how the Holy Eucharist enacts the End of the World.
The Liturgy is the End
Let’s start by looking at the placement of the Sermon in the Eucharistic rite. In the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, the super-heading under which “The Sermon” falls is “The Word of God.” Together with “The Holy Communion,” the Word of God forms one of the two major ritual actions or movements within the regular celebration of “The Holy Eucharist” as a whole.[1] Zooming in, the heading “The Sermon” falls after the heading for “The Lessons,” and before the heading for “The Prayers of the People” (BCP p. 326; 358).[2] The Holy Eucharist, among other mysteries, enacts the kingdom of God: “Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen” (BCP p. 355).
The Holy Communion enacts the great “Eschatological Banquet” (Isa. 25:6) on the last day, when we will say “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9), when many will come from the north, the south, the east, and the west, and feast with Abraham in the kingdom (Matt. 8:11; Luke 13:29); God will dwell in the midst of us, we will commune with him and one another, and God will be all in all (Rev. 21:3; 1 Cor 15:28).
The Word of God enacts the Final Judgment. At the Final Judgment all the people, raised from their graves (Baptism) shall gather before the Mercy Seat; books will be opened and read aloud, and from these we shall be judged; we will hear the good news of the Lamb who was slain, we will pray for mercy, and God will forgive us and restore us to peace—the peaceable kingdom, God’s promised shalom for Israel (Rev. 20:11; Rev. 21:3; Isa. 11:6-9).
This is exactly what happens in the service of the Word of God. Those raised in Christ gather, books are opened and read aloud; from these we receive judgment and hear the Gospel of Our Savior Jesus Christ; we then pray for the whole state of Christ’s Church and the world, confess our sins, receive absolution, and pass the Peace.[3]
We are gathered by the Word and gospel proclamation to God’s people—to make us his people—the body of the Word made flesh. Then we respond to what we have heard with prayer, asking for forgiveness, having heard the Word of judgment, but also approaching with boldness the throne of Grace, having heard the good news. And, as in a mystery, it is Christ himself, as the head of the gathered body, who proclaims his good news, for it is his gathered body on Earth through whom he acts, tabernacling again among his people. And it is Christ himself who prays to the Father, and we with him, as living members of the Living Word.
The Sermon is inherent to the enactment of the Word of God, similar to the way in which the Word of God is inherent to the enactment of Holy Eucharist as a whole. We cannot celebrate Holy Communion until we have, among other things, received the Word of God and the Holy Gospel through the Sermon. The Sermon is part of, and inherent to, our Communion with God and one another. Thus, the Sermon is part of, and inherent to the Holy Eucharist, our sacred act of Thanksgiving. The Sermon enables communion and thanksgiving, together with, and playing its part within, the service of the Word of God.
In the enactment of the Christian Eucharist, the Sermon (1) connects the Word of God read to the incarnate Word of God gathered as this local church. The Sermon (2) proclaims the Gospel (even when other texts are preached). The Gospel proclaimed culminates all other readings, connecting the ancient text that was read as Word and gospel to the good news God has for his people gathered on this day, in this place, under these conditions. The Sermon then directs us to the remaining unfolding ritual action. The preacher remains cognizant of the place of the sermon as a part of mystagogy within the liturgy as mystagogical enactment.
Upshot
Turning to how we can connect the shape of the liturgy with preaching, we note that the sermon must do its part to lead the faithful into the mystery. Mystagogy is necessary if we are to connect a suffering congregation with the God of Scripture.
The Sermon is essential to the Eucharist. It is not optional. In the service of the Holy Eucharist, the Sermon is essential to the Holy Communion proper, preparing us for, directing us to, fellowship with God and his people. The Sermon is thus essential to our giving thanks—even when not an explicit expression of thanks, it must set us up for the thanksgiving to follow. The Sermon extends the Gospel into the life of the congregation, and that of each congregant. As part of the Service of the Word, it gathers the people and God dwells among us again.
The preacher remains cognizant of the place of the Sermon as a speech act within the liturgy as a ritual act. What immediately precedes the Sermon in the unfolding ritual action? We know for certain that readings of Scripture and proclamation of Gospel precede. Then what immediately and ultimately follows? Is the immediate action the Creed? A Baptism? The Prayer of the People? The Confession of Sins? When a priest is present, what ultimately follows is the Holy Communion. The Sermon is a bridge. Our sermons link, flow from, and lead to these ritual actions. When we look at the shape of a particular Eucharistic service, we ask, what facet of the mystery unfolds at this moment of ritual mystagogy? The Sermon connects the Scriptures preached to the next ritual action within the total ritual act. Thus, the Sermon brings us to the table and brings the future into our present.[4] The Sermon is always a speech act of the eschatological proclamation of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. In my next post in this series, we will develop a liturgical theology of the good news.
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[1] The Word of God must be enacted before we can enact the Holy Communion. We cannot hold a service of Holy Communion without also celebrating the service of the Word of God. The Word of God is necessary to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist; and it is, in our encounter with time, necessary for this to occur before we share communion with God and with one another. Reflection on this yields insight into the multifaceted Christian mystery.
[2] For Sundays and Feast Days the Nicene Creed is appointed and provided, without a heading, showing it to fall under the heading for “The Sermon.” That is interesting, but I’ll have to take that up elsewhere, as the recitation of the creed is not necessary for every celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
[3] Like turning a single diamond perfectly cut with pluriform facets, some parts of the rite can move to other places within the rite and thus enact a different facet of the mystery. For example, we can move the confession to the Opening Rite using the Penitential Order. We can move the Peace to the Fraction. (When we move the Peace, the service is more nested and less dialectical and binary. The Sermon prompts the prayers and everything else that follows.)
[4] I am thankful to Steven Tomlinson for giving me this felicitous turn of phrase.
The Rev. Dr. Nathan Jennings is the J. Milton Richardson Professor of Liturgics and Anglican Studies and Director of Community Worship at Seminary of the Southwest, Austin, TX.
