Preaching as art

Art is important because it carries with it a presence that is “other” than the artist. This “other” is the presence of God. While this understanding has been preserved in how we understand preaching, secularism has lost this aspect because of its insistence on the centrality of the self. While medieval art re-presented the glory of God, modern art re-presents the self of the artist. Is it no wonder that much modern art appears stage managed, a kind of PR exercise designed to boost the fortunes of the artist.

If modern art is to be cured of its ills it must learn again from theology and reclaim art as the aesthetic expression of God. If theology is to give courage and direction to the artist, then it must throw off speculative theism and affirm the reality of the Logos in the world, hidden but vulnerable to the searching and selfless gaze of the artist and the preacher.

It is now time for the artist and the preacher to meet in a new way. Christian art used to be confined to images of scripture, but with the advent of the modern in art, the search for the truthful image has broadened to include the whole world. It is the theologian’s task to guide the artist in the discipline of removal and of seeing the hidden truth. Otherwise all we will get will be more outrages like Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ, more stunts designed to shock and more precious examples of an interior vision private to the artist. The question is, will artists be able to abandon their Bohemian and rebellious personas and listen to the theologian who has been persona non grata with them for a very long time now?

It is also time for the preacher to listen to the artist and to be taught how a work of art must be stripped to the essential, embellished with nothing. Both the work of art and the sermon should sound a single clear note so that its truth is not confused or veiled. All of the techniques of seduction taught in preaching class, the sermon illustration, the warm assurance, the friendly demeanour, the opening joke and the sentimental ending are to go in the dustbin. Nothing must stand but the Logos of God, the truth about us and the world. The great thing about the writing of O’Connor is that her narratives are thus paired down to the essentials. When can we expect sermons of similar integrity!