Abstract:
The connection of the sermon and the word of God has been a topic of much debate. This paper explores the significance and problematic aspects of the understanding of the sermon as a word of God. The Barthian notion that we have to speak God's word yet are unable to do so offers a dialectic interpretation that leaves the preacher and the congregation vulnerable. The problem lies, according to this paper, not so much in connecting the sermon and the word of God, but in the fact that this connection is sought in the act op speaking. The act of hearing the sermon might be a much more suitable category of understanding the connection.
