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A few years ago, Preaching magazine named James S. Stewart as the greatest preacher of the twentieth century. Whenever I mention this to my students, they all respond with quizzical expressions. They have never heard of him. My first exposure to Stewart was hearing his tremendous sermon, “The Rending of the Veil” which was featured on the first volume of the Preaching Today audio series. Sadly, that sermon is no longer available on preachingtoday.com.
As chaplain to the Queen of Scotland, Stewart’s writings and preaching influenced a generation of preachers in the 1930s and 40s. He was, arguably, the last of the pulpit giants. His distinctive voice, vibrant accents, and passionate voice offered a memorable and poetic exposition of the Scriptures that not only evoke an era, but give glory to God and honor to his Word.
A collection of his sermons has been recently released in Canada by Regent College Publishing. Originally published in the UK, the book has been released for a North American audience, largely due to the efforts of Dallas area pastor, Kurt Johansen, who carried on a correspondence with “J.S.S.” for many years.
For many years, Stewart’s papers were lodged in the library of New College, Edinburgh, under a twelve year embargo imposed by Stewart himself. Recently permission was granted for this embargo to be lifted and the material finally to be made available. Among the papers were these exceptional set piece sermons – which Stewart had honed and polished. The result is a strong collection of nourishing and inspiring sermons, many from relatively obscure biblical texts that will challenge the reader both spiritually and homiletically.
Stewart was Professor of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology, at the University of Edinburgh (New College). His homiletic theory, published in his influential book Heralds of God, which itself has been recently reprinted.
While preaching is about the substance of God’s Word and not the person of the preacher, it is worth our while to remember these preachers of the past that we might learn from them and enrich the preaching of our present.
The following is an excerpt from his sermon, “The Rejuvenation of the Church” based on 2 Kings 2:14 and the text, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”
But think of Elisha, left lonely and desolate there by the Jordan. How could he face the future? How could his people, Israel, continue to exist, with no Elijah to direct their destiny? He gazed up into the darkening heavens that had seemed to snatch his master from him. ‘O my father,’ he cried, ‘my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!’
And then suddenly he knew it. This was the decisive moment of his life. ‘Here am I, Elisha, standing alone for God and for the Kingdom, with no Elijah to lean on any longer. I have to face the hatred of Ahab, the curse of Jezebel, the venom of a paganized society. How to do it?’ He looked around. There was Elijah’s mantle lying where it had fallen, the mantle with which – so it was said – Elijah had split the Jordan.
He lifted it up. He looked at it, fingered it lovingly. Waas the prophetic power in this – this mantle, this keepsake from the past? ‘Perhaps with this I could divide the Jordan too! Perhaps this memory from the past is all I need for miracles in the present.’ Many a man, many a Church, would have said that – and would have gone down to mediocrity and failure. But not Elisha! He was not trusting to past tradition and dead memory. No! One thing was needful. Suddenly the silence was shattered by a shout: ‘Where is the God of Elijah?’
I am sure that sudden cry from long ago and far away tracks down our deepest problem as a Church today. For indeed, in our Churches we have got the mantle of Elijah – and we have tried doing Elijah’s work that that. But the Church needs more than a dead man’s mantle if it is going to divide the Jordan. We need more than venerable tradition, more even that tried and tested methods of efficient organization and elaborate machinery, if we are ever to drive a clear path through the futility and agnosticism of this bewildered age, and redeem the world ot God. You, yourself, you need more than the Church’s creed and the faith of your fathers if there is going to happen for you the miracle of being able from your heart to say ‘All for Jesus’, the miracle of the Church’s frozen creed thawed out for you and throbbing with vitality. You need God the Holy Spirit for that.