Let earth receive her king: Six Christmas sermons picturing God

Abstract

This article offers a qualitative analysis of six Christmas sermons from the Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, focusing on their picturing of God. The analysis sheds light on the nature of the knowledge of God conveyed in the sermons and demonstrates that the homiletic theology expressed in preaching offers constructive insight into the image of God. By emphasising divine kingship and relational engagement, the sermons picture God as both sovereign and benevolent. Verbs play a more significant role than traditional attributes in offering insight into the image of God in these sermons. While Jesus is affirmed as divine, there is minimal metaphysical reflection. By emphasising the divinity of Jesus and God’s independent actions in history, the sermons offer subtle criticism on contemporary views of God as evidenced by sociological research in Western society. God as pictured in the sermons is also not solely focused on individual well-being. God’s kingship is presented with a critical attitude towards those in power. This ensures that the sermons remain connected to 21st-century thinking about kingship. Most sermons picture a God who is only marginally interested in contemporary social issues. This questions the sermons’ fundamental proclamation that God is in control of all things and encourages homiletic reflection on the use of images in sermons.
Contribution: This article contributes to making homiletic theology more visible in sermons by providing a qualitative analysis of six sermons, with particular attention to the picturing of God. The findings aim to increase homileticians’ sensitivity to the verbs and imagery employed in sermons, encouraging deeper reflection on their relationship to both tradition and contemporary culture.