A SCHOOL OF THE LORD'S SERVICE

Successful preachers strive to see as God sees. 

Everyone agrees that our society is polarized. Most say it is more polarized today than ever before. Perhaps. Certainly, a polarization grips our society that affects preachers. Indeed, as the Director of The Institute of Continuing Theological Education (ICTE) I meet priests from all over the United States and beyond. A common concern among priests is how to preach in our polarized society. They often speak of feeling torn between accusations of “watering down the Truth” and “being too harsh or political.” 

In the rift riven world in which we live, preaching beautifully is more important than ever. Pope Francis said in his encyclical, “The Joy of the Gospel,” that preaching and indeed, “every from of catechesis would do well to attend to the ‘way of beauty’ (via pulchritudinis)” (167).  In an age when too many public speakers are satisfied attracting listeners who agree with them by pointing to the ugliness of those who do not, the church needs preachers who strive simply to make Truth attractive. Often this means avoiding the trap of argument to focus on the beauty of Truth which is in everyone. 

The work of evangelization requires preachers who listen to goodness in everyone God has created. Pope Francis acknowledged in “The Joy of the Gospel” that “differences between persons and communities can sometimes prove uncomfortable.” However, he goes on to say that “the Holy Spirit, who is the source of that diversity, can bring forth something good from all things and turn it into an attractive means of evangelization.”  The space between being accused of “watering down the Truth” and “being too harsh or political” can even be a creative tension for preachers as they seek inspiration from the Holy Spirit who “alone can raise up diversity, plurality and multiplicity while at the same time bringing about unity” (131). Indeed, this is a demanding task made possible by preachers who think of themselves as artists exposing Truth beautifully. 

Michelangelo’s David, which he referred to as “the giant,” obviously isn’t pocket sized! But for the preacher who has stood speechless under the David and overcome by its beauty, it serves as a handbook highlighting the importance of preaching beautifully. Through his David, Michelangelo proposes a revolutionary way of seeing, which is instructive for preachers. Recalling the awe felt in the presence of the David offers an instruction on how to see in order to preach beautifully. This instruction should be carried with us every time we prepare to preach. 

Michelangelo’s is not the only statue of David in Florence. Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, known simply as “Donatello,” completed his David in the 1440s, some 60 years before Michelangelo. Similarly, around 1465, Andrea del Verrocchio was commissioned by the Medici to complete a bronze statue of King David. Michelangelo knew both statues, which present David as what the Greeks called an ephebe, that is, a youth ready to begin military training.  Clearly, however, neither presents David as having yet begun. Donatello’s statue holds the fallen Goliath’s sword, which is nearly taller than he is and we are left wondering, “How did this kid manage to pick it up?” Verrocchio presents David’s body as spindly; his ribs even show. His arms are scrawny. His legs are skinny. These portraits are certainly faithful to the scripture. Afterall, it says that “when the Philistine looked David up and down, what he saw filled him with scorn, because David was only a lad” (1 Samuel 17:41). Both artists emphasized David’s youth to declare that despite David’s unprepared body, it was God who saved the people of Israel. 

Neither Donatello nor Verrocchio present David as God saw him. Purposefully, they present David as humans saw him so to present God as the unseen hero working through David’s unprepared body. Saul is, indeed, hesitant to allow him to face Goliath because of his lack of military training. “You are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth,” he says to him about Goliath (1 Samuel 17:33). David seems only to possess stories of bravado about how he had killed lions and bears while guarding his father’s sheep, where he has been kept busy rather than fighting for his country like his older brothers and all the other eligible young men in the land. Indeed, Donatello and Verrocchio present scripture literally through their statues of David by presenting him as others saw him. 

Michelangelo’s David, however, proposes a revolutionary way of seeing him.  He does not present what the people around David saw, but what God saw. Michelangelo does not present David as a boy unprepared for battle, as Saul, his brothers and everyone else in the story saw him. Rather, David is presented as a fit and confident young man. Michelangelo presents David as God saw him. 

Michelangelo’s David is no ephebe. Rather, he possesses a well-trained body that declares confidence. His muscles are well developed and are exhibited. He wears not a stitch of clothing, as do Donatello’s and Verrocchio’s versions. David is so confident in the God who saves that he stands completely nude and vulnerable in the face of Goliath. He is as unashamed in his confidence in God as he is in the body he displays. Gazing on David’s beauty, it is possible to see beyond appearances and to see something of what God saw when Samuel went to the house of Jesse, his father. “God does not see as human beings see; they look at appearances, but Yahweh looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7), the scripture says. We see something of David’s confident heart when we gaze on Michelangelo’s depiction of him. We see as God sees. 

Today, especially, preachers are needed who see as God sees. Pope Francis credited this way of seeing to Jesus’ success as a preacher, since he “looked at people, seeing beyond their weaknesses and failings” (141).  Evangelization is served by preachers who look beyond appearances, even appearances of sin, to see the Body of Christ manifest in the congregation, as well as in the bread and in the wine.  

Preaching beautifully, in a way that sees as God sees, does not necessarily mean telling a good story. In fact, recent research debunks the common assumption that a good story can bring listeners closer to the position of a speaker when speaking on a controversial subject. This research has shown that stories told to persuade listeners to view controversial issues in the same way as the speaker, merely causes them to become more set in their contrary opinions. This should not disturb preachers since it merely underscores that preaching is not about persuading people to see as the preacher sees. Rather, preaching is about helping people to see as God sees. 

Pope Francis suggested that the preacher is an intermediary between the congregation and God. “In the course of the homily,” he wrote, “the hearts of the believers keep silence and allow God to speak.” If stories told by the homilist are perceived as being manipulative or self-serving, the congregation will not understand that God is speaking to them. Moreover, preachers should be careful about the stories they tell in homilies lest they be perceived as serving their own perspectives rather than God’s. 

To see as God sees means that in humility, we acknowledge that no one, including the preacher, can see exactly as God sees. Afterall, God sees all things. As creatures, we are limited. We see only partially. Yet, we do catch a glimpse. Indeed, it is possible for us to catch a glimpse of God’s beauty that is in every person and is all around us, especially, in the celebration of the sacraments. 

To see as God sees, requires us to resist lingering over the ugly consequences of human nature in our preaching and instead, to describe the best impulses. Preaching is about shining a light on God’s presence even in our human nature. It is about helping listeners to identify this presence in themselves. Yes, sin exists in the world and affects all of us. But it does not have the last word and it is not even the most important word since God’s Son became one of us and we are His body. Successful preaching in an age of polarization describes the beautiful body that God sees not the ugly one that we so easily recognize. 

Michelangelo has given us his David as a reminder to see as God sees. He took a marble block from Carrara and visualized David, not as everyone else saw him, but as God saw him. We are given congregations full of flaws and divisions…and even hearts of stone. We can learn from Michelangelo as we strive to describe beautifully and artistically the Body of Christ that we see in them each and every day.

Fr. Edward Linton, O.S.B.