“It
is wrong to assume that on the one hand there is a word, or a truth,
and on the other hand there is a community existing as two separate
entities, and that it would then be the task of the preacher to take
this word, to manipulate and enliven it, in order to bring it within
and apply it to the community. Rather, the Word moves along this path
of its own accord. The preacher should and can do nothing more than be
a servant of this movement inherent in the Word itself, and refrain
from placing obstacles in its path.”

—Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship (Bonhoeffer Works Vol. 4; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), pp. 227-28.

HT: Faith & Theology