How a “literate preacher” crafts his sermons.
Gomes: I think I’m a very literate preacher. I like language. I love words, and I like to make words dance and do things. And I like to cause people to think about how these words are contributing to these ideas, and for words to dance in their own heads. So in that sense, I . . . it’s an odd description, but I think I’m a “wordy” preacher. Words are very important to me. The right word at the right time, fitly spoken, in my view is the most powerful engine on earth. So I take very great care with the words and the language I use, and how I put words together. And I think it’s no accident that one of the great Greek words, “logos”, means “word”. And Jesus is often described as “the Word” – the Word incarnate. I’m an incarnational preacher. I try to bring words, ideas and concepts to life. And that’s, for me, the glory of language, the glory of rhetoric.