Luther on preaching

Robert Kolb writes of Luther's view on preaching:

Luther’s preface to Johann Spangenberg’s postil (1542) criticized bad preachers by constructing a list of expectations for good preachers: they should pray, study, read, search the Scripture, and meditate on it in preparation for their teaching and preaching. “It is true that a preacher ought first to ascend through prayer in order to receive the Word and teaching from God, and then ought to study, learn, read, and meditate. Thereafter he ought to descend and teach others.” … A preacher should be a dialectician and a rhetorician, that is, he must be able to teach and admonish. If he wants to teach on a subject or article of faith, he should first determine what it really means, then define, describe, and picture what it is; third, he should cite passages of Scripture to confirm and strengthen the point; fourth, he should fill it out and make it clear with examples; fifth, embellish it with stories; finally, admonish the lazy and arouse them, criticize disobedience and those who teach falsely, that they may see that they should seek God’s honor and the benefit and blessing of the people, not out of disgust, hate, or envy.

Robert Kolb, 2017. Luther’s Suggestions for Preaching, Concordia Journal, 43:1/2, pp 110–111.

Preacher sitting alone in the study

“The picture of a preacher sitting alone in the study, working with a biblical text in preparation for the sermon, is misleading. It is not the preacher who goes to the Scripture; it is the church that goes to the Scripture by means of the preacher. Those who have sent the preacher (into the study) have questions and concerns, and sometimes the text will speak directly to those questions. The text may, however, call those questions into question.”
Thomas G. Long, 2005. The Witness of Preaching 2nd ed,  Westminster John Knox, p 49.