While corporate worship as a whole may be the single most important means of God’s grace, hearing the fresh preaching of the gospel from the Scriptures is the climactic grace of that gathering. It is that moment among the assembled church when God speaks in monologue most clearly and completely. The other elements of the gathering follow the rhythm of receiving from him and responding back to him, but in preaching we move into the posture of simply receiving, whether it’s a full half hour or just fifteen minutes.The weekly priority of preaching in worship points to the importance of our not just interacting with God as friends, but also submitting to his word in the message of his servant, our pastor. Time abounds to ask questions and respond, and seasons multiply to converse and dialogue. But preaching is that fallible though the messenger be.But even when we discuss and dialogue and debate, it’s still easy to be restless for these thirty minutes. We love equality, and we’re very accustomed to listening on our own terms. We prize conversations; we adore dialogue. And dialogue is essential in disciplemaking. The Great Commission goes forward through great conversations. There are times to interact with our friends and times for us to speak at length in prayer and song. But there are also times for us to sit and listen quietly and intently.When we put ourselves under the preaching of God’s word, it is one of the precious few moments in life today when we close our mouths, and confront the temptation of responding right away, and focus our energy and attention to hearing with faith.The act of preaching itself is a picture of the gospel. As the preacher stands behind the Book, doing his level best to re-reveal Jesus to his people, our Lord is put on display, not for give-and-take and the mingling of our efforts together in some mutual enterprise. Rather, we sit in the seat of weakness and desperation. What we need is not some boost from a trusted fellow to get us over the wall, but the rescue of the Savior for the utterly helpless.But Jesus didn’t just display the importance of preaching in his life. He is the focal point of all faithful preaching in the church. Just as our focus together in the whole of corporate worship is the crucified and risen Christ, and the incomparable excellencies of his person and work, so also is the focus of our preaching.The best of preaching serves the worshiper in the joy of self-forgetfulness, and preacher-forgetfulness.