Rev. Davis is glorious preacher

I've read a lot of advice over the years about how to write talks and sermons. Some of it came from legends, like Henry Ward Beecher. Some advice came from anonymous "tips" at the back of manuals.

But I've never read a piece about sermonizing I enjoyed more than the chapter on it in the new autobiography by the Rev. France Davis of Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City.

The book, "France Davis: An American Story Told," published by the University of Utah, is the "inside scoop" by perhaps the most important African-American religious figure in Utah history.

And the section on speaking in church is the "inside scoop" on preaching.

"A preacher must be a people watcher, an observer," writes the Rev. Davis. "The old preachers call it 'studying oneself full."'

And his suggestions are good for anyone who stands at a pulpit — from the LDS sacrament speaker to the Catholic priest delivering his Sunday homily.

Writes the Rev. Davis: "Sermons grow out of three wellsprings. They grow out of a time of prayer, from reading and studying, and from language aimed at the head and the heart." He goes on to say, "The sermon is the overflow of one's own life. ... In my own sermon preparation I always begin with the Bible. A passage from the Bible is the centering nugget of the thoughts that eventually come together." Then, he says, "Sermons grow. They do not just pop out. ... You must bring to life what was written many thousands of years ago by painting pictures so that people can visualize what they hear. ... The sermon must sing with insight, foresight and sight. The message, the words, the pictures, must literally get up and walk in order to convey a dream about what is rich and powerful in the lives of people."

The Rev. Davis concludes: "Sermon preparation is no small matter. It takes many hours, sometimes days, weeks and, in a few cases, perhaps even years to make sense out of scripture in light of life experiences."

His comments are so invigorating, I felt an urge to shout "Amen." The Rev. Davis not only practices what he preaches, he preaches what he preaches.