Reflecting on the Anglican Standard Text and George Herbert’s “The Windows”
In our journey through the Anglican Liturgy, we come today to an essential act of Christian worship: The Sermon. Preaching is more than instruction. It is a place where God meets His people through His living Word.
Few have expressed this mystery more beautifully than the Anglican priest and poet George Herbert (1593–1633) in his poem “The Windows.” Herbert’s words speak deeply to the purpose, weight, and grace of preaching in the Christian life.
The Windows by George Herbert
The Windows
Lord, how can man preach thy eternal word?
He is a brittle crazy glass;
Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford
This glorious and transcendent place,
To be a window, through thy grace.
But when thou dost anneal in glass thy story,
Making thy life to shine within
The holy preachers, then the light and glory
More reverend grows, and more doth win;
Which else shows waterish, bleak, and thin.
Doctrine and life, colors and light, in one
When they combine and mingle, bring
A strong regard and awe; but speech alone
Doth vanish like a flaring thing,
And in the ear, not conscience, ring.
The Meaning of “The Windows”: A Vision for Anglican Preaching
Herbert’s poem highlights the profound responsibility placed upon those who preach. In the Anglican tradition, the sermon is not merely a transfer of information. It is an encounter with God through His living and active Word of Scripture.
From the prophets to the apostles, God has spoken through human voices—and continues to speak today through His written Word. The preacher’s task, then, is twofold:
- To be faithful to the original meaning of the biblical text.
- To discern what God is saying to His people in this moment.
Herbert begins by acknowledging the human weakness of every preacher: we are all “brittle crazy glass.” No one is naturally qualified to proclaim the eternal Word of God.
Preachers as Windows of God’s Grace
Yet God, in His mercy, chooses to make that brittle glass into a window. Through grace, He forms, shapes, and “anneals” the life of the preacher filling it with His story. When the preacher’s life is colored by the Gospel, the sermon becomes more than speech. It becomes a window through which the light of Christ shines.
Herbert reminds us that this is always God’s work first. While preaching requires study and effort, those human offerings are transformed and made effective by the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit, preaching is “waterish, bleak, and thin.” With the Spirit, preaching carries light, beauty, and power.
The Purpose of the Sermon: Transformation, Not Information
Herbert draws a sharp distinction between teaching and preaching. Teaching informs. But preaching, when filled with God’s light, calls people toward Godly transformation.
“Speech alone,” Herbert says, “doth vanish like a flaring thing, and in the ear, not conscience, ring.”
In other words, a sermon that stops at the ear has not fulfilled its purpose.
True preaching always:
- Leads the heart toward repentance,
- Draws the believer into mission and discipleship,
- Invites the hearer to be reshaped into Christ’s image,
- Calls the church into the light of God’s presence.
Hearing the Sermon: Becoming Stained Glass in God’s Hands
When we come each Sunday to hear the sermon, we are not just hoping to pick up new information. We come with open hearts, ready for God to work. We come so that He may recast us, shaping us like stained glass, each piece illuminated by His life, His Word, and His grace.
In listening to the sermon, we are allowing God to shape us into windows that bear His beauty to the world.
