It has hardly been tried at all!
"A home-visiting pastor makes a church-going congregation." The old saying explains why congregations grew in the past and now shrink. The ministers took the Word into the congregation. Hospital visits and deaths were considered ideal times to be with members and their families, but home visits were also a constant. I vicared with an old-fashioned pastor who visited constantly and expected the rest of us to do the same. I enjoyed the work, especially in small towns.
The two camps of Lutherdom seem to be avoiding the same thing. The Shrinkers are famous for staying in their offices and making the laity do their work. As Kent Hunter explained in his ecclesiastical husbandry lesson - "Shepherds don't have sheep. Sheep have sheep." Shrinkers copy the sermons of famous Enthusiasts, sometimes verbatim - often with a few words changed, a guilt-offering to Plagiarism.
The men considered orthodox are also famous for not visiting their members and not doing sermon preparation. I have heard this from another pastor in one region of WELS, various laity, and a church leader with some authority in WELS. For one reason or another, from various perspectives, these sources are saying with great frustration - "The orthodox men are not doing the work, and they are sound in doctrine."
The sick, shut-in, hospitalized, and grief-stricken should be visited routinely as the normal application of the Gospel. I recall a shut-in who had bets with her husband about when I was visiting - she could feel it in her bones. One day she was certain I was coming and said so to her husband. He gloated when I did not show up. The next day I did, explaining that I reached their house and turned around when I realized I had a doctor's appointment. Then she gloated. It is enjoyable and fulfilling to do pastoral calling. Visiting people at their homes during the year is also good for everyone. If this is neglected for another generation, there will be nobody left to visit.
Sermon preparation is also essential. A faithful minister becomes fruitful in his work by remaining close to the True Vine (John 15). At the very least, he and his family will benefit, as the Scripture says. A sermon should be written out completely and made available to everyone, using exegetical study, Luther, Lenski, and the Book of Concord.
My experience has been that people will write to me about a sermon when:
1. I follow the main lines of a Luther sermon.
2. I deal extensively with a doctrinal issue, such as baptismal regeneration, Holy Communion, or the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Word.
Trusting the Word does not translate into doing no work.
