“On Becoming a Prophet”
Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
St. Mark 6:14-29
INI
It is good that we are welcoming ourselves back into our places of worship, our sacred places, our connection with not only God, but neighbors as well. I do hope, however, that over the last weeks, months – over a year really, that we have discovered the sacredness that lives within us and that is present in our homes and families as well – for God has certainly been there with us. That is an important realization for us to retain, for it is in that arena – homes, neighborhood, and community that we are sent as apostles and announcers of God news – news that God is still present in our society, and what that awareness might mean for us as church and followers of Jesus. The readings for this morning will contribute a great deal to us if we choose to both follow and proclaim Jesus. The words of the prophets are needed in our society.
Amos – the reluctant prophet
There is a pattern in the call of prophets that moves them to move away from the task to which God calls them. Like Jeremiah, many of them thought themselves too young, too inexperienced, not give the gift of necessary words. This they explain at the beginning of their call, or like Jonah, they simply run away from it. Amos, however, waits until after he has accomplished his task, in which he tells the story of the plumb line and truing to God’s will. Having made his announcement, he is urged by both king and priest to simply go away, for his words were too hard for the people of Israel. It is at this point that Amos says something that is really quite startling.
I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, “God, prophesy to my people Israel.”
In his denial, are hidden symbols of his call by God, and his devotion to God. He is a herdsman – the shepherd who tends the flock, and here God has given him a different flock, the Israel north of Judah – the land that God still desires, and the people that God yet yearns for. Amos also describes himself as a “dresser of sycamore trees,” and that too is symbol often used in the scriptures for the judgment and training of the people of God. Pruned and trimmed, the vine is prepared to produce good fruit. Thus, in his denial, Amos hints at what God has called him to do.
I’m going to call us, in a few minutes, to be a prophetic church with a difficult message. However, before we go there let’s begin by understanding and realizing our reticence to be those kind of people – prophetic people. Hidden and dwelling in our probable protest of what we really are: mothers, businesspeople, teachers, retired people, administrators, are the clues as to how we might be servants of both God and neighbor (read: community). Let us understand that we can mother like God, conduct the business for the welfare of the community like God, teach like God, rest like God, administer creation like God. We may dismiss the call, but in our dismissal, we acknowledge our gifts.
John, the outspoken prophet
It is odd that Mark, known for his brevity, takes the amount of time that he does to interrupt Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem to tell the story of John and his contretemps with Herod, the tetrarch. We already know John’s brusque nature. “You brood a vipers,” he screams at the Scribes and the Pharisees. John’s announcement is a call for repentance and a return to God – a need to be washed clean. These words, however, are not the words that get him into trouble. If anything, his preaching attracts the crowds, and gains the attention of religious and secular leaders. What does get him into trouble is his condemnation of a corrupt and morally lax ruler. Like Amos, he is called to denounce what he sees as a bad example for the people of Israel.
Such kinds of words have their consequences, and that may be the reason that we, often as a church, shy away from such condemnations. They are dangerous, provocative, and uncomfortable, and yet we are called to be truth-tellers. Walter Brueggemann, Old Testament scholar and professor at Columbia University has something to say about that in his book, Reality, Grief, Hope: Three Urgent Prophetic Tasks. He draws this conclusion from his study of the prophets, their message and their unrelenting task, and then assigns it to us as well. He writes:
“The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial, and express hope in a society that lives in despair.”
We are familiar, I’m afraid of the three sins, if you will, or our time: living in illusion, practicing denial, and finally, what Jesus preaches against, despairing. Like Candide, we prefer to think that we live in the best of all possible world, when the reality is pressing in on us that this is not quite true. Dr. Brueggemann is impressing upon us the difficult task that our time is asking of the church, of we who are regathering in this place, of you as you live your life. Three gifts are required: truth, acceptance, and hope.
Jesus, the prophet of the kingdom
In the Gospel of Luke, the remaining disciples of John are sent to Jesus to ask him a question. “Are you the One who was to come, or shall we look for another?” Jesus’ answer to them is straight out of the prophets, and this is the other side of the prophetic message. It is not all doom and gloom. Jesus tells the disciples of John to tell him what they have seen and heard – and this is straight out of Isaiah:
“The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them.”
If we are to be prophets, then we need to know the good news intended not only for ourselves, but the words that need to be given to others. In the second reading, St. Paul says this to the Ephesians:
“In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.”
This inheritance belongs to all people – it is God’s gift to every woman and man of whatever color, disposition, or persuasion. That is the good news. And the elements of our society who wish to restrict that grace, or to reserve it for only a few, or only of their kind must be reminded of the plumb line which tells the truth. It however starts with us. Let us recant our illusions, denials, and our despair, and let us live truth and hope.
SDG
