True Prophecy
Whether they hear or refuse to hear...they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.
They told me that today my mind would be running on overdrive. Today, they said, I could ramble on endlessly as you share what’s on your mind, although you might still be withholding something significant. In the end, I was advised to trust my instincts as, apparently, I’ll know when it’s time to tell all.
You could be forgiven for thinking that’s good advice. You could be given for thinking that is a very timely warning to someone tasked with preaching a sermon, who clearly could ramble on endlessly as I share what’s on my mind. And, indeed, my mind is certainly running on overdrive - although I would expect you simply to say What’s new to that nugget of information! And who is that’s been dropping these words of wisdom in my ear? It was my horoscope. I don’t take a newspaper that has a horoscope in it, so I googled for a horoscope on the internet, and the first site I came across was www.tarot.com and when I checked it’s prediction for those of us who are Cancers for today, that was what I was given.
And that one-day paragraph of prediction was just the start. Because Venus is squaring Jupiter, and giving her sextile to Uranus (I’m only just confident I dare say that in a church!), I’m going to be able to turn a potential loss into gain. And should I want yet more - and if I was prepared to get my credit card out - I could have had a Psychic Love Reading, or an online session with a professional psychic called Tara. Sextile or no sextile, that tells me that if someone is looking to make a gain, it’s Tara or those behind the design of this fatuous website and many others like it. People, I suspect, who would not much care for the tone of my comments this morning. People who might just dare to echo Ezekiel’s words and say
Whether they hear or refuse to hear...they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.
Well - as you will have realized, I’m refusing to hear, and I’m refusing to hear for a very good reason. At best, horoscopes are a source of silly conversation over a cuppa that causes a giggle or a wry smile that should soon be forgotten. At worst they are part of a slippery slope that can lead to living life in ways that are addictive, vulnerable and dangerous. That, in itself, is a good reason for refusing to hear. But the chief reason for refusing to hear, to use Ezekiel’s words, is that there is all the difference in the universe between horoscopes, fortune-telling, tarot cards and all the rest of it.... and prophecy.
If I am daft enough I can turn to my sun sign in a magazine, or I can ask for a card-reading to tell me if Benedict’s little sibling-to-be will be a boy or a girl, or when and where my next job will be, or who will win the Men’s final this afternoon - but don’t think for one moment that any of that is prophecy. Although it may not initially sound like it, all of this mumbo-jumbo is utterly different to what is going on with those Biblical types we call prophets.
Because, in biblical terms, the nonsense being offered by astrologers and fortune-tellers is not prophecy. Prophecy is much more about the here and now than the name might suggest. It is about being brave enough to talk about things are they truly are, without being embarrassed, or mealy-mouthed, or dishonest, or trying to please or suck up to those in authority. And because an accurate commentary on the here and now often has implications for the future - for the fairly immediate future - you get what we call prophecy. In recent years, there were very few voices saying that our current pattern of financial behaviour, chiefly on the part of multi-national companies, but backed up by governments, and backed up, ultimately, by the spending pattern of individuals - even of individuals like us - there were too few voices saying that playing with money that we hadn’t really got and which didn’t really exist would lead us into trouble. There were far too few voices saying that the excessive signs of financial greed which were not, in truth, invisible, would lead to a clear financial comeuppance. Those that did say so were unpopular, and pretty much unheard - and they were prophetic.
And that’s because prophets tell it like it is, and they warn people about the consequences of their behaviour. They are people who deal with the signs of the times not by looking at the heavens but by looking at human behaviour. Indeed, in Matthew’s gospel Jesus attacks the pharisees and sadducees for knowing how to interpret the sky but failing to interpret the signs of the times. Rather more symbolically, the obscure magi - often thought to be astrologers - are often seen as surrendering their practices and lifestyle at the birth of the Christ Child. So, for prophets, the future is only of interest in as much as it brings out the consequences of the present - virtuous behaviour leading to the values which build up God’s kingdom, and corrupt behaviour leading to the fall of nations and the signs of divine displeasure.
When Isaiah famously prophesies about a young woman giving birth to a son, he is telling King Ahaz of Israel to get his priorities straight and stop worrying about a particular issue to do with his foreign policy. What he says is that by the time a young pregnant woman gives birth and her boy turns into an adult, Assyria is going to be deserted, and won’t be a threat any longer - go read it in Isaiah chapter seven. The fact that Matthew the gospel-writer sees that this has overtones for the birth of Jesus is a fact which would have amazed Isaiah - he was not a fortune-teller (even for God) - he was an ethical commentator on the things around him, there and then. He was there to tell those in power what behaviour would or would not please God.
And that, of course, is not a particular recipe for popularity. Indeed, one of the hallmarks of false prophets in the Old Testament was that kings and other powerful people often found their message to be far more seductive than that of authentic, true prophets. Most of the great prophets of the Old Testament had turbulent, difficult lives - shortly before Elijah (revered as the greatest of all the prophets) encounters God in the still small voice he cries out in despair: I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away. It’s not a bundle of laughs, talking about God’s will and God’s word. But you don’t need to look at the Old Testament to see that - our gospel reading is a stark reminder of the fact that Jesus, himself, made himself increasingly unpopular as he became increasingly prophetic - and, as is so often the case, it was those closest to him, who knew him best, who found him so hard to stomach:
They said, 'Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?' And they took offence at him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.'
But, with or without honour, they knew that there was something special in what Jesus was saying. To coin the words from Ezekiel again: Whether they hear or refuse to hear...they shall know that there has been a prophet among them. And, as the gospels record, they certainly knew that about Jesus, and, just as was said to Ezekiel, some heard, and some refused to hear.
And it doesn’t stop there.
Even in that gospel passage - even in those simple thirteen verses of Mark - the story is propelled onwards. For Jesus has already called together that group of followers known as The Twelve, and hear we see that they have a very real function - here we see them sent out, two by two, to take the Mission onwards, more quickly and to more people than Jesus, on his own, can possibly manage. And, make no mistake, The Twelve are also sent out to be prophetic. They are sent out to preach a message of repentance, of metanoia, of a change in heart. A prophecy not dissimilar in some ways to that which needed to be heard against the inherent greed and corruption which we have seen lead us into a financial meltdown, and, in this country, to an almost total distrust of our parliament. The Twelve are sent out to be prophets of the Kingdom of God.
And cast your mind back to our readings throughout Eastertide, when, as we always do, we hear stories from the Acts of the Apostles - stories of Peter and Paul and others being prophetic in the years straight after the resurrection. Stories of tent-makers and fishers being turned into unstoppable prophets and preachers of the power and love of God, and of the in-breaking of God’s kingdom.
And the story doesn’t stop there, despite and, thank God, sometimes because of our best efforts. That’s what the celebration was about last Sunday, as Bishop Frank licensed John, Lesley and Kay. But it doesn’t stop with ordained or lay ministers - the moment when God commissioned John, and Lesley and Kay, and me, and each one of you - the moment when we first numbered among those called to prophecy was when we were baptized. Another great prophet, Jeremiah, absolutely talks about being called and set apart by God when he was still in the womb, and that was just as true for us.
Last Thursday, at the little celebration of the Eucharist at St Michael’s, I found myself reminding those of us that were present, that we are called to tell the world that God is Love - and that if we - the baptized Christians of Kettering - if we don’t do that, nobody else is going to. That is true prophecy. That is, without a doubt, telling it as it is. And, if we accept that God is Love, that is going to impact on our lives, our thoughts, our actions and our words, and it should impact on all those around us, too. That is what prophecy is about, and we, here this morning, we are all called to it, individually and collectively. That is why we do anything and everything that we aspire to do together as church. John and Lesley are going to help me and help us implement a more coherent pastoral strategy in the parish.... because God is Love. We are looking to reorder our building and make it of greater service for worship and for community us... because God is Love. We are working closely with the Borough Council to support their plans for the Market Place and the Churchyard...because God is Love. And whether the world around us hears or refuses to hear, let’s make sure that they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.
Almost exactly a year ago, at the opening Eucharist of the Lambeth Conference, they sung a hymn we are making our Hymn of the Month this month. It begins, Let us build a house where love can dwell... and it tells us that such a house is a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true, where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew. It is to be a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known. That is a fine vision, a fine aspiration, a fine prayer, and a fine statement of prophecy. And so I invite you to join with me in making sure that we say and do the right things to those around us in this place to which God has called us, so that Whether they hear or refuse to hear...they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.
Dominic Barrington, 5 July 2009
