Where Are the Prophets?

Preachers and prophets may have in common a call from God, but the role to which they are called is different.  When I say that preachers are " a dime a dozen," I mean no disrespect.  I have and still do regard myself as one of them.  Instead, it is to say there are a multitude of preachers, but very few prophets.  A preacher may speak prophetically from time to time, but the preacher is the "general practitioner" of the church while the prophet has a more specific function.   Prophets are hard to find because it is a tough calling to embrace.  

The life of Jeremiah certainly illustrates this reality.  Jeremiah is often called the reluctant prophet.  His calling came at a young age and when he heard it, he said, "Ah, Lord God!  Truly, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy."  (Jeremiah 1:6).  Immediately, he heard the Lord telling him he was to speak to authority, to rulers, and priests as well as those under their authority.  He was told his message was a message of judgment and destruction against Jerusalem and Judah.  Imagine the fear in young Jeremiah's heart when he heard the Lord saying to him, "...gird up your loins; stand up and tell them everything that I have commanded you.  Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them." (Jeremiah 1:17)  

Anyone interested in being a prophet?  It is no wonder that there few among us.  Prophets speak to authority.  They are easily dismissed as fanatics, or fringe dwellers, or one issue people.  They find themselves ignored because their message is so uncomfortable to hear.  They are told to find the compromising way but they cannot because of their faithfulness to God and His calling.  Again, who among us wants the prophet to live among us?  Who wants to live and speak prophetically?

An Unpopular Word

Sin is not such a popular word in our culture.  Many modern day Christians view it more as an anachronism than a present danger.  The defining word about sin now belongs not to the Holy Word of God, but to society's interpretation of that Word once regarded as holy and inspired by God.  Contemporary Christian thinkers would have us delegate sin to the counselor's couch instead of the altar of repentance.  The one thing to be avoided in the contemporary church is to make people feel bad.  Folks should always feel good when they leave worship is the mandate given to today's preachers and worship leaders.  

It is, therefore, no wonder the church of our day is more comfortable with the New Testament message about God's love than some of those disturbing thundering words of the prophets who speak from the pages of the Old Testament.  To read a prophet like Jeremiah is to understand that sin is a serious issue when it comes to being in a faithful relationship. Sin is a breech of trust, a breech of a covenant relationship, and God does not just turn His head and say, "Maybe you can do better next time."  

Jeremiah 16:17-18 speak of a side of God we would rather not acknowledge, "For my eyes are on their ways; they are not hidden from My presence, nor is their iniquity concealed from My sight. And I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin..."  Perhaps, some do not take sin seriously, but God does.  It is no trifling matter with Him.  To view sin from any perspective other than the cross where Jesus died is a mistake.  The cross may speak of God's love, but it also speaks of the cost of our sin.  For God our sin is no inconsequential matter, but an issue which breaks His heart.

The Gift of Completion

As the years accumulate they bring us to a season of life that is lived slower, a season that is marked by limitations, and a season of letting go.  They also bring us to a season of abundant gifting.  The gifts that come are not like the gifts of the past known as accumulation, recognition, and unending possibilities.  The gifts that come in the season of accumulating years come like precious treasures.  Gifts of grace is what they are and as we slowly unwrap them, we do so with amazement that we never knew they were out there to be given.   

Completion is one of those gifts that never comes earlier, but always later.  It is not the gift of seeing and reaping the fruits of our labor secured by the sweat of our brow, but the gift of sensing that the important, lasting, even eternal things of life are finally becoming visible to our longing heart.  Completion is about coming to terms with who we are, why we have been given more life than we ever really considered possible, and the difference our living has made.  Completion is not about retiring to the rocker on the front porch, but accepting the ending of the past and the unfolding of a new season of usefulness.  

This season of abundant giving gives us time to laugh over things past and present.  It gives us time to cherish the love of those who have shared and are sharing love with us.  It is a season of overflowing gratitude.  It is the season of knowing and celebrating "'tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home,"  Completion is truly experienced as we embrace the realization that life has always been about grace.  Too much of life we have been too busy to notice.  This season of abundant gifting brings us to an awareness that even in the beginning, as it is now, life is all about God's unending grace. 

The Potter's House

"Go!" was what I heard.

    "No buts, no ifs, or ands,

      No whining either.

         Just get up and go."

            So I up and went

to the potter's house.

In a place of wet clay  

     sat a bearded man,

       the ancient of days

        was surely his name

           And so, I said,

"Old One, here I am."

"Been waiting," he said,

    "What took you so long?"

        My head was spinning,

          no words did I know,

            so I sat to watch

the hands, wheel, the clay.

"Why the potter's house?

    Why did You say 'Go?' 

       There is nothing here,

         but the smell of clay

           and this bearded one

who has nothing to say."

"Watch, be quiet, be still,"

     spoke the voice of "Go!"

       Through the day we sat,

         He, the potter, and I.

           Nary a sound was heard,

but wet spinning clay.

"Damn!' the potter cried.

    "That won't do," he said

        as he stopped the wheel,

          took the messed up clay

            in his hands like dough

and started over again.

In my watching I knew

   why the voice said, "Go!"

     The potter's house, the place

       where the Word of God

         is heard by those who fear 

they might be thrown away.

       

(Jeremiah 18:1-6)

Encountering Jesus

When we read the story of Zacchaeus and Jesus, we spend too much time seeing the sycamore tree.  It may be an interesting sight to behold, but something which happens in the home of Zacchaeus is far more important to see.  Jesus went to the home of the tax collector that day.  Since the story begins with "He (Jesus) entered Jericho and was passing through it," (Luke 19:1), it would seem that Jesus had a change of plans.  He was so impressed by Zacchaeus that he invited Himself to his home.  Everyone was no doubt amazed.  

What must have really amazed them and what is more significant than a short man climbing a tree is how the tax collector's life was changed.  Exactly what happened in the house, we do not know, but we do know that Zacchaeus's life was radically changed by this unexpected encounter with Jesus.  Before the day was done, we hear the tax collector saying, "Look, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to then poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." (Luke 19:8).  

The story of this man's transformation tells us that an encounter with Jesus is not only something to be experienced personally, but that it changes the heart in such a way that no longer can the poor and broken be ignored.  When we encounter Jesus, we find ourselves encountering those around us in a different way.  We no longer want to relate to those around us from a position of power or privilege, but as one who wants to care for the needs of a brother and sister.  We become one of those who no longer is owned by what is held, but instead, becomes one whose hands are open to give generously and to serve with love.

Amazing, is it Not?

Christianity brings two earthshaking and life changing words.  One is incarnation and the other is resurrection.  There is nothing in all of history which can cause these two realities to be shadowed.  Go to the story of Bethlehem for the truth of the incarnation in narrative form, or go to those eight words in the gospel of John for the theological language.  "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14).  Listen to Jesus declaring, "I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live" (John 11:25) or go to the ending of each of the four gospels for a first hand account of the event upon which the Christian faith is centered.   

The common denominator in both history altering events is Jesus.  There is none like Him in all the pages of history.  He is known as Good Shepherd because of His compassion.  He is known as Son of God as He is the sent one of God.  He is known as Savior because of His redemptive sacrifice on the cross. The name of Jesus is the name above all names.  The gospel message centers on this One who came from God, lived among us, died for us, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven.  

The creed we proclaim on Sunday when we gather for worship is about more than nice sounding words.  As we stand and recite the ancient creed, we are declaring two things.  The first is "This is what God has done for us."  The second is, "This is what I believe and upon this foundation I live."  The gospel is not a theological event, but a moment in history that is transforming and life changing. Jesus is not just a character in a story.  He is one who invites us into a personal relationship with Him.  Amazing, is it not?

The One Revealed

The Scripture has been important to me almost since I learned to read.  I was baptized when I was nine years old.  Exactly when I got my first Bible I am not sure, but I know it was probably one of the first books I owned.  None of this is to say that I have been the faithful reader I could have been, but it is to say that it is a book which has never been very far away.  As the years have added up, it has stayed even closer.  I am grateful that the Scripture has been a constant in my life.  Throughout my ministry, I have always thought of myself as one of Wesley's preachers and have grown to appreciate the "one book" tradition which is a part of my Methodist heritage.   

There have been times when I have said that my life is based on this holy book, but as I pause I realize that as important as the Bible has been in all my days, my life has been based not on the book as much as the One revealed in the book.  I have been influenced by many saints who have gone before me.  I have learned to glean some of the truths proclaimed from other faith walks, but Jesus is the One who is the foundation of my life.  There is no one like Him.  He has done for us impossible things.  

John 1:18 declares, "No one has ever seen God.  It is God the only Son who is close to the Father's heart, who has made Him known to us."  In another place in the same gospel we hear Jesus saying to Philip, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9).  These are amazing, mind boggling words.  To see and know Jesus is to see and know the heart of God and this is only one of so many things revealed to us through this book we carry with us on the journey.