Where are the prophets?

 

Reflection Sunday 13^th December 2020 Third Sunday of Advent

 

Two of the Bible readings suggested for today concern prophets. The prophet Isaiah and, John the Baptist who was also a prophet. Both passages of scripture have a familiarity to them.

The Isaiah passage (Isaiah 61: 1 – 4, 8 – 11) was drawn upon by Jesus in Luke 4: 14 – 30.

¹⁸ ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor. Luke 4:18

There Jesus sets out for the people of Nazareth (who were amazed at how well he spoke given he was Joseph’s son) what his ministry would be concerned with. (If you look at the passage in Luke, you’ll see that Jesus’ message was not well received.)

As in so much of his prophesy, Isaiah foretells not only Jesus’ coming but also what his ministry will be like and would be concerned with.

Then of course we have John the Baptist. He was identified as a prophet by the people who came to hear him preach and his message is very prophetic - “Prepare the way!” But when he was asked if he was Elijah or the Prophet (John 1:21) he denied it. (To the Jewish people “the Prophet” and Elijah were both thought to come before the arrival of the messiah. And in that sense John could be thought of as “the Prophet” – though most Jewish people thought of “the Prophet” as being Moses like.)

As we know, most Jewish people did not make the connection between Isaiah’s great prophesy, and what John the Baptist was proclaiming, and the coming of Christ as Messiah. At best, Jesus himself might have been regarded as a prophet by much of the Jewish community.

We move forward from Jesus’ ministry to the church in Thessalonica. And Paul’s letter to the young church there (written scholars think around 55 AD / CE, 20 years or so after Jesus’ death and resurrection.)

Paul is addressing an issue that has perplexed the Church ever since: how do we understand the fact that Jesus has not returned in glory as we had been led to expect? How do we hold on for that hope?

In 1 Thess 5: 1 – 11 Paul encourages the Christians to live “wakefully”, alert for the salvation that may come about at anytime. (A theme I’ve commented on over the last couple of weeks.)  But in 1 Thess 5: 11 – 24 Paul shows them how they are to live in the meantime – the time between Christ’s first and second advents – the time in which we live. Verses 12 – 13 suggest they can have peace with one another by respecting their leaders. Verse 14 seems to be instructions to church leaders. And in verse 15 we have instructions for congregations.

But it is verses 19 - 21 that caught my attention.

¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not treat prophecies with contempt ²¹ but test them all; 1 Thess 5: 16 – 24

We know from 1 Corinthians 14 that Paul was concerned with the use of prophecy within worship and the church. In the early church Prophets were Christian leaders who declared aloud in worship, words they claimed to have received from God. Paul’s warning to the church in Thessalonica is to respect the prophecy but also to test them.

In some branches of the Church today, perhaps Pentecostal type churches, prophesy and “bringing a word” from God is still very much a thing. In our tradition it is not something we encounter very often. Does that mean we do not have prophets in the Methodist church? In fact, we might say “where are the Prophets?” anywhere?

There is a danger in thinking of Prophets as those  being some who predict the future – just as Isaiah and John the Baptist foretold the coming of Christ.

But Biblically and historically, true prophets spoke out about injustice and exploitation. They spoke on God's behalf when his people went astray and forgot the poor. They spoke truth to power, not condemnation to the downtrodden and marginalized. (Have a look at prophets such as Amos and Micah for example.)

Some of you may know the song by Simon and Garfunkel from the 1960s “The Sound of silence”. It contains these words:

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sound of silence

To me these words in a secular song are a reminder that if we look for them, if we listen out for them, we will find prophets in the most unlikely of places. I’ve no idea whether the Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford is a Christian, but his high profile enabled him to give a voice to children in need of free school meals. His speaking out against injustice was prophetic. Yes, MPs, church leaders and so on had been doing the same. But somehow, Marcus Rashford’s voice broke through.

(Incidentally, going back to that song, “whispered in the sound of silence” is a reminder to us that God spoke to Elijah the prophet not in the wind, earthquake or fire, but in the still small voice.)

Of course, as Paul reminds us, we need to be wary of prophets. We need to test what they say. It seems to me that if what a “prophet” says accords with Christ’s teachings, for example in Luke 4 (and Isaiah 61) then they could well be authentic, and we should take note of what they are saying.

Who are the prophets today? Are we listening to them?

Praise and honour to you living God for John the Baptist, and for all those voices crying in the wilderness who prepare the way. May we listen when a prophet speaks your word, and obey.

 

A New Zealand Prayer Book © Anglican Church of New Zealand Harper Collins 1989

 

Revd David P. Gray 7^th December 2020