Isaiah 11:1–10; Psalm
72:1–7, 18–19; Romans
15:4-13; Matthew
3:1–12
A homily by Fr. Gene
Tucker, given at Trinity Church,
Mt.
Vernon, Illinois;
Sunday, December 8, 2013.
“OF PROPHETS AND PROPHECIES”
(Homily text: Matthew 3: 1 – 10)
In today’s
gospel reading, the focus is on St.
John the Baptist, the one whose call to repentance
rings out through time, even into our own day.
But what is
prophecy, and who is a prophet?
If we look
at the many religious channels on our cable or satellite TV providers, we can
quickly see one sort of an answer to the question of what prophecy is, and who
might be prophets. There, we will see
that the definition of prophecy has to do – almost exclusively – with
foretelling events that have not yet happened.
In fact, I believe we are being fair to such television personalities if
we go on to say that the focus of much of their message is on future events
that have to do mainly with the timing of the Lord Jesus Christ’s return in
glory, and with the events that will signal the end of the world as we know it.
Fair
enough. That is one definition of
prophecy, that is, the forecasting of events that have not yet happened. And the concern of our Christian brothers and
sisters who populate the television air waves about the reality of the Lord’s
eventual return is also a valid topic of study and contemplation. After all, we Christians who are inheritors
of the Anglican tradition affirm the reality of the Lord’s return each Sunday
as we recite the words of the Nicene Creed.
But there
is another aspect to the business of prophecy and of the prophets who utter
them. It has to do with the business of
speaking God’s truth. It’s my personal
belief that most prophecy, and most prophets, ought to be known for this aspect
of their statements and their ministries.
We ought to know and remember them for their ability to articulate God’s
truth, applying timeless, received truth to contemporary situations.
As we look
at our gospel reading for today, taken from Matthew’s gospel account, chapter
three, we can see this principle at work.
St. John the Baptist
looks at the Pharisees and the Sad’ducees who have come for baptism, and asks,
“Who warned you of the wrath to come?”
He goes on to day, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance,” adding that, if
they don’t. “even now the axe is laid to the root of the tree.”
So John is
speaking God’s truth to some very proud, self-assured people, these Pharisees
and Sad’ducees. After all, the image we
have of these folk is that they were very proud of their ancestry, stemming
from Abraham. They were very proud of
the fact that they scrupulously kept every minute aspect of the Law of Moses.
But John
says to them, “Do not say, ‘We are children of Abraham,’ for I tell you, God is
able, from these very stones, to raise up children to Abraham.”
John
strikes at the heart of the spiritual disease that afflicted the Pharisees and
the Sad’ducees, for they were very proud, stiff-necked people.
So John
takes up the mantle of prophecy, and is faithful in doing so.
But he is
also faithful in foretelling something that had not yet happened: He tells those who’d come for baptism that
someone is to come who will be mightier than he is. We soon learn that this mighty one is Jesus.
John the
Baptist is regarded as the culmination of the line of Old Testament prophets,
the inheritor of the legacy of those who often stood outside the power
structures of their times, warning people of their sinful, wayward ways. John speaks truth to those in power, just as
Amos had done in the eighth century BC, just as Jeremiah had done in the sixth
century BC.
Prophets
most often fall outside the power structures and outside the social circles of
the elite ones who inhabit them. Very seldom
do we ever find a priest among the lists of the prophets. Usually, prophets are the ones, like Nathan,
who speak God’s truth to power, just as Nathan did to King David after David’s
involvement with Bathsheba, just as Elijah did to King Ahab in the eighth
century BC.
Being a
prophet is often a lonely occupation, one that can be harmful to one’s health
and wellbeing. Consider Elijah, who
laments that “I, only I, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” Likewise, Jeremiah was imprisoned because of
the truths he articulated to God’s people and their leadership. Eventually, John the Baptist loses his life
as a direct result of his condemnation of King Herod’s immoral lifestyle.
But when
the Lord’s call comes to the prophet, when the Lord’s word becomes so
persuasive and powerful that the newly-called prophet is moved to say, “The
word of the Lord came to me,” or, “Thus says the Lord, the Lord of hosts,” then
any hardship, any danger, any loneliness becomes a secondary consideration.
And when
the prophet says, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying,” then the prophet
stands within the received tradition, not outside of it. The prophet’s job is to make ancient truths
known again, often in new situations.
Prophets aren’t into creating new truths. Instead, they call people into a new
relationship with the God who is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.
So the
question arises: Are there prophets
today, and if so, where might we find them?
And if there are prophets among us, then how might we recognize their
voice and message when we hear them?
We’ve
spoken earlier in this homily about the TV variety of prophecy and prophets.
But, more
often, it seems to me, prophets will be found among us, among the people we rub
elbows with every day, among those we interact with in the church. They can be preachers, teachers, or other
members of the church, the body of Christ.
They can be writers, or others who influence others’ opinions and
thinking. They can be social scientists
or political commentators.
We will
recognize faithful prophesying when the messages we hear are consistent with
what we already know about God, and about God’s will that we love Him with “all
our heart, and mind, and spirit,” and when we love “our neighbors as we love
ourselves.” Faithful prophets won’t
break new ground in our understanding of God.
They won’t break new ground where morality is concerned. Doing those sorts of things isn’t prophecy,
it is radical thinking and acting that breaks from the received traditions that
define who we are as Christians.
May we,
with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, recognize the voice of the prophets
when we hear it, and may we heed the prophets’ warnings and forsake our sins.
AMEN.
