BLOG 11/23/14. THE LIABILITY OF BEING A PROPHET: VERY FEW LISTEN!

In my Blog on last Wednesday, I noted that every one of God’s people is to be equipped to exegete the cultural setting in which he or she lives—that is: to be a keen observer, or a prophet, within their daily cultural orb—in order to effectively incarnate the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ realistically and sensitively to that particular neighborhood, whatever that neighborhood may be: social, professional, geographical, chosen or forced upon us. Having said that, it is also true that the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom/New Creation are absolutely counter-cultural, and so can be very disturbing to the status quo.

At the same time, there do arise, from time to time, those eccentric prophetic voices that see the culture and diagnose the ‘dominant social order’ and confront it morally and ethically. Such were some of those Old Testament prophets, who saw the profanation of Israel’s calling in the purpose of God, and so challenged the nation and its leaders in colorful and unmistakable language that often got them imprisoned, outlawed, or killed. Yes, they did frequently have a vision of the future, as they spoke of what would result from Israel’s present course. Israel had been called to be a nation of priests, and to be a light to the nations … and they were dismally failing in that calling by being conformed to the patterns of the nations around them. They had forgotten their Torah. And … Israel had no ears to hear what the prophets were saying.

Skip down several millennia to our recent past, and take note that prophets who arise to confront the dominant social order take the form of unexpected persons, and they speak out when we are not expecting it, or from where we are not looking. There was the prophetic voice of Dietrich Bonhoeffer challenging the Nazi German’s attempt to co-opt the German church to Hitler’s advantage, and which only a small witnessing and outlawed church had ears to hear. Or there was a little known preacher in Montgomery, Alabama who challenged the prevailing racism with all of its obscene atrocities, … and when he was told that he was breaking the law, would proclaim: “I appeal to a higher law,” and began to quote their own ostensible reverence for the Bible back to them: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream,” i.e., he appealed to their Christian conscience. Most didn’t want to hear that. Or, there was John Perkins in Mississippi calling upon that racist popullation to be reconciled to God and to one another. John was a prophet, but primarily an evangelist who saw the social and political implications of the faith. Both King and Perkins being black preachers from the rural South, and who paid the price with those who had no ears to hear. But who listened to two black preachers?

Then there was the Viet Nam War, where our motives were so mixed, and which took such an awesome toll of the young lives of our service men and women, and which had so many horrendously and inhumane weaponry of all kinds. And who spoke out? A couple of priests: Daniel and Philip Berrigan, or maybe a New York City lawyer named William Stringfellow. These were branded traitors to the American cause, and regularly vilified. Few had ears to hear. They were prophetic voices that didn’t come from the establishment. Few listened.

Then last week, as our nation faces the huge humanitarian issue what with that mass of illegal immigrants, who finally speaks out and reminds this nation of its moral and ethical beliefs? Answer: The President of the United States becomes the prophet. He almost verbatim quoted Matthew 25:35-40 about: I was a stranger and you welcomed me … come you blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. … as you did it to one of the least of these brothers, you did it unto me. Then, from Jewish sources, he reminded them that they were to welcome strangers, because they were once strangers. And there resulted all kinds of political anger. Question: Who has ears to hear a prophetic voice coming from an unexpected place?

Happy Thanksgiving!