The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany, Year B

Called to Be Prophets

Readings: Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28

I was leading a study group some years ago. The topic for discussion was how can we as individuals or as a community serve as prophets to one another? One person in the group replied. "Oh that's easy. We're Anglicans. It's a non-prophet organization." Although she was not serious, I think that it is easy for us to really believe that. We are not certain exactly what prophecy is. We think it has something to do with foretelling the future. Surely to be a prophet is to be at best strange and at worst fanatical. It brings to mind people such as the group in Waco, Texas. Ordinary people just don't do that.

But I have news for you. We are all called to prophetic ministry. And I know, you'll protest. "I'm in business. I'm no prophet." Or "I'm just a housewife." Or "What do we pay clergy for anyway!" And so we need to take a look at what prophecy is. What is it that God is calling us to do?

The word prophecy comes from the Greek prophetes, "one who speaks before others." It translates a Hebrew word which meant "one called to speak aloud". Often it has been taken to be some kind of ecstatic speech, but in Scripture the prophet is a person who is totally grounded. One who is speaking what has been discerned through a close walk, a close relationship with God. The prophet is one who listens to God and then passes the prophetic word on to the people.

There are prophets in our time. Perhaps a look at them can give us some insight. I have a friend who worked for many years as a prophet. He was in a much maligned profession. He was a meteorologist and worked at predicting our weather. He explained to me that weather predictions are based on past experience. The weather is tracked for a period of thirty years, and predictions are made based on the norms of the past. Farmers' Almanacs work on the same premise. They look at the past and make a prediction based on reasonable expectations.

As parents you do exactly the same thing. Your child comes to you asking for permission to do something. Based on your own experience you know what will happen. You say no and give a reasonable explanation about why. There are the usual arguments. And if you do give in and the outcome is as you predicted, with any luck your child will come to you and say: "How did you know?" Mind you, don’t hold your breath. It is unlikely that it will happen for about twenty years.

Scripture too looks at past history. Have you ever noticed how often the prophetic word begins with God recounting to the prophet all that God has accomplished for God's people in the past? "Wasn't I with you at the Red Sea? Did I not provide you with manna in the desert? Now go and tell my people...” and the prophet is able to speak with authority. "Thus says the Lord…” The prophet is able to challenge the people on a moral level. He is able to speak what needs to be heard in the light of past experience. The people listen, change their ways, the dire warning is heeded and they renew their relationship with God.

The prophetic word was critical to the people of Israel. They were travelling in uncharted territory. They had grown up in the region of the desert around the Nile Valley. When Moses led them to the Sinai, the new surroundings struck them with awe. A thunder storm among mountains sounds very different from one in flat terrain. It echoes from peak to peak. This intensifies the volume of the tempest. The people became frightened and pleaded with Moses to protect them from the blasts. He agreed to act as a mediator with God. He also told the people that God would send others like him, prophets to fulfill this same function.

Prophets and priests claimed to speak and act in accordance with God’s will and yet there were times when they became conflicted. How do you determine God’s truth? They decided on three criteria. The prophet must be an Israelite. He must speak as God commands. Finally what is spoken will be confirmed by the events that follow. So it was that the people accepted that God would communicate to them through the prophets.

Today's Gospel reminds of the power of God's voice. Jesus speaks in a loud tone to drive out a demon. He is the ultimate prophet, the one who speaks with authority. When Jesus is teaching in the synagogue people are astounded at his wisdom. The ministry of Jesus was on its way. People were beginning to understand that he was extraordinary. It is in healing the demented heckler that he is really marked for who he is. The man shrieked it out at the top of his voice. Those in the synagogue witnessed the touch of God healing a demon-possessed man. That marked him as someone special.

Let’s face it! For us in our time it is a somewhat troubling story. How do we explain the unclean spirit? Is it one of those ‘used to thinks’? People used to think that the world was flat. Now they know it is round. They used to think that the sun travelled across the sky each day. They also used to think that sickness was caused by demons. Whatever the cause, Jesus was able to deal with the problem. His authority overcame such illnesses. That is what marked him as unique. That is what is important to know in our faith journey.

So what about now? The people of today need to hear the prophetic word spoken to them, in real life, in their troubles, in their sorrows, in their weaknesses, in their frustrations. It needs to come from one who knows, from one who lives in the real world, who struggles with all that life brings. God needs us to keep trying. Not to give up, but to struggle on, to prophecy again and again, to renew our effort. God needs our gifts, our talents. They must be offered so that we and those around us can be truly alive in Christ Jesus.

Those who prophesy speak to other people for their up building and encouragement. The prophetic word builds up the church. So yes! We need prophets. We need those in our day and age who are the encouragers, the ones who cause the church to grow. Your witness may be by your actions. It may be by your prayers. It may be by your love and concern towards others. Or it may simply be by your open invitation to come and see. Our call is to be instruments, channels of God's blessing in ways which best use our talents and our gifts.

So you are not just in business. You are not just a housewife, or a secretary, or a truck driver, or a teacher, or a nurse. You are a prophet.