God Will Raise Up Prophets

 

Prophets have been a part of almost every major religion in the world.  And prophets have rarely been well liked in most of those religions.  The reason, of course, is that prophets usually communicate a word from God which calls us to be better than we are, to care for the less fortunate, to work for peace and justice, sometimes against our own self-interests.  In short, prophets call us to “love our neighbors as we love ourselves.” 

Without prophets, human relationships do not evolve, injustice does not become justice, wrongs are not righted and the status quo remains.  Prophecy challenges us, prophecy makes us uncomfortable, prophecy pulls us kicking and screaming to be our best selves.  The book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible proclaims the importance of prophets, especially Moses, in leading the people of God into a new life. God also promises through Moses that he “will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. “(Deut. 18:15-20)  For those of us who are Christians, we see this prophet as Jesus.  

Jesus taught like a prophet, “as one with authority,” as we read in Mark’s Gospel (1:21-28).  This prophetic teaching led to the spread of Jesus’ fame and laid a foundation for the establishment of prophetic teaching and living among Christians up to our own day.  In every age God has raised up prophets: Moses, Amos, Jeremiah, John the Baptist and others, ending, and perhaps beginning again with Jesus.  How do we perceive these prophets?  Do we name them as too crazy or too radical for our day and time?  Do they press us with a truth that cuts too deep?  Or, will we hear them, will we receive their words as words of those whose lives display the courage and risk to lead others to places where they themselves will not arrive.  People like Moses, or Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr. or Gandhi, none of whom lived to see the human accomplishment of their goals. 

Prophets are often misunderstood, considered trouble makers or communists or un-American, or just “in the way.”  I clearly remember Martin Luther King, Jr., being labeled a communist by many in the small Alabama town in which I grew up.  There are prophets in every generation and every society.  I want to share part of the story of one person in my life who has been a prophet and whose life helped to make me who I am. 

My friend, “Brother Bob,” was a United Methodist Minister in East Tennessee, who in one season of my life was like a second father to me, and who later became a good friend and colleague.  In the early 1970’s Brother Bob was invited to present the devotion at a rally of the Ku Klux Klan.  Much to the chagrin and fear of his wife, he agreed to do so.  He arrived blindfolded at the remote site of the rally.  As his blindfold was removed, the cross was burning and he was lead to the center of the circle to begin his sermon.  Early on it became obvious to all that the devotion was a modified version of Jesus’ Parable of the “Good Samaritan.”  “The ‘Samaritan’ in the ditch is a black man traveling from Knoxville to Chattanooga and his automobile breaks down along the way.  While trying to repair his car he is robbed and beaten and left in the ditch.  Pastor Jones from the local Baptist Church passes by, sees the black man and keeps on going.  The Klan members cheer.  Next, the mayor of the town passes by, looks in the ditch and moves on.  Again the Klan members cheer.  And then, a Klansman on his way to this very rally drives by, stops and cleans the man up and takes him to the hospital.  Catcalls and boos and obscenities fill the air.  At this point Bro. Bob shouts, ‘how dare you interrupt the Word of God when it is being preached!’ He then proceeds to complete the parable.  As the devotion ends, and the fire is extinguished, the Klan Members leave quietly, without Brother Bob, who now finds himself alone in the woods in the dark. 

My pastor friend slowly finds his way to the dirt road and up the hill to the paved road where he finds a member of his mountain congregation waiting for him in his pickup.  They greet one another and ride in silence to the church where Brother Bob gets into his own car and heads to town.   

Was this action a wise thing to do?  Probably not.  Was it a safe thing to do? I doubt it.  Did it change anything or anybody? Who knows?  Was it prophetic? Yes.  Bob’s actions may are may not have changed the hearts of any of the Klansmen at the rally, but his sharing of the story with me and others has changed our lives and as we share his story with people in our lives, his prophetic act will continue to challenge us to “Seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving their neighbors as themselves.”

 

(From a Sermon preached at Christ Episcopal Church, Albertville, Alabama, February 1, 2015)