Can you hear me now? I’ve been out of touch, out of reach recently. Well, no place is out of reach these days. But if you cross international boundaries and don’t want to pay international roaming charges on your cell service and so decide to turn off all devices (which was tantamount to severing oxygen tubes on their deep sea diving suits as far as the teenagers were concerned), you are out of touch.
Re-entry was interesting, phones came on and Facebook posts ensued. It was like not having had anything to say for a while, we had to shout to the world. OK, truth be told there was wireless access in the hotel in Canada, and Facebook posts happened regularly. But it wasn’t on the phone, you know? It wasn’t in the pocket. You own personal megaphone ready to record your experiences as they happened and shout them to a noisy world. We wandered the streets of Stratford actually looking at the scenes around us, instead of heads down, fingers scrolling through a cyber world of virtual reality. And while we had comments to make, opinions to share, we had to keep them to ourselves instead of proclaiming them to a world that wasn’t listening anyway.
That’s the thing, the air is full of opinions and attitudes and proclamations, so full that most folks aren’t really listening anymore, just waiting for their turn to talk, their own faces captured by the screens in their hands. It is like shouting in the wilderness, really. Like proclaiming from rooftops and not being able to raise an eyebrow, let alone a spot on TMZ or a reTweet on Twitter. It’s not easy being a prophet.
The question for this week is “Who was the greatest prophet and why?” An appropriate question for an American Idol culture. “If you want Ezekiel to make it the next round cast your votes America, phone in right after the show 866-DEM-BONES to vote for Ezekiel. Or perhaps, for the sports minded, “and the Gold medal for Axehead floating goes to Elisha! As he climbs the podium you can hear the national anthem of ... wait, what’s that? Every nation turned him down because of all the terrible things he’s said? Oh.”
Tough being a prophet. You are not without honor, except in your home country, or something like that. Which means that the only way to get people to like you is to keep your distance. So, I guess it is a good thing that we ponder “greatest” in prophet circles for a little while this week.
In worship we will play with the idea for a while, thinking about categories for greatness. The buzz word for the church these days is effectiveness. So, if that is the measure then the greatest would have to be Jonah whose six word sermon saved many tens, if not hundreds of thousands of Ninevites from apocalyptic doom.
Some would argue that output would be a more lasting measure. The written word survives long after the action has been completed, long after the pronouncement has been spoken. In which case Isaiah has to win the prize as his 66 chapters outnumber Jeremiah’s 52 (or 57 if you add in the 5 from Lamentations) and Ezekiel’s 48 and after that, well, they don’t call them minor prophets for nothing!
Then of course there is cultural impact. Who has the most quotes? Who was the most musical pieces written off of your work? Handel loved Isaiah, can’t argue with that. Matthew quotes extensively from him too, but a few others as well. Mendelssohn wrote an oratorio about Elijah. Most quoted lines would have to include Micah: “What does the Lord require of you?” Probably lots more that aren’t coming to mind today. That category would be hard to measure, I suppose.
What about a non-human category? Jesus tells us to pay attention to birds or air and lilies of the field. They have something to tell us, he argues. Jeremiah was interested in cracked pots and rotting cloth. What about Balaam’s Ass? OK, Balaam did the prophecy, but the few lines from the donkey have to rank him right up there somewhere, don’t they?
OK, getting a little silly, I suppose. Maybe we ought to move to the scripture and slant that I decided to take this question. It is a New Testament passage, oddly enough. When you think of prophets you think Old Testament. So, I’m throwing a curve and taking a look at some of Jesus words about a prophet of his acquaintance. Take a look:
Matthew 11:1-19 Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities. 2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" 4 Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' 11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 Let anyone with ears listen!
16 "But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 17 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."
Did you catch it? No, not what you think. Yes, Jesus talks about John as a prophet’s prophet. And then he proceeds to discuss the difficulties of the prophetic task. There are no palaces and soft clothing to warm you, there is no relying on polling data to determine your opinions, there is just a job to do, a road to prepare and then an exit to make. Get out of the way so that God’s purposes can be fulfilled.
But then Jesus says something curious. John was great, maybe greatest in one way of measuring, but “the least in the kingdom is greater than he.” Wait. What? Greatness, says Jesus, has more to do with being where God wants you to be and doing what God wants you to do than it does with achievements of all sorts. It has to do with submission, with surrender, not with power and wisdom.
Which means, I guess, I think, is that the greatest prophet just might be you. Or me. Or both of us and all of us, any of us who steps up. Are you the one, as John’s disciples asked. In the eyes of the one who matters, this question doesn’t compute. Greatest? All of them, the ones folks listened to and changed their lives and the ones that shouted until they were blue in the face and might as well have been talking to brick walls, all of them were greatest. All of you who keep my Word and proclaim it with your lives. Live out loud, we are told, let the Word come forth from us. That is where greatness comes from.
Can you hear me now?
Shalom,
Derek
Re-entry was interesting, phones came on and Facebook posts ensued. It was like not having had anything to say for a while, we had to shout to the world. OK, truth be told there was wireless access in the hotel in Canada, and Facebook posts happened regularly. But it wasn’t on the phone, you know? It wasn’t in the pocket. You own personal megaphone ready to record your experiences as they happened and shout them to a noisy world. We wandered the streets of Stratford actually looking at the scenes around us, instead of heads down, fingers scrolling through a cyber world of virtual reality. And while we had comments to make, opinions to share, we had to keep them to ourselves instead of proclaiming them to a world that wasn’t listening anyway.
That’s the thing, the air is full of opinions and attitudes and proclamations, so full that most folks aren’t really listening anymore, just waiting for their turn to talk, their own faces captured by the screens in their hands. It is like shouting in the wilderness, really. Like proclaiming from rooftops and not being able to raise an eyebrow, let alone a spot on TMZ or a reTweet on Twitter. It’s not easy being a prophet.
The question for this week is “Who was the greatest prophet and why?” An appropriate question for an American Idol culture. “If you want Ezekiel to make it the next round cast your votes America, phone in right after the show 866-DEM-BONES to vote for Ezekiel. Or perhaps, for the sports minded, “and the Gold medal for Axehead floating goes to Elisha! As he climbs the podium you can hear the national anthem of ... wait, what’s that? Every nation turned him down because of all the terrible things he’s said? Oh.”
Tough being a prophet. You are not without honor, except in your home country, or something like that. Which means that the only way to get people to like you is to keep your distance. So, I guess it is a good thing that we ponder “greatest” in prophet circles for a little while this week.
In worship we will play with the idea for a while, thinking about categories for greatness. The buzz word for the church these days is effectiveness. So, if that is the measure then the greatest would have to be Jonah whose six word sermon saved many tens, if not hundreds of thousands of Ninevites from apocalyptic doom.
Some would argue that output would be a more lasting measure. The written word survives long after the action has been completed, long after the pronouncement has been spoken. In which case Isaiah has to win the prize as his 66 chapters outnumber Jeremiah’s 52 (or 57 if you add in the 5 from Lamentations) and Ezekiel’s 48 and after that, well, they don’t call them minor prophets for nothing!
Then of course there is cultural impact. Who has the most quotes? Who was the most musical pieces written off of your work? Handel loved Isaiah, can’t argue with that. Matthew quotes extensively from him too, but a few others as well. Mendelssohn wrote an oratorio about Elijah. Most quoted lines would have to include Micah: “What does the Lord require of you?” Probably lots more that aren’t coming to mind today. That category would be hard to measure, I suppose.
What about a non-human category? Jesus tells us to pay attention to birds or air and lilies of the field. They have something to tell us, he argues. Jeremiah was interested in cracked pots and rotting cloth. What about Balaam’s Ass? OK, Balaam did the prophecy, but the few lines from the donkey have to rank him right up there somewhere, don’t they?
OK, getting a little silly, I suppose. Maybe we ought to move to the scripture and slant that I decided to take this question. It is a New Testament passage, oddly enough. When you think of prophets you think Old Testament. So, I’m throwing a curve and taking a look at some of Jesus words about a prophet of his acquaintance. Take a look:
Matthew 11:1-19 Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities. 2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" 4 Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' 11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 Let anyone with ears listen!
16 "But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 17 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."
Did you catch it? No, not what you think. Yes, Jesus talks about John as a prophet’s prophet. And then he proceeds to discuss the difficulties of the prophetic task. There are no palaces and soft clothing to warm you, there is no relying on polling data to determine your opinions, there is just a job to do, a road to prepare and then an exit to make. Get out of the way so that God’s purposes can be fulfilled.
But then Jesus says something curious. John was great, maybe greatest in one way of measuring, but “the least in the kingdom is greater than he.” Wait. What? Greatness, says Jesus, has more to do with being where God wants you to be and doing what God wants you to do than it does with achievements of all sorts. It has to do with submission, with surrender, not with power and wisdom.
Which means, I guess, I think, is that the greatest prophet just might be you. Or me. Or both of us and all of us, any of us who steps up. Are you the one, as John’s disciples asked. In the eyes of the one who matters, this question doesn’t compute. Greatest? All of them, the ones folks listened to and changed their lives and the ones that shouted until they were blue in the face and might as well have been talking to brick walls, all of them were greatest. All of you who keep my Word and proclaim it with your lives. Live out loud, we are told, let the Word come forth from us. That is where greatness comes from.
Can you hear me now?
Shalom,
Derek
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