Prophet; Part II

Last week I wrote about prophets and their unique role in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Prophets are persons with a special connection to God and special understanding of God’s desires for the world. I emphasized the prophet’s work in calling people to change their ways, to be more in line with God’s will, in order to avert the disaster that results from straying from God’s intentions.

However, this is only half the story. As persons with special understanding about God’s character and desires for the world, prophets know better than anyone that God’s predominant interest is not punishment but salvation. Prophets do not only warn us of doom unless we act right. They also remind us that God loves us, that God is faithful to his Covenant promises, that God is working for the well-being of creation and its deliverance from the powers that threaten it. “The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.” (Jeremiah 5-6a) It is up to the prophet to offer God’s word of hope and encouragement, every bit as much as it is to offer warning and correction.

Again, we can look to Jesus-as-prophet. Certainly, Jesus has that special connection to God and keen insight about the way people ought to live. Jesus was not above calling people to task, overturning the money-changers tables and prodding the religious authorities to attend to the “weightier matters of the Law: justice and mercy and faith.” But for most of us our prevailing impression of Jesus is one who came to offer hope; to calm storms and cure ailments and rid the world of injustice and oppression; to reach out to the poor and the lonely and the rejected; to confirm God’s promise of a better world.

Hear a sermon related to this post at http://revbob.podbean.com/2010/07/28/july-18-2010/