Every now and
then – just for kicks – I scan through the employment section of the newspaper.
Don’t worry, I’m not looking for a job! I’m just curious about the kinds of
jobs that are available at any given time. I always wonder about the ones that
sound too good to be true. Here’s one, for example. The headline caught my
attention: “Write your own paycheck!” The body of the ad said this: “Seeking
self-motivated, energetic, and ambitious people… We offer flexible schedules,
casual dress, and the absolute BEST incentive package offered anywhere! For an
immediate interview call….” Now, that position might be just what it says it
is. It might be a secure job with a stable company that really does offer
excellent benefits and flexible hours. But it might also be with a telemarketing
firm that employs people to work from their own homes. Sure, the dress is
casual! You can do a telemarketing job in your pajamas if you want to! We all
know that job ads don’t always match up with the reality of the position being
offered.
It makes me
wonder how God might write a want ad for a prophet. After all, being a prophet
is a time-honored job in Judeo-Christian tradition; but not too many people
seem to want it. Maybe God would write this ad: “Seeking man or woman to speak
on God’s behalf. Script supplied. Public speaking ability desirable but not
necessary. On-the-job training offered. The successful candidate will travel to
exotic locales and rub elbows with the movers and shakers of society while
commanding the attention of everyone. Generous retirement package guaranteed.” That
job sounds pretty good! I might be tempted to apply for it myself. But that ad
leaves out some very crucial elements of being a prophet. While it’s true that
prophets do rub elbows with powerful people, the reality is that they are usually
confronting those people about misusing their power. That’s why prophets are
the center of attention. All those powerful people are plotting how to get rid
of them! And when prophets travel to faraway places, they don’t go to relax on
the beach. They are either in exile or chained in the lower level of somebody’s
dungeon. Being a prophet is one of the riskiest jobs that anyone can possibly
undertake! It virtually guarantees resentment and persecution, if not downright
hatred. Sometimes it even ends in death. That’s because God calls prophets to
confront corruption, to proclaim sin, and to expose evil. If you listened closely
to what Isaiah told the people of his day on God’s behalf, you’ll know why
prophets are never popular. Isaiah criticized them for going to church on
Sunday and sitting piously with their heads bowed and their hands folded, and
then going out on Monday and paying their workers wages that they couldn’t live
on! “God doesn’t care what you eat or how often you wash your hands,” he told
the people. “God wants you to be fair and compassionate and treat other people
like human beings instead of like cattle!” That message sure didn’t win him the
Miss Congeniality prize!
Now, the good
news for most of you here this morning is that God hasn’t chosen you to be a
prophet. You don’t have to risk speaking out against the unjust power structures
of the world that oppress people and cause them to despair. But God does expect you to listen to the
prophets that he sends. Read what the prophets in the Old Testament had to say!
We mostly read those texts during Advent and Lent, when we concentrate on the
prophecies about the Messiah. But the prophets had a whole lot more to say than
just that. We just heard what Isaiah had to say (Isaiah 58:1-9). “Quit
pretending you’re religious on Sunday and then being a jerk the rest of the
week!” That could have been written yesterday. Micah was just as blunt as
Isaiah. He pointed out that salesmen sold 15 ounces and charged for a pound,
that judges took bribes, and that religious leaders preached whatever people
paid them to say. Hmmm. And I’ll bet you know what God told Amos to say! “I
despise your religious festivals; and I don’t want your sacrifices. Quit
singing hymns, and get rid of your praise bands! What I want is justice rolling
like a mighty river, and righteousness like a stream that never dries up!”
A lot of what the
prophets said applies just as much today as it did over 2,000 years ago. That’s
because God’s people still have a nasty habit of wandering away from what God
wants them to do, because – let’s face it – what God wants us to do is
difficult! Justice and mercy and love and forgiveness – that’s hard stuff! We
don’t do any better doing it today than our ancestors did back in Isaiah’s
time.
That’s why God
is still sending prophets to remind us to keep our noses clean. One of them was
Martin Luther King, Jr. His message that all people are God’s children no
matter what the color of their skin shouldn’t have been radical – but it was.
It made people uncomfortable. They resented the fact that he held their feet to
the fire and demanded that they take a good look at the consequences of
institutional racism. In the end, he was killed for what he had to say. That
was nearly 50 years ago; and prophets are still proclaiming the message that no
matter what a person’s skin color, ethnic background, or sexual orientation,
that person is a child of God. Oh, yes, prophets are still speaking out on
God’s behalf! They’re all around us! They’re being interviewed on TV shows,
writing newspaper editorials, and even preaching in pulpits. Oh, our society
tries to drown them out, because it doesn’t want us to hear them. They are no
more popular today than they were in the time of Isaiah, because they call us
out. They point their fingers in our faces and say, “You! Are you listening to
God, or are your ears plugged? Are you looking at what’s going on around you,
or have you closed your eyes?” Oh, they make us very uncomfortable. But, see,
here’s the thing. Being uncomfortable isn’t a bad thing when it reminds us to
be faithful to God. So, the next time you’re confronted with a prophet and the
message makes you uncomfortable, ask yourself: do you want to be comfortable,
or do you want to be faithful? You decide.
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