Prophets!

Jeremiah 7:4-10; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30

In my study of prophets, one of the most important things I have discovered is that an outsider does not make as good a prophet as someone who has been around for a few years. Certainly, some will quote to me the saying of Jesus that no prophet is accepted in his own town. And I'm sure this is true. And it is true because it is the prophet from his or her hometown who knows it so well that what he or she has to say about it probably has a greater ring of truth and, therefore, is much more difficult to deal with than the prophecy of someone who doesn't know the town as well.

Let's face it, Jesus had been raised in Nazareth. He knew the stories. He'd heard the gossip. He'd seen the Rabbi sneaking down the ally at 2 a.m. and climb up into the pretty young widow's balcony. He'd seen the merchants in the market place making incorrect change and sell old merchandise while calling it new. He'd seen how poorly his supposedly righteous townspeople had treated non-Jews and travelers through the area, in defiance of God's laws. He'd seen them at their best and at their worst. He'd seen them with their old clothes on in the backyard with the six pack as well as in their tuxedos at the opera house. He knew his people well. So, who else but Jesus was qualified to be a prophet for Nazareth?

One of the problems we have in our day is that we think we know what prophets are, but have been misinformed. Forget what you've read in the National Enquirer. A prophet is not someone who makes a thousand guesses about the future and comes out having made 100 correct guesses. A prophet, in the biblical sense, is not just someone who can tell you what will happen six months from now. But, a prophet in the biblical sense, is a person who has been spoken to by God in such a way that he or she feels compelled to share that news with others, even people who are loved and dear to them. True prophets are persons who share the Word of the Lord, even when they know that what they have to say is going to hurt those who have to hear it. True prophets are those who not only love God, but love those to whom they have been sent to prophesy. And, this, of course, doesn't make being a prophet easy. For it hurts to be a prophet. It hurts to have people angry with you. It hurts to have people who you love reject you. And, yet, the true prophet doesn't let that stop him or her, because the true prophet is motivated by love.

But, let us look at the message of Jeremiah, that we read from this morning's Old Testament lesson. It starts out with Jeremiah taunting his congregation, saying: "Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" I love the way he said that! But, in many ways this is an important message for us to hear. We may, indeed, think that we love the church. We may be able to walk through this place and point out the many things we have purchased and given to the church over the years. We may be able to count the thousands of dollars we have given to the work of the church since we started giving. But, what is important for us to remember that this is not what saves us; that our zeal for God's house is not going to get us any closer to heaven; especially if, at the same time, we ignore the plea of the needy, engage in bigotry, betray those who trust us, and generally give little heed to those things which make for love.

And, so Isaiah made up his little taunt song to sing to those who thought that they were good so long as they performed their religious duties. His taunt song made fun of the deceptive self-righteousness of those who put their trust in their good deeds while forgetting about love. So, he sang, "This is the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord!" And you can bet that the people of Jeremiah's day didn't like hearing that anymore than the people of Jesus' town of Nazareth liked hearing what Jesus had to say.

Oh, indeed, both Jesus and Jeremiah would have a lot to say in their ministries about persons who put their trust in a house made of brick, over a house not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens! How much better off we are when we structure our spiritual journey around relationships with our fellow travellers and upon the One who leads us onward, than upon those things which rust and rot and whither away!

I think of the Apostle Paul, writing the chapter of 1 Corinthians that has become known through the centuries as "The Love Chapter." He said it, as well: "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

I wonder what Paul would say to us. May be it would go something like this: "If I give all I possess to pay off the Conference Claims, if I wear myself out serving swiss steak dinners, if I pour all my energy into endless bazaars and craft shows, if I wear my fingers raw doing up-teen hundred things around the church, but have not love, I gain nothing. For these three still remain: faith, hope, and love. But, the greatest of these is love."

Last week I said that the people of Bible times really aren't all that different from the people of Jesus' times, either. When they didn't like what Jeremiah had to say, they threw him down a well. When they didn't like what Jesus had to say, they hung him on a cross. And, certainly, we have our wells, and we have our crosses ready for today's prophets, as well. And we're ready to use them, if we have to. Indeed, it isn't easy being a prophet, at all. But, people who are prophetic often find that they have no other choice. For when God calls, how can a person do otherwise?

God's prophets continue to speak to us, today. And the message hasn't changed all that much. Jeremiah's message was that the people had to care more for the poor and for foreigners living in their country. Jeremiah also preached pretty heavily about those who had found other things that seemed to be more important to do than worshiping and serving the Lord.

The message is still the same today, in this country, at the end of the 20th century: The call is still being raised that we must care more for the poor and for foreigners living in the land. And, certainly, there are millions who have found many things far more interesting than God. And judgment will come.

Jesus' message to his people in Nazareth wasn't much different. So, it isn't hard to figure out what Jesus would have us do, today. But, pity the poor prophet who gets out and says it! In the midst of a recession, who wants to hear about giving more to help the poor? While folks are worried about losing their job, who wants to hear about helping aliens, as if they shouldn't go back to where they came from!

But, nevertheless, this is what God is calling us to do. And, God help the prophets! Amen.