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"Prophets in Our Time"
Delivered by Scott Crawford at John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Metairie, LA
on June 3, 2001
Texts:
Ezekiel 13:1-8:
The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of
Israel, prophesy and say to those who prophesy out of their own minds: 'Hear the
word of the LORD!' Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who
follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! Your prophets have been like
foxes among ruins, O Israel. You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up
a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the
LORD. They have spoken falsehood and divined a lie; they say, 'Says the LORD,'
when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word.
Have you not seen a delusive vision, and uttered a lying divination, whenever
you have said, 'Says the LORD,' although I have not spoken?" Therefore thus says
the Lord God: "Because you have uttered delusions and seen lies, therefore
behold, I am against you, says the Lord GOD.
Acts 2:1-18:
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And
suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled
all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of
fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with
the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every
nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they
were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And
they were amazed and wondered, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking
Galileans?
And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Par'thians
and Medes and E'lamites and residents of Mesopota'mia, Judea and Cappado'cia,
Pontus and Asia, Phryg'ia and Pamphyl'ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging
to Cyre'ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and
Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." And
all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But
others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine." But Peter, standing with
the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who
dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For
these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the
day; but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'And in the last days it
shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my menservants and my
maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
These descriptive verses in Acts have always puzzled me. Violent winds...Tongues
of fire...Seeing visions. More often than not, when God's Spirit came through
the prophets of the Old Testament there were no extraordinary phenomena. It was
usually simple: The word of the LORD came to his prophet. The prophet delivered
the word. God's chosen people rejected the prophet and God's word. So why now
are we exposed to this unusual commotion? John Calvin says these signs are
necessary "in order to stir up the disciples through the bodily senses (NT
Commentaries, Vol. 6, p. 50). True, God knew that they needed physical signs to
prove the coming of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised (John 14:26). Since
God caused such a physical stir, it is evident that God wanted them to pay
attention. This was one message that they could not be allowed to reject. The
Holy Spirit's loud arrival must be appreciated.
Realizing the significance of the Holy Spirit's descent, we naturally ask the
question 'Why?' Why was this message so important as to warrant physical signs?
Besides God providing a Comforter for us until the end of history, I find three
essential purposes of the Holy Spirit. The first purpose is found in the Gospel
of John where Jesus says, "[The Holy Spirit] will teach us everything" (John
14:26). During that same story, Jesus reveals the Holy Spirit's second purpose
saying that "the Holy Spirit will remind you of all that I have said." The Holy
Spirit will teach us everything and remind us of all that Jesus said. What a
friend we have in the Holy Spirit! When we are in search of answers and don't
know why, we must earnestly ask the Holy Spirit. When we struggle with social
issues that threaten to divide us, we must ask the Holy Spirit the meaning of
what Christ taught. As we here search for a new pastor, let us call upon the
Holy Spirit to guide us.
We now come to the third purpose of the Holy Spirit. It is upon this point that
I will go into greater depth. We find this key function in Acts when Peter
quotes the prophet Joel. I am particularly partial to William Barclay's
translation. He translates: "Your sons and your daughters will become prophets"
(Acts 2:17). Thus, the Holy Spirit transformed and continues to transform
ordinary people into God's prophets.
[pause]
The function of a prophet is often misunderstood. It is widely thought that
prophets foretell the future. While it is true that prophets often speak of
events that come to pass, the word 'prophet' does not mean one who sees the
future. The Greek work from which we get prophet is prophetes, which means "one
who speaks for another" (Miller, p. 86). In Hebrew, the word nabi means "one who
speaks, or pours forth the divine will" (ibid., p. 86). Therefore, the Holy
Spirit transforms people into the communicators of the divine will who speak in
place of God.. Prophets are like God's press secretaries.
The prophet Ezekiel spoke what God told him. While in Babylon, he told the Jews
things that they didn't want to hear. He told them that they would be in Babylon
for an extended period of time. He told them that their beloved city Jerusalem
would fall. At the time, many Jews believed that Jerusalem would never fall.
Psalm 46 (verse 3) says that God is within Jerusalem and she will not fall. How
piercingly bitter, and perhaps heretical, this message of the destruction of
God's city must have sounded.
Within this context we read Ezekiel's condemnation of false prophets. During
this period, there were false prophets, such as Hananiah, who optimistically
promised that the yoke of Babylon would soon be broken (Jer. 28:1-4). Hananiah
gave a message of hope...A message of relief. Now this is the kind of message we
want our prophets to give. But that's exactly what false prophets are: They are
OUR prophets, not God's prophets. They speak our message, not God's message. As
we read in Ezekiel, false prophets prophesy out of their own imagination (Ezek.
13:2). False prophets "follow their own spirit" (Ezek. 13:3). God's prophets
follow the Holy Spirit.
Condemning the popular false prophet is dangerous. When Jeremiah did it, he was
deemed a mad man and nearly arrested (Jer. 29:24-28). When Jesus did it, the
chief priests plotted to kill him (Mark 11:17-18). Despite the danger, Ezekiel,
charged and empowered by the Holy Spirit, delivered the true message.
When God speaks to us through prophets, it causes great upheaval. Prophets
empowered by the Holy Spirit remind us "all of what Jesus said." Often, the
words of Jesus unravel the serenity and comfort in our lives. And we don't like
that, especially in this age of peace, wealth, and comfort. Our prophets, the
false prophets, try to satisfy us as individuals. We want our prophets to
condone our lifestyles, not challenge them. It is because of this that the Swiss
theologian Karl Barth said, "The pastor who satisfies the people is a false
prophet" (Busch, p. 90).
This comment brings us to our situation as a congregation in search of a new
pastor. We cannot have a pastor who simply satisfies us with a pleasing message.
We need a pastor who challenges us with all that Jesus said. A prophet who will
shake the foundations of our lives like Leo Tolstoy who demanded that Christians
do as Jesus said by returning no evil for evil and forgiving those who sin
against us 70 x 7 times. (Talk)..... Let God's prophet to us remind us of the
"narrow road that leads to life" (Matt. 7:14).
[pause....add-lib 3 or 4 sentences]
[long pause]
In today's world of logic in which almost any argument can be proven valid (not
sound, though), it is difficult to distinguish God's prophet from the false
prophet. Both types of prophets claim to speak for God. That is, that the Holy
Spirit moves them to proclaim a message.
I have struggled in separating the false prophet from the true prophet. In my
freshman year at LSU two years ago, I joined TUCM, the Uniting Campus
Ministries. Members of the group included atheist and gay students. It was a
unique experience for me as I had never knowingly shared Communion and Christian
fellowship with these people, whom before, I wanted to condemn as sinners. I
soon learned that the group's primary emphasis was on letting one explore his or
her faith.
Towards the end of that year, rumors that the ministry would close spread. Those
rumors became true at the last meeting of TUCM. There, the Methodist bishop
announced that the Holy Spirit guided him to withdraw the Methodist support, and
start a Methodist college group at the nearby church.
In essence, the bishop said that he was a prophet and it was God's Will to shut
down the group and start a new one. Other people objected, saying that the
bishop was a false prophet.
Left with unresolved anger, I wondered if this was God's Will . Was the bishop a
true or a false prophet?
Two years later, I am stuck asking the same questions. The Methodist group is
now thriving. However, those people on the fringes of Christianity who were left
without a faith nurturing environment have since failed to continue their faith
journeys. I ask myself: "Were the actions of the bishop consistent with what
Jesus told us?" I have no definitive answer. If answers to questions like this
one were easy, there would be much more unity within our denomination as well as
the Christian Church as a whole.
The message I wish to convey through this story is not that it is impossible for
us to pick out the false prophets. Rather, when faced with difficult situations
in which issues are obscure, we must be careful and patient. At the same time,
we must make thoughtful decisions that use the teachings of Jesus as a measuring
rod. Only then can we say that the Holy Spirit guided us and made us prophets in
our time.
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