Ever been led astray....by clever advertising or outright lies? By pie in the sky promises or fast talking con men/women (which includes fast talking teenagers!)?
Ever been led astray because of your own desires, insecurities, dreams, hopes?
Ever been led astray by professional religious types who seem to be promising to have all the answers....if you'll only do this.....and you find they have no answers at all? You discover that people you love still die, tragedies still happen, evil does strike out, and prayers are occasionally answered with a 'no.'
Living a life of faith is not the same as walking along a garden path. Faith is trust, not answers. Faith is hope, not control. And ultimately, our faith is in Jesus, who himself went to the cross. Anything or anyone who dilutes the power of that message with the suggestion that we are in control and must add our own little part to Christ's eternal gift..............is leading you astray.
Jeremiah has a word to those people. Jesus does as well. It's not pretty.
You can't go wrong trusting in the one who gave it all for the sake of others: Jesus. AMEN
Showing posts with label prophets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prophets. Show all posts
Monday, July 16, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Prophet's work: speaking truth to power
A prophet's job is to speak the truth to those who are in power. All is well when the truth you are speaking coincides with the interests of those in power. When the truth you hold confronts the practices and attitudes of those in power, then you better duck.
No one wants to hear that their behavior is inappropriate, arrogant, greedy, nasty, oppressive. No one. You didn't like it when your mother told you to 'straighten up' nor when a teacher called you on some behavior. Consider our tendency as teens to 'mouth off' (however you might define that) and the sting of being called on our disrespect.
So we are all familiar with the emotional experience of being called out by another. Therefore when we look at a story where a prophet challenges a king because the king is acting poorly, we can understand how the king might feel.
But few of us have ever had the power to silence the speaker - destroying both message and messenger. For most of us the closest we come to that experience of power is in our relationships with our children. With only a little imagination we can take the role of the mis-behaving king while our children speak the uncomfortable truth to us. Not all of us have reacted kindly.
That is what makes the prophet's calling so dangerous. A prophet (that is, one who speaks the mind of God) is only called in when there is bad news to report - bad news that will leave folks feeling shamed, angry, embarrassed. And who knows what the king will do next?
This Sunday we have the prophet Amos going head to head with King Jeroboam and his chief counsel, Amaziah, and John the Baptist at the mercy of King Herod. Only Amos gets out of these encounters with his head still in tack.
BTW, we who follow Jesus are called to speak God's truth as well - especially for the sake of the oppressed, specifically to those in power. For Jesus, this led to a cross. Where will it lead us?
No one wants to hear that their behavior is inappropriate, arrogant, greedy, nasty, oppressive. No one. You didn't like it when your mother told you to 'straighten up' nor when a teacher called you on some behavior. Consider our tendency as teens to 'mouth off' (however you might define that) and the sting of being called on our disrespect.
So we are all familiar with the emotional experience of being called out by another. Therefore when we look at a story where a prophet challenges a king because the king is acting poorly, we can understand how the king might feel.
But few of us have ever had the power to silence the speaker - destroying both message and messenger. For most of us the closest we come to that experience of power is in our relationships with our children. With only a little imagination we can take the role of the mis-behaving king while our children speak the uncomfortable truth to us. Not all of us have reacted kindly.
That is what makes the prophet's calling so dangerous. A prophet (that is, one who speaks the mind of God) is only called in when there is bad news to report - bad news that will leave folks feeling shamed, angry, embarrassed. And who knows what the king will do next?
This Sunday we have the prophet Amos going head to head with King Jeroboam and his chief counsel, Amaziah, and John the Baptist at the mercy of King Herod. Only Amos gets out of these encounters with his head still in tack.
BTW, we who follow Jesus are called to speak God's truth as well - especially for the sake of the oppressed, specifically to those in power. For Jesus, this led to a cross. Where will it lead us?
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