Amos 7:7-15 Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29
Lectionary Link
When Amos was challenged by the king about his prophetic authority. He issued a disclaimer: "I am not a prophet or the son of prophet. I'm just farmer but God wanted me to do this."
Probably we too feel like Amos most of the time. "Who, me? I'm not a prophet or a child of a prophet." We don't want the job of the prophet because they often go against public opinion and sentiment or go against wealthy and powerful people and they end up paying the price. "Thanks for asking though. I'll leave being a prophet up to people who don't mind getting killed like Jesus, Stephen the Martyr, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.."
But our disclaimer about "not being prophets" does not get us off the hook for taking stands, even if unpopular against injustice, hatred and unkindness.
Even if we aren't prophets, we are still called to be prophetic often in our words and deeds. Why?
Because the office of any official ministry does not exhaust the work of that ministry. The reason that we have official priests in the church is to remind the entire church that her ministry and the ministry of every member is priestly, in that we are called to intercede on behalf of our world.
The reason that we have prophets is to remind the entire church, that our life is to be prophetic in taking stands, even public stands on behalf of what is true, just, loving and kind. No one is exempt from being prophetic in the words, and body language deeds of one's life.
Now if we are all called to be prophets in the witness of our lives for what is true, just, loving and kind, what remains for each of us are the prophetic strategies appropriate to our lives, our personalities, and our living situations.
And we might have different strategies than the prophet John the Baptist. We don't really want to have our heads served on a platter as a party hors d'oeuvres.
John the Baptist was such an unbribed soul and he did not believe in a separation of spiritual and secular world. He believed that everyone was obligated to be a "moral" being, and so he criticized King Herod's multiple marriage situation. And as a result he was killed because Herod's wife didn't like his criticism.
We live in a different world. We may criticize a president for having multiple marriages or marital infidelity but in the separation of the spiritual, moral, and religious world from the secular political world, such criticism may simply be regarded as one's personal politics.
There are other prophetic strategies that we must take up, like how do we make a stand for what is true, right, just, and kind in the face of some overt words and deeds of racism, sexism, ageism, wellism and the many other habits of bias which afflict our world. Sometimes it is uncomfortable to make a stand when the habits of bias and prejudice are so ingrained in social and even religious practice. We don't want to hurt people's feelings when they make a racist or sexist jokes or statements.
Sometimes Christians have been the last to embrace new understanding of applied justice and love in our world. Christians have used the ancient cultural practices found in the Bible as reason to uphold slavery, subjugation of women, the discrimination against gay and lesbian and transgendered persons, and even genocide.
As Christians, we need to be leaders in what exemplifies justice, love, and kindness toward the dignity of each person being made in the image of God.
So, today please don't forget that our baptism means that we are prophets. And we might be timid and shy to embrace this baptismal role. We ask for God's grace to give us courage to change the situations of injustice whenever we can and in ways that are appropriate to our gifts.
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I remind you that you are an ordained prophet of truth, justice, love and kindness by virtue of your baptism. Go forth and work out your prophetic calling today. Amen.
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