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Most people have a rather warped view of the biblical
prophets. We have tended to see them as rather like a man I saw
outside Saint Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, dressed in what
looked like bed sheets, wearing a beard, with a sign around his
neck, and carrying a staff, and shouting things to anyone who
happened to look his way. He reminded me of some of the cartoons
I had seen in the New Yorker magazine, depicting long-bearded
characters in similar dress, usually announcing the end of the
world. Certainly some of the prophets had their own peculiarities
and sometimes dramatic ways of getting their messages across. If
one includes John the Baptist in that prophetic tradition, one
must also note some strange tastes in food and dress.
To consider the prophets as mere eccentrics or trouble-makers
is to diminish their importance, which is exactly what many
people tend to do with their modern counterparts. To do so makes
them easier to ridicule or ignore. Those who would counter
prophetic stands tag them with a catch word such as radical, or
extremist, and other good words like liberal and conservative
take on a severely pejorative tone.
The prophetic tradition is probably one of the most valuable
contributions of Hebrew religion, tracing back to nomadic times
when, at Horeb, a fearful people asked for a mediator

between themselves and God, and got Moses. For a long time it
seemed that Moses would be the only prophet, but in today's
scripture we hear a farewell address to the people, who were
about to enter Canaan without him. In it Moses prepares the way
for other prophets who will follow him, evidently on the
assumption the people will continue to need that sometimes
encouraging, sometimes prodding mediator between themselves and
God:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from
among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is
what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb ....
- Deuteronomy 18:15

And of this prophet, the Lord says:

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own
people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who
shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does
not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I
myself will hold accountable.
-- Deuteronomy 18:18-19

These are strong words! And thus in the scriptures we do not
hear the prophets speak on their own behalf, but with a far
greater authority, saying, "Thus says the Lord!" Remember there
was as yet no priesthood or holy rite, and no temple, and yet the
wandering tribes of Israel had one among them who spoke for God.
Even when they became a settled people the prophetic heritage
begun in the desert was never forgotten. Of course in time
various kings hired their own professional court prophets, who
said what the king wanted to hear. That's what they were paid to
do. Modern leaders tend to do the same thing. Not many critical
voices are heard very near presidents or monarchs or other heads
of state. But the great prophets of the scriptures were not
professional prophets.

Their call to their prophetic task rose out of faith in God and
genuine concern for the welfare of the people and the nation.
These were not always popular. Nathan, the prophet, risked his
neck when he confronted King David about his affair with
Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. King Ahab called the
prophet Elijah, "you troubler of Israel," and Jeremiah was
confined for a time in the mire at the bottom of a pit because
there were some who wanted to silence him. On a couple occasions
Jesus referred to the persecution, and even the killing of the
prophets. So the people and their leaders became angry with the
prophets and stoned and ridiculed them, but could not keep from
producing them in every generation. God kept calling forth
prophets from among the people, and the Hebrews could not deny
that God spoke through them, even though they often did not want
to hear them.
Prophet ought to be part of the definition of every Christian.
It was Peter who reminded ordinary people, "You are sons of the
prophets." (Acts 3:25) I happen to believe what the church has
maintained throughout its existence, that God still calls forth
those special prophets from our midst. Nevertheless, being
prophetic is still not especially popular. Prophetic words and
actions are unpopular by the very nature of trying to get the
majority to consider the consequences of where the present path
will lead. Saying unpopular things is part of the job
description, but it should be part of the job description of
anyone in Christian ministry. I remember hearing the admonition
to some new ordinands to beware of being too well thought of. Of
course we want to be well liked, but let none of us be thought
harmless or ineffective in proclaiming the Word in prophetic
fashion. Even so it is one of the least appreciated aspects of
ministry. It opens one to criticism, and hence some lose all but
a faint glimmer of prophetic ardor for popularity sake, or even
for self-preservation.
Churches tend to silence prophetic preachers. They do it very
effectively by withdrawing support, or by trumping up some other
excuse to get a pastor moved. Our division of human affairs into
the artificial categories of sacred and secular

inveighs heavily against prophetic ministry, because it assumes
that religion has no right to be a critical and moral corrective
in collective human affairs or politics, or in any other than the
personal arena of the individual's relationship to God. Yet few
raise questions about the religion-laden pious preachments of
politicians whose own participation in religion may be tangential
at best, but who invoke religious phrases to support partisan
political ideas and presume to set the agenda for what the
religious institutions ought or ought not to be doing. But the
biblical prophetic tradition is that religion must not be the
handmaiden of politics, nor merely reflect commonly accepted
social patterns, but must be critical of both.
Church denominational bodies are often too diverse and
unwieldy, or fearful of the consequences, to be truly prophetic.
A few denominations have been prophetic on particular themes,
earning great respect, and perhaps even causing others not of
their persuasion to at least consider their own beliefs and
course of action. The Society of Friends and the Mennonites, for
example, plus a few other groups have done a splendid job of
consistently taking a forthright stand for peace and against war.
They have not forced it upon anyone else, in the true prophetic
tradition, but they have caused many others to consider that the
war option is too easily chosen in an attempt to resolve
international disputes.
Occasionally a major church body does take a bold prophetic
stand, knowing full well that there will be consequences to
accept. Being prophetic is not a popularity contest. Sometimes
being prophetic even means taking the side of someone with whom
you profoundly disagree. The United Presbyterian Church made such
a move some years ago in contributing a small amount of money to
the defense fund of a young black woman college professor. They
did not do so because they agreed with her views. They most
decidedly did not. They did it because they believed she had been
dismissed from her position without due process, which is the
right of every citizen under the Constitution of the United
States of America, regardless of their views. They did it to be
heard and to make

a witness about the climate of fear and hatred that was loose in
the land. It was to say that in God's name this is not right! But
people heard what they wanted to hear. People left Presbyterian
churches in droves, and even whole congregations separated
themselves from the denomination. The United Presbyterian Church
was accused of being communist, and unpatriotic, and untrue to
the gospel, and all sorts of things. Unfortunately, the point was
lost on many people who were moved more by their own political
agenda, and by fear, than by a reasoned sense of the rightness,
and the necessity of treating every person justly. The stand was
prophetic, but the effect upon the denomination was disastrous.
Prophetic stands are often misunderstood, and one remembers poor
Jeremiah suffering there where he had been thrown into the mire
at the bottom of a pit. His prophecy was not well received
either.
Some of the things we assume ought to be understood and
accepted by everyone are not, and to proclaim what seems obvious
to us turns out to be prophetic. Some years ago the art
department of a Roman Catholic college in California was invited
by a large multi-national corporation to decorate its New York
office building for Christmas. The only requirement was that the
finished product reflect the theme of Christmas. So teachers and
a few students went to New York to measure the wonderful long
window space where thousands of people passed by each day. Back
home again they got busy with ideas and drawings, and then they
hand-painted hundreds of folding cartons such as are used for
moving household goods, and shipped the flattened cartons to New
York for assembly in the windows.
When the windows were unveiled and the display appeared, it
said simply, "PEACE ON EARTH," in large letters that could be
read from wherever that window could be viewed. Walking by closer
to the window one could read quotations from several
internationally known people on the theme of peace -- Pope John
XXIII, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dag Hammarskjold, among them.
It was an impressive and attractive display, and the students and
their teacher were pleased. Besides, they had given this wealthy
corporation a stunning

Christmas window at bargain basement cost. But they were not
prepared for what followed. People walking by were disturbed.
There were no things to look at in the window. There were no
lights and decorations and trees, only this wall of painted boxes
proclaiming peace on earth. Letters came to the corporate office
from people and nearby businesses wondering what sort of
political message might be intended. And a letter came to the
college art department from the corporation's head office saying
exactly what many people on the streets of New York had been
asking, "What does that have to do with Christmas?"
Indeed, what does peace on earth have to do with Christmas?
Now 11 weeks after Christmas, our decorations are safely stored
away for another year, but the angelic song of peace on earth is
a prophetic word of God to a wounded and war-weary world, put
into our mouths to proclaim, "I shall put my words into the mouth
of the prophet, who shall speak to [the people] everything that I
commanded." We are the prophets with a message on our tongue so
that the Herod schemes of today will not succeed after all. To
proclaim the Word is our prophetic task as the Church of Jesus
Christ. As such we do not offer a panacea, but a new mind and a
new view.
It is very easy to be critical of the church when it fails to
be as prophetic as it should, but let us not forget that we are
the church. The church's task of being prophetic is our job. We
are the descendants of the prophets, and ours is the inheritance
to be prophetic. Sometimes individually we have to assume the
prophetic role within and to the church, and always be in touch
with human need.
Mark's gospel tells us that at the beginning of his ministry,
Jesus entered the synagogue on the sabbath day and began to
teach. The people were astounded at his teaching. He taught them
as one who had authority. But part of the same story is that
after he left the synagogue he went over to the house of his
friend Simon, and found that Simon's mother-in-law was in bed
with a fever. Mark tells us that "he took

her by the hand and lifted her up." That is an important aspect
of prophetic ministry that we must always keep in mind. Our
prophetic words will be effective only if we keep in mind that we
must always uplift people.
Performing the prophetic role must also assume a willingness
to understand the Word in the scriptures, and apply its wisdom to
contemporary life. The word of God is not something drawn out of
the blue. It is put in our mouths as a result of study, and
prayer, and reflection, and discussion. Being a prophet is work.
To be prophetic one must see the big picture. We must have a
sense of history and a grasp of moral law, and the understanding
that certain choices bring about predictable results. Most of all
the prophet views every act from the awareness that God speaks to
contemporary situations and to our own lives.
Implicit in our Christian faith we have the belief -- indeed
the experience -- that God still speaks to humankind. God may not
always say what we want to hear, and we must never confuse our
own opinions with the will of God. But as individuals, and
together as the church, we must cultivate the sensitive ear and
the willing heart that we may be reached by God in every
situation. Every generation needs those who are raised up as
prophets from the midst of the people to speak the Word and to
act in the name of God. Perhaps our own generation needs the
prophetic voice most of all.