Sunday, January 28, 2024

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Psalm 111
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Mark 1:21-28

I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

When two equally authoritative and trustworthy leaders speak prophetic words, the only way to know for sure which is from God is found a few verses after today’s lesson. “When a prophet speaks in Yahweh’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him.” While this is helpful to know which words were from God eventually, it doesn’t help us make the decisions we need to make today.

Most of our decisions are not so lofty that we need prophetic words to do what is right. Yet, everything we do should be founded on God’s Word and glorify Him, so we are to live according to the words that God’s prophets speak to us, particularly those given to us from Jesus in the scriptures. Jesus was the prophet about which was written in Deuteronomy, and He dealt with the simplest and most personal issues. He spoke about pennies, not trillions of dollars. He talked about loaves of bread rather than worldwide famines. He dealt with people’s hearts and not the national policies of Rome.

Then He called us to continue speaking His prophetic word into the world. This is frightening, given the consequence of speaking presumptuously about God’s will. Perhaps this is why most people would rather keep their faith as a personal experience and stay out of the public, or even the religious, forum with their faith. They are afraid to talk for fear that they are not really hearing God’s voice, especially when that word is different or even contradicts the words given by people in positions of leadership, authority, and power.

Yet, we are called to speak God’s Word into the world, the word of hope and peace that comes only from God. Sometimes the things about which we argue, about which we differ, do not really matter. We fight for all the wrong things, often for very good reasons. Justice matters, but what happens when “justice” is defined differently by those of faith who differ? We are called to speak prophetically, but we must ensure that when we speak, we make it clear whose voice we are using. All too often we insert our voice and opinions, presumptuously, into God’s mouth.

We lived in England for four years and we attended a local village church for two of them. We became very active in the work of that church and the churches in the neighboring towns. Bruce sang with the choir. I joined a prayer ministry and worked with a committee that planned millennium events. Even the children, though they were young, we able to get involved by serving as acolytes and helping in other ways during church and community gatherings. We attended Bible study and potlucks, suffered through freezing temperatures in the seven-hundred-year-old unheated building where we worshipped. We became close friends with the people in and around that village. It was a wonderful experience.

Though it was not unusual for military members to occasionally visit the church for worship, few became as active as our family. This made it especially difficult when it was time for us to leave. The rest of the members of that church had been around for a very long time, sometimes for generations. They planned a farewell party to celebrate our life together and to wish us well in our new station. It was a sad by lovely party, with lots of food and fellowship. They also had a special worship service for us, during which they prayed for our safety and good fortunes in our new life. Our vicar asked me to give the message that day, a sort of testimony about our time in England and how God had touched us while we were there.

I had no problem answering this request because I knew it would be wonderful sharing our story with those friends who’d become so important to us. As we planned the service, however, it became apparent very quickly that Antony intended for my message to be more than a few brief words of thanks. He gave me the lectionary scriptures for the day and helped me work out some sermon ideas. I was nervous about this because it was the first time I ever preached. I had several weeks to think about my words, put some order to the chaos and to practice what I was going to say, but I was never able to put those words on to paper. I was honestly a little worried when I stood in front of the congregation. Could I really do this? But I spoke from my heart, and it was a powerful message of gratefulness to God for His many blessings.

When it was over, several of the members commented about how they wished I had done it sooner. They felt touched by God in the words and recognized God’s grace in the message. I was embarrassed by the comments, but I also recognized that something extraordinary had happened. God spoke to our hearts that day, through a woman who simply wanted to say thanks. That’s what happens when people preach God’s message of Good News to the nations: He touches them with His grace.

What does it mean to speak a prophetic word of God in the world? Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen the stories of some of God’s prophets: Samuel, Jonah, and John the Baptist. The words they spoke and the work they did were not always easy. They were not perfect; as a matter of fact, they were often afraid, uncertain, and unwilling to do what God asked of them. Even Moses argued with God. In the end, however, they did as God asked, spoke the word that He sent them to speak, and in doing so they called people to God and changed their lives. They did great things and are still remembered today for their gifts and their impact.

The prophetic word of God is a message sent through a chosen vessel for God’s people. The message is not always the lesson we want to hear. Samuel’s message to Eli was frightening because it meant death and an end to God’s promise. Jonah didn’t want to take that word to Nineveh because it meant mercy for his enemies. John’s message disturbed the status quo; the call to repentance required an acknowledgement of sin. Some prophetic words are messages of grace and hope; as a matter of fact, every warning comes with a word of promise. John did not just call the people to repent, he promised that they would see their salvation.

It is hard, though, to know for certain that the words we hear are from God. The prophets do not always fit our expectations. Samuel was young. Jonah was an enemy of the Ninevites. John was downright bizarre. Why would anyone listen to them? Yet, people listened and were changed by the Word. It wasn’t Samuel or Jonah or John who made the difference, it was God and His word. We know this because they spoke words that were fulfilled.

Today’s Old Testament lesson is believed by many to refer to the prophet Mohammed. As Christians, we believe that it refers to Jesus Christ. Muslim apologists present compelling reasons out of scripture for their point of view. So do Christian apologists. Who is right? What is true? It is no wonder that the world wonders which word is true.

There are many so-called prophets in the world that speak presumptuously, as if they were speaking for God. We wonder about the imperfections of the prophets we’ve studied during this Epiphany. Shouldn’t they be more confident if they are speaking for God? Shouldn’t they be better examples for the people to whom they were speaking, both in their day and ours? The prophets of God are humble enough to know that they can only speak according to God’s grace.

Since the questions we face are so great, it is up to us to remain prayerful and in the scriptures so that we will be familiar with His voice. We will know because the words will line up with the Word. We can trust that God is still speaking through His people, God uses the mouths He has chosen and filled to share His Good News, even if they or we are imperfect.

Perhaps that’s the key, isn’t it? We aren’t called to foretell the future or claim we know what God is doing; we are called to share the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness that comes from faith in Jesus who died on the cross for our sake. We are prophets when we speak the Gospel, when we call people to repentance, when we invite people to trust God. The news of Jesus’ grace so good that we should never keep it to ourselves. It is our responsibility to speak the Good News to our neighbors. We are called to speak God’s word into their lives, as they are called to do the same for us, to point to Jesus and to share His Gospel so that all might know His truth. He brings healing and wholeness through His word spoken into broken lives. It is when we try to do God’s work our own way that we risk the consequences of false prophecy.

I used to belong to an email list that purported to send prophetic words to the world, especially to Christians. Many of these words were uplifting. They encouraged Christians to go forth in faith, to do whatever it is that God is calling us to do. I became disengaged with the group when I realized more than half of their messages were sales pitches for the speaker’s latest book or for a workshop on how to be a prophet in today’s world. The “prophets” were not humble; they took credit for the words they spoke, certain that they were speaking for God. There was always some truth in their “words,” they spoke because they believed that they loved God’s people and were sharing God’s grace.

However, some of their words were false. I recall a message that came through the list a few years ago about an incoming weather situation. The word was for the city that was supposed to experience a catastrophic storm. The prophecy suggested that the storm was a consequence of their sin. The storm veered off its path and completely missed the city they claimed was about to suffer God’s wrath. Their prophecy proved false. This is why we have to be careful about who we believe. I don’t know what kind of consequences they experienced, although I was probably not the only follower who unsubscribed that week.

We can rest in the promise that the false prophets will suffer the consequences of their presumption, but what do we do when we are between hearing the message and seeing its fulfillment or lack thereof? This is why it is important for us to know God’s Word through prayer and study.

Many of the so-called prophets talk about knowing God, knowing how to be a prophet, knowing what to say. Life in Christ is not about knowledge. As Paul writes, “Knowledge puffs up.” We have something even better than knowledge when we live in Christ. We find wisdom in His Word. The self-proclaimed prophet demonstrates that they don’t know God by usurping His authority. They are not humble. They speak their own words while claiming to speak for God. They might have knowledge, but they have no wisdom. In the end, they will be proven to be a false prophet.

A common characteristic of false prophets is their haughty attitude; they act “holier than thou.” They are like the Corinthians who took advantage of their Christian freedom by eating meat from the temples of the gods while ignoring the needs of the weaker believers who did not understand. They ate the meat without explaining what it means to have Christian freedom. Those watching often put their trust in the idol because they saw others eating the meat without understanding that this attitude meant that they were rejecting the true God. We know there was no consequence to the eating of that meat, since the idols are nothing, but it affected the faith of some. Paul reminds us that it is better to abstain from those things that might cause another to stumble or be destroyed.

Lots of people know about God. They have read the scriptures and have prayed. Many people go to church and hear God’s word read and preached. They sing hymns and are active in the church. They serve the community and live a moral and faithful life. Yet, knowledge is not the center of a relationship with God. Love is. And in this we all fail. We lose sight of God because we are easily distracted by the imposters. We do not recognize the real thing because we are caught up in our own knowledge of what we believe God should be.

It is sometimes difficult to identify with God’s work in the scriptures. Yes, we have the stories of the Exodus, but we were not there to cross the Red Sea with Moses and the rest of Israel. We can read about the miracles of Jesus and believe in His healing power, but we have not experienced His physical touch. The psalmist knew God’s mighty works among His people, but those works were merely a memory, handed down by generation after generation. Yet, these are still worth our songs of praise. God did these things, and in them we see His power, faithfulness, and grace. The more we study the scriptures, the more we realize that God is the Almighty who does great things in and through our lives.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” is a hard saying for most of us. Fear in our world is a bad thing. We fear terrorism. We fear disease. We fear losing everything we own. We fear those things that can bring us harm. We fear believing the wrong words. We don’t want to fear God; He has been so good to us. His faithfulness and mercy are beyond comparison. Yet, He is fearsome. He has warned us to beware of what we say about Him, threatening death to those who claim to speak in His name that have not been called. This does not mean that we should be afraid of Him. Instead, we are to be in awe of Him. “Holy and awesome is His name.” If His name is awesome, how much more so is He? He is worthy of our praise and our obedience.

And so, we are called to praise Him, not just for the beauty of His creation and the goodness of His dealings with His people. We are called to praise Him because we fear Him. We know His power. We also know of His mercy and grace. He is faithful. Wisdom is seen in the lives of those who live according to His good and perfect Word. He calls us to speak that Word to the world without fear, trusting that He will fill our mouths with His truth.

In the Gospel lesson, Jesus commanded the demon to be silent and to get out of the man whom he was possessing. The spirit obeyed Jesus, but it did not do so quietly. Jesus’ command for silence was so that the demon would not disrupt the holiness of the moment. They were in a synagogue. The people were there to worship God. This incident might have happened with little fanfare if only the spirit had been silent. The spirit knew Jesus was the Holy One of God, but it was not the right time for that revelation. The demon was the wrong voice. Though the demon would speak the truth, it would do so in a false way. Jesus silenced it, but it did not go down without a fight.

This incident was a foreshadowing of another battle Jesus would have to fight. The scribes and teachers of the law were, in essence, possessed by an understanding of God and the scriptures that was burdensome for themselves and the people to whom the ministered. They were leading the people like false prophets. Jesus came preaching something new, but it was true which the people recognized that He spoke with the authority of God. They knew He was right, but the leaders did not want to lose their authority. They, like the unclean spirit, wondered what Jesus wanted with them. “What are you doing here?” they asked. Jesus came to set them free, but only God’s Word, power, and grace would make that happen. All too often our words continue to hold us hostage, so we would do well to recognize the difference between when we should remain silent and those times when the good news is too good to be kept to ourselves.

God promised to give us prophets who would speak His word into our lives. Moses was the first among many. But Moses was followed by prophets, priests, and kings who lost sight of God. They spoke words for other gods or claimed to speak for the God they did not know. The people followed these false prophets, over and over again. They believed in the false gods and the false ideas about God. They did not, or could not, test the words for themselves.

They heard something very different when Jesus preached. They called it new, but it wasn’t. It was the authoritative Word of God. He wasn’t just a good spokesperson or a charismatic personality; He knew what He was talking about. The difference between Jesus and the scribes must have been shocking; after all, they had been listening to the scribes for so long that they didn’t recognize the falsehood. When they heard Jesus, they knew that He had something the scribes didn’t have; they knew He had the truth.

We may not be authorities or great speakers, but we are given the authority of Christ to be God’s voice in the world. We are blessed because we have something the people of the past did not have. We have the Holy Spirit. That doesn’t mean we should rely solely on our human hearts, minds, and spirits. We can be wrong. We have to test the words we hear against that which God has given us in Jesus and in the scriptures. We have to ask, “Is that word true?” Human beings don’t change; we are as likely to be led astray as the people in Moses’ and Jesus’ days.

We must approach God with fear and trembling, knowing without a doubt that false prophets who teach false gods will come to an end. But we need not fear God’s voice or His fire; by seeking Him we will see clearly. We will know Jesus, His life, and the work He has called us to do. We can’t rely only on the words of others; we must know God for ourselves. This is why we spend time in prayer and studying the scriptures. This is why we join with other Christians in worship, to praise Him and to seek Him in the company of His faithful. We are to abide in Jesus, to dwell in His authority, and experience His power in our lives.

What does it mean to speak a prophetic word of God in the world? It means glorifying God in a way that sets people on the right path, turns them to the only God who can be trusted and who will save them from themselves. We might be called to speak a word as did the prophets throughout the ages. It might not be easy because the messages of the prophets are often words of warning. However, every word that comes from God comes with a promise. Even when we are called to bring people to repentance, we know that God has something wonderful waiting for them on the other side. The word that is true is the one that rests in authority of God and is delivered by His power. That word is the word that will succeed because it will lead God’s people to praise Him.