August Sermon Series: Gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Prophecy
1 Corinthians 12:8-10; Numbers 11:24-30
Moses said it best … “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets,
and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”
Last Thursday evening, I’m
convinced I listened to a modern day prophet live and in person -- Malala
Yousafzai. You may or may not know her name. You most likely know her story …
She was born on July 12, 1997 in a province
of northwestern Pakistan. At the age of
eleven, she began to write anonymously for the BBC, detailing her life under Islamic
fundamentalist Taliban rule. Her prophetic voice was especially loud
against the Taliban denying the fundamental right of twenty two girls in her
valley to be given an education. At the
age of twelve, she painted a picture showing her dream of interfaith harmony –
a picture of her on a tree swing surrounded by several religious symbols and
hands shaking on the horizon. Her activism
led to a New York Times documentary about her life the following year, quickly followed
by world-wide attention.
This included increased attention by
the Taliban who felt threatened by the voice of this teenaged girl. On October 9, 2014, they boarded Malala’s
school bus. They asked for her by name,
then fired three bullets from a Colt 45 at her head.
In what all kinds of folks in this
world are acknowledging as a miracle, Malala survived. And not only survived but made a remarkable
recovery within three intensive months at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
Birmingham, England. Her prophetic voice
against the oppression of all girls and women grew louder, stronger, and more
global. On her sixteenth birthday, she
delivered an inspiring speech to the United Nations. On her seventeenth birthday this year, just
a few weeks ago, she traveled to Nigeria in support of the 276 girls kidnapped
by extremists on April 14. She is on Time
magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World and has been nominated
twice for the Nobel Peace Prize.
And then there she was last Thursday
seated next to her also inspirational father on the stage of Nash Theater at
Raritan Valley Community College. I was in the balcony listening to what I
believe is indeed a divinely blessed voice.
She spoke about how terrorists
can be killed by weapons and war, but terrorism can only truly be stopped by
books and education. In her bestselling book, she’s written, “When
the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”[i]
Moses said it best … “Would that all the
Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”
The other day, the words of
another modern day prophet greeted me through my laptop computer screen. The words belonged to the Rev. Dr. Herbert
Nelson, who is the Director for the Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public
Witness. He was officially addressing
the continuing crisis in Ferguson, Missouri, concerning a Caucasian police
officer fatally shooting seventeen year old Michael Brown, an African American who
had stood with his arms raised and was otherwise unarmed. He also cited five other recent, similarly
controversial occurrences.
After offering words of sympathy and quoting from
Jesus’ sermon-on-the-mount concerning those who mourn being comforted, a firmer
voice arose. “As Presbyterians,” he
prophetically intoned, “we must stop giving lip service to a new Church while
failing to confront the vestiges of racism in our Church and Society. Our work
on racism in the United States is historic in some instances, but insignificant
at many recent junctures in our social history. Most often our preference has
been to wait for General Assembly statements or involvement from other entities
of the denomination to provide litanies, prayers, and words of confession or
healing. However, it is imperative that local congregations not remain silent
and idle amid community strife. Nor can we be out of touch with the realities
of racism, which still exist in the United States.”[ii]
Moses
said it best … “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the
Lord would put his spirit on them!”
A little over a week ago, I got a bucket
of ice water dumped on my head while video of it was being taken to publically
post on Facebook. Shortly before that,
my teen daughter Anna had the same thing happen to her. Both of us did so following the example of
countless others across America -- average citizens and famous celebrities
alike. It’s gone viral, meaning these
videos are all over the internet. I do
believe my favorite is former First Lady Laura Bush dumping the icy waters on a
seemingly unsuspecting President Bush.
Kermit the Frog’s was pretty great too.
Have you seen any? Each video is
accompanied by words calling on others to do the same as a way of raising
awareness and funds for the progressive neurodegenerative disease ALS, commonly
referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
President Bush, by the way, called on his friend President Bill
Clinton. The idea is that folks either
have 24 hours to have ice water dumped on them or they have to make a financial
contribution to ALS. Many people do
both.
God grieves over the diseases that
strike and cause God’s children to suffer.
God responds to this by inspiring people to give voice to and take
action that contributes to great healing and hope. While the ice bath videos are very silly, we
shouldn’t miss hearing the prophetic voices arising from them.
Moses
said it best … “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the
Lord would put his spirit on them!”
When Moses said this, he was prophetically
speaking to a group of grumblers. The
Israelites had been gravely complaining about their harsh life in the
wilderness. Faithfully responding to
this, Moses lifted up to God prayers of lament on behalf of the people. God responded with further revelation and by
sending miraculous provisions of manna and quail. God also recognized that Moses could not lead
alone and so the Holy Spirit’s gift of prophesy was also bestowed upon people
within the circle of formal leadership (the 70 elders) as well as those outside
of it (Eldad and Medad).
If all people were given this spiritual gift,
Moses stood there praying and later proclaiming, then all would be able to share
in faithful intimacy with the Almighty and use their voices as instruments to
communicate about the present and future that rests firmly in God’s mighty gracious
care.
“Would
that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his
spirit on them!”
The gift of prophecy is about being powerfully
inspired by God to speak on behalf of God to certain times and circumstances. Moses was a true and mighty prophet. To his
people and the world as they knew it, he raised awareness of what God was
observing and the good God kept doing in response. He was a voice of almost unbelievable hope,
of divine promises and blessings. He was
also the voice of firm instructions for obedient living and the terrible
consequences of sin.
What we can perhaps most relate to
about Moses is his reluctance to be a prophet in the first place. God summoned him to be the voice of justice
in the face of the Pharaoh. He initially
objected and argued with the Almighty. He
likely would have preferred to have a bucket of ice water dumped on him. He complained about his speech
impediment. He didn’t feel worthy. He was fearful. He
felt overwhelmed.
And yet he knew well what it meant
to be a powerful person. Raised by the Pharaoh’s daughter in the “greatest
nation on the face of the earth at that time,” he had “the right family
connections, the right education, and all the right advantages.” One of the reasons he was a “premiere
prophet” is that in the presence of the glory of God he was truly humbled and transformed
into the voice and agent of justice and freedom for the oppressed. [iii]
His wasn’t just a voice for the Israelites. His was a voice for the whole, holy future
of humankind. Deuteronomy 18:15 is a
promise that points to the coming of the Messiah. And you know the Good News! What Moses said best has been fulfilled! The Spirit’s gift of prophetic insight is upon
all people through Jesus Christ. Our
Lord’s voice comes through in both expected and unexpected, familiar and mysterious
ways. Through believers and
unbelievers. It is the voice of courageous
hope, of fundamental human rights, of racial harmony, of peace in place of
violence, of healing from every manner of physical and spiritual disease and
above all, it is the voice of real love.
How and where are you hearing
prophetic voices today? What prophetic
insight burns in your heart, yearning to be uttered and put into action?
Amen.
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