Today’s Readings: Psalm 25; Amos 1:1-15; John 11:1-16; 2 Peter 1:12-21; Psalm 33
One of the dominant themes cutting across today’s readings is the theme of prophecy. The reading from Amos, for instance, includes prophecies against foreign nations. In John, we hear Jesus predict first the death and then the resurrection of Lazarus. Even today’s Epistle gets in the act by talking about the nature of prophecy as well. The culminating verses of today’s passage from 2 Peter note that when it comes to the topic of prophecy, “The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s word” (2 Peter 1:20-21 from The Message). So what exactly is this thing called prophecy that we are dealing with today? Thankfully, I had a wonderful class in seminary from one of the leading scholars on prophets and he helped me understand the concept in a more inclusive manner. You see most of us think prophecy is narrowly defined as accurately predicting the future (i.e. “On Sunday, November 23 at 12:30 PM an earthquake will hit Southern California”). That’s not the way most of the prophets functioned – especially in the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament. Most of the prophets functioned in such a way that they predicted the outcomes if individuals/nations continued in their present courses of action (i.e. “If you continue oppressing the poor, your nation will be defeated; if you clean up your actions, prosperity will rain down on your children”). In other words, they laid out for the people the consequences of their actions and then let the people decide how they wanted to live into those promises. When you look at prophecy this way, it helps us see that more of us have the opportunities to prophecy than we realize. Individuals working in a company, for instance, have the opportunity to speak truth about the consequences of their business practices; individuals in a family with an alcoholic can speak the truth about what may (or may not) happen due to the choices the alcoholic makes; individuals within a church can talk about what will happen if the church loses sight of its call and aspires to become something other than a piece of the body of Christ. In order for these things to happen, however, the individuals involved must be grounded in the Spirit which can help them see glimpses of possible futures that are bigger than just the individual's limited perspective. Perhaps you have been placed in a position where you can speak a prophetic truth at work, at home, or in the community. If that’s the case, remember today’s words from 2 Peter and find the strength to speak those words for – after all – those words you have been called to speak are not a matter of private opinion; the words belong to Someone else. Til next time…
One of the dominant themes cutting across today’s readings is the theme of prophecy. The reading from Amos, for instance, includes prophecies against foreign nations. In John, we hear Jesus predict first the death and then the resurrection of Lazarus. Even today’s Epistle gets in the act by talking about the nature of prophecy as well. The culminating verses of today’s passage from 2 Peter note that when it comes to the topic of prophecy, “The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s word” (2 Peter 1:20-21 from The Message). So what exactly is this thing called prophecy that we are dealing with today? Thankfully, I had a wonderful class in seminary from one of the leading scholars on prophets and he helped me understand the concept in a more inclusive manner. You see most of us think prophecy is narrowly defined as accurately predicting the future (i.e. “On Sunday, November 23 at 12:30 PM an earthquake will hit Southern California”). That’s not the way most of the prophets functioned – especially in the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament. Most of the prophets functioned in such a way that they predicted the outcomes if individuals/nations continued in their present courses of action (i.e. “If you continue oppressing the poor, your nation will be defeated; if you clean up your actions, prosperity will rain down on your children”). In other words, they laid out for the people the consequences of their actions and then let the people decide how they wanted to live into those promises. When you look at prophecy this way, it helps us see that more of us have the opportunities to prophecy than we realize. Individuals working in a company, for instance, have the opportunity to speak truth about the consequences of their business practices; individuals in a family with an alcoholic can speak the truth about what may (or may not) happen due to the choices the alcoholic makes; individuals within a church can talk about what will happen if the church loses sight of its call and aspires to become something other than a piece of the body of Christ. In order for these things to happen, however, the individuals involved must be grounded in the Spirit which can help them see glimpses of possible futures that are bigger than just the individual's limited perspective. Perhaps you have been placed in a position where you can speak a prophetic truth at work, at home, or in the community. If that’s the case, remember today’s words from 2 Peter and find the strength to speak those words for – after all – those words you have been called to speak are not a matter of private opinion; the words belong to Someone else. Til next time…
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