January 17, 2021 - Second Sunday After Epiphany
Deborah Laforet 1 Samuel 3:1-11, 15-16, 18-20
Uncommon Prophecy
What is a prophet? Godly Play, a teaching method used for sharing our faith with children, describes prophets as those who point the way. The difficulty is that prophets are usually pointing the way to those in power and it’s not the way they want to go. Prophets speak truth to power, God’s truth, which is often difficult for us to hear.
There are many prophets in the bible. We have books named after them, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and Ezekiel. Moses was a prophet who told the Pharaoh of Egypt to release the Hebrews from slavery. Jonah was a reluctant prophet, fleeing from an unwanted task. Some prophets are bold and some are timid. Some are accepted while others are driven away or imprisoned. Some are kingmakers, while others dismantle kings. Some share God’s message with stories and symbols while others are more direct with foretold destruction and curses.
Prophets seem to weave in and out of our bible stories and I’m sure there are many more stories out there, unrecorded. We never seem to be without them. Today’s story, though, from the first book of Samuel, starts with this phrase: “In those days, the voice of Yahweh was rarely heard - prophecy was uncommon.” The book of Judges comes right before the first book of Samuel and the book of Judges ends with this horrific story of a woman, a concubine, who is raped by several people and then cut into twelve pieces by her owner, with each piece being sent to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. If you want a story that shows the depravity of a people, this one would be it, so it’s no wonder we have this phrase: “In those days, the voice of Yahweh was rarely heard - prophecy was uncommon.” It seems no one is listening for God and no one is speaking God’s justice and peace.
I wonder though whether the author is playing with words here. Does the author really believe that there are no prophets in the land, that no one is hearing God’s voice or is he setting up the story to highlight the coming of a significant prophet. After all, the previous chapter is about Hannah, a woman who cried out to God for a child, was heard and granted that child, who then spoke words of prophecy, of the humble being exalted, of the weak and poor being raised up. People are still speaking out, but this is a woman. Maybe she doesn’t count.
The author then writes of Eli, the head priest of the temple, the one who should be speaking God’s word. He writes of Eli’s weak eyes, possibly a physical weakness, but maybe symbolic of his inability to see God, the head priest’s inability to see the truth, to see the wrong around him. He is not speaking out against it and he is possibly closing his eyes and shutting his ears to what needs to be seen and heard.
In our story, we read about Hannah’s son, Samuel, a young boy who serves in the temple. Eli is in such a state of denial, that he misses that God is speaking to this young boy. Over and over, Samuel gets out of bed and runs to Eli, assuming the voice calling him is Eli. It takes three tries for Eli to finally realize what is happening, and, to his credit, tells Samuel to go back to bed, and this time, when he hears that voice, respond with, “Yes, Yahweh. Yes, God, I am listening,” which are maybe words Eli has not had the opportunity to say.
When times are rough, where there is war, famine, or plague or pandemic, some people stop listening because they stop believing that God is present. How could God be present during such traumatic times? Sometimes those in power, those profiting from these rough times or not willing to change them, also ignore God’s presence, or prefer to believe that there is no accountability out there or consequences for their actions.
Friends, we don’t need prophets during peaceful times. We don’t need prophets when all are well fed, sheltered, healthy, and being treated fairly and with respect. Remember that the prophet’s job is to point the way, so we really only need them when we have lost our way. And there is never just one. There might be one that is loudest and most visible, but there are always others working behind the scenes.
Greta Thunberg is a modern day climate activist and prophet, standing up to those in power, and crying out for more to be done to save our earth, and there are many others, other young people, scientists, nature lovers, faith leaders, pointing the way towards a healthier relationship with our earth.
When we talk about civil rights for black people and all people of colour, the first name that comes to many of our minds is Martin Luther King, Jr. In the states, they have a day when he is honoured, the Monday closest to his birthday, tomorrow. He was a preacher, a writer, he led marches and gave speeches, and he was shot and killed for his work, and he is one of a very long list of prophets who have fought for these rights. There are many working right now, crying out for justice, like Ibram X Kendi, Layla F. Saad, Desmond Cole, and Indigenous people like Autumn Peltier and Murray Sinclair. There are so many,too many to name right now, but we need to open up our social media to these voices. Find them on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter. They need to be headlining our mainstream news. We need to be reading their books and listening to their podcasts and watching their movies.
But that’s the problem with prophets. People don’t want to listen to them. People don’t want to change. They’re afraid of change. People don’t want to hear that they are wrong. People don’t want to know about those who are treated unfairly, ignored, abused, oppressed, who are sick, hungry, and alone. The more we know, the more we feel we might have to do something about it and this can be scary.
When we are in times of crisis and times of need, God is not silent and people are listening. Prophets rise up when the need is great, when they hear whispers of hope and new life, and when they want to make a difference in the world. And being a prophet, one who speaks and points the way, is difficult and, at times, risky, even a risk to one's own life, but even then, people stand up, they speak out, they write, they lead marches, they tell subversive stories, they free the imprisoned, they feed the hungry, they shelter the homeless, and protect the innocent.
And the good news is that this means God is always speaking to us and that God is always present and that there are always people willing to listen and stand up and speak out. Maybe it’s you. I don’t question whether or not we have prophets in our congregations. I wonder how many.
May you be open to what God is speaking. May Christ be your example of one who listens and acts for justice. May the Spirit sustain you and be your guide. May it be so. Amen.