Pebbles of Hope
Pebbles of Hope The Rev. Bingham Powell This week and last week we have been hearing about John the Baptist. Last week we heard that John was a Prophet. We heard it first in the Canticle, the Song of Zechariah, that was in place of the Psalm. That was the song that John ‘s father sang right after John had been named at the Temple. People asked what was going on with him, as there seemed to be something special about him, and Zechariah sang, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. He goes on in the Canticle to say, You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. We learned in the Gospel last week that is exactly what John did. He embodied those words that his father spoke concerning him. Who knows how many times John heard that song growing up. Perhaps it was the lullaby that Zechariah sang as John was put to bed every night. John embodied those words and became the Prophet. Luke told us last week this prophetic ministry is grounded in the ancient Prophets of old, specifically Isaiah. John was the one to prepare the way of the Lord, to bring the mountain down and the valley up. If John is a Prophet, it raises the question, what is a prophet, and what is prophecy? It is an important question because I think a lot of people get this wrong. Some think a prophet is something close to a fortune teller, and prophecy is predicting the future. The prophets’ words are puzzles that we are to put together to figure out what it is that is going to happen. This, decidedly, is not what a prophet is. A Prophet is someone whose life is so aligned with God’s dream and God’s vision, that they cannot do anything except live their life and speak words that align with this vision. A Prophet is somebody with a very large imagination to help put into words the dream that God has for this world. A dream that is grounded in our faith. A dream that is grounded in creation. A dream that says that every single person is made in the image of God, so every single person deserves dignity and respect. That is what the prophetic ministry is all about, grounded in the rule of love, to love God and love your neighbor. A Prophet will sometimes talk about the future, but it is not about predictions. It is the imagination of God put in new and interesting ways. For instance, Isaiah talks about the lion and the lamb lying down together, a vision of vegetarian lions. A pretty big imagination is needed to envision vegetarian lions. But that is God’s dream, a time when there is no longer predator and prey, but they can be friends and fall asleep in each other’s company. This is the kind of stuff that the Prophets do, sharing images of what God desires in this world. Prophets also have to so some truth telling, because this world is not aligned with God’s dream, especially those folks with power. God’s dream challenges them in ways they don’t want to be challenged. So the Prophets have to do some truth telling because they are so aligned with God’s dream they can’t but speak and live a life aligned with that dream. We hear more about that dream in the first reading from Zephaniah today. The dream God has is a world without fear, a world in which we are renewed in love, a world in which the lame are saved and the outcasts are gathered, a world in which shame gets transformed into praise. This is the beautiful vision that the Prophets proclaim, the beautiful dream that God has for a world that is aligned with God. It is a beautiful dream, and the people come out to hear John share it. But there is a problem with this dream. It is rather audacious. It seems unrealistic, it is impossible, and even if it is possible, what can I do as one little person