"THE TEST OF A PROPHET"
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8)
July 2, 2017
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
"As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet."
Jeremiah 28:9 (ESV)
A wise teacher I knew once gave this advice to a group of his students: "The best way to solve a problem," he said, "is to avoid it." There may indeed be some truth in that statement, but it also reflects a rule of conduct that has become the hallmark of our times: We're always looking for the easy way out. Whenever something becomes unpleasant or burdensome (whenever something "isn't fun anymore") we fervently look for some way to circumvent it. Whether it's something as simple as getting tired of the same old daily routine or something as difficult as telling a close friend something that he won't like hearing, we look at these things as obstacles to our peace and happiness and we do our best to avoid them at all costs.
We who speak for God aren't above this either. And just in case you didn't know, we all speak for God. Whether you are a pastor preaching a sermon or a layperson telling a friend or acquaintance about the redeeming love of Jesus, you speak for God. You speak for God both in your words and in your actions. There is a word and a title for all of that. The word is prophecy and the title is prophet. A lot of people think that prophecy has to do exclusively with predicting the future. It certainly does on occasion, but that's not the essence of prophecy. Prophesying is proclaiming a message from God, and a prophet is one who proclaims that message. Some of us (such as myself) are prophets in the more formal sense, being called by God to speak publicly in His name, but all of us are to be prophets in the sense of communicating the message of human sin and God's grace in Jesus Christ to the people who we interact with. With these words of Jeremiah as our guide, let's all, as prophets of God, take a good look at the difficulty and the necessity of the task before us.
The difficulty of our task can be seen, first of all, in the fact that we are constantly being confronted with the temptation to take the easy way out. In his day Jeremiah was surrounded by prophets who spoke as though everything was just wonderful, and those prophets enjoyed great popularity because of their preaching. There are many voices today (even from within the Christian Church) that would tell us that the key to effective ministry is to avoid everything unpleasant--everything that is not "upbeat"--in our communications with others. So the temptation is always there for us to avoid talking about things like hell and damnation--things like sin and death and the relationship between them--things like God's will and man's will and the difference between them--things like the shedding of the innocent blood of Christ to make atonement for our sin. It's much easier to ignore these things than it is to talk about them because these are things that turn people off and may cause them reject both us and the message that we proclaim. It's much more popular to talk about nice things--things that meet everyone's approval and offend no one.
Our task is all the more difficult because, in spite of this temptation, we have to say what God says if we are really speaking for Him. If our message has everything unpleasant edited out of it, it may be popular, but it is no longer God's message. The message that we are to proclaim includes things that are not pleasant--things that are not "fun"--things that people don't necessarily want to hear about. People don't want to hear that they are sinners in need of forgiveness and salvation. Neither do they want to hear that that salvation is offered only in the Savior Jesus Christ. You see, the Good News of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus' name means nothing without the exposure of sin and the fear of God's judgment. The Gospel falls on deaf ears without the Law. It is futile to encourage a person to rejoice in his forgiveness if that person doesn't even know he has any need of forgiveness. At the same time, we must also be bold in proclaiming the unconditional love of Christ, no matter how overconfident we may appear in doing that. We don't need to timidly suggest to people that Jesus can save them or might save them; He has saved them. The only thing left to be determined is whether or not they are going to receive the benefits of what He has done for them. This simple and straightforward message of Law and Gospel is what you and I have been called to proclaim in our words and in our lives.
We are to proclaim this message that we have been given by God. We are to proclaim it to real people who live in the real world, and those people are hurting people who live in a hurting world. The reason for all of this hurt is obvious to us who know God's Word, but it must be explained to those who do not. As long as people are able to blame their misery on anyone or anything other than themselves and their own sin, they will never be delivered from it. As long as they are able to make excuses for themselves, they will never desire forgiveness or New Life. Unless they are convinced that they are sinners, they will have no interest in a Savior. The reality that we must address in proclaiming God's message is one that is permeated with the consequences of sin. We cannot proclaim a message that implies that all is well if we are truly speaking for God, because all is not well.
To make things even more challenging, the real world is also one that abounds in false hope. The world finds its confidence not in Christ but in things like living right and getting along with people and earning an adequate income and paying your taxes and planning for the remainder of your life here on earth. People who have confidence in these kinds of things are simply wallowing in their sin as they go their merry way, heading for destruction. They are unaware of the danger that they face in leaving this life to face the perfect Judge without their Savior and Advocate. We are doing these people no favor if we let them continue in their false confidence because we don't want to upset them. Even worse, we are not being faithful to our calling as prophets of God if we prophesy to them that everything is just fine when it's not. All of this being said, the heart of our message is not the condemnation of sin but the free and redeeming grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ. But the preaching of the Law, unpleasant as it is, is nevertheless necessary to make people hungry for the sweet message of the Gospel.
Like Jeremiah, you I and have been called to speak God's Word to the people among whom He has placed us. All around us we see and hear prophets who tell people what they want to hear and as a result are quite popular and (as the world judges things) quite successful. But the Lord has not called us to be either popular or successful; He has called us to be faithful. It is enough for us to have His favor in Christ and His promise that His Spirit works through the Word that we speak. We can be sure of that favor and that promise as we live out our calling to prophesy both the Law and the Gospel in the name of the Lord Jesus because His promises are sure.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.