Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

By: Allison Sandlin Liles

The gift of prophecy is one that, I admit, I’ve always longed to possess. There’s something about urging Christians to be the people Christ calls us to be, the people we vow to be, that lights a spark within me. I yearn to be a prophet, but then fear consumes me as I remember how prophets typically fare. History demonstrates time and time again that persons gifted with prophecy typically meet their demise in untimely manners.

In his book simply titled The Prophets, Abraham Heschel states that prophets earn their titles by witnessing to the world around them with outstanding passion. Prophets are those whose “life and soul are at stake” in what they say about “the mystery of [God’s] relation to humanity.” They are “some of the most disturbing people who have ever lived,” and yet they are also “the [people] whose image is our refuge in distress, and whose voice and vision sustain our faith.”

We learn in Deuteronomy 18 that God calls prophets to speak to a specific community, not an entire culture of people, and that they are to be evaluated on past tradition, not speculation of the future.  Biblical prophecy in general is not about predicting what will happen next Thursday at 4:00 p.m. It’s a clairvoyance that arises out of meditating on scripture. I deeply believe that we come across prophetic voices in our daily lives, often without paying them much attention. The last prophet I encountered was the Rev. Becca Stevens, chaplain of St Augustine’s Chapel in Nashville, TN, and founder of Thistle Farms and the Magdalene Community. Becca facilitated Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s weekend retreat for young adult activists in September. and, fortunately for all of us in attendance, the Holy Spirit was at work during that retreat and there was no overlooking her gift of prophecy.

Becca was raised up out of the Nashville community with a God-given mission rooted in the Christian belief that all of humanity is created in God’s image; that God loves us so incredibly much that God’s only son, Jesus, is sent into the world to save us from our sins; that our God is so loving and so almighty that God is capable of forgiving all ours sins countless numbers of times. Firmly steeped in scripture, Becca extends her hands and opens her arms to members of society who would probably make us shudder should we pass them in a dark alley. 

Prophets often are the most disturbing people around us because of their passion for the ministry God calls them to fulfill. They tend to risk their lives and souls trying to explain God’s mysterious graceful, unconditional relationship with humanity. But their voices can truly sustain our faith if only we are open to them. So for those of us filled with the Holy Spirit’s gift of prophecy, the question is, “Will fear consume us, or will we live into the person God created us to be?”

Light from light
Creation from chaos
Life from death
Joy from sorrow
Hope from despair
Peace from hate

All your gifts, all your love, all your power.
All from your word, fresh from your word,
all gifts of your speech.

We give thanks for your word, fresh from your word,
all gifts of your speech.

We give thanks for your world-forming speech.
Thanks as well for our speech back to you,
the speech of mothers and fathers
who dared to speak
in faith and unfaith
in trust and in distrust
in grateful memory and in high hurt.

We cherish this speech as we trust yours.
Listen this day for the groans and yearnings of your world,
listen to our own songs of joy and our own drudges of death,
and in the midst of our stammering,
speak your clear word of life
in the name of your word
come flesh.
Amen.

(From Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann)