At last the draconian, Jesus-embarrassing folks in DC have finally done something that is Scripturally sound. I’m talking about the House’s resolution to condemn Bishop Budde, who dared to ask the president to have mercy on those who live in fear at the National Prayer Service. Bless their hearts for acting in accordance with all the small prophetic books at the back of the Old Testament that one can find only by looking in the index in front.
Prophets in Scripture were not the crystal-ball-peering fortunetellers that we imagine when we hear the word “prophet” nowadays. They did not foresee how long you would live, if you had finally found True Love, or who would win next week’s Super Bowl. No, the role of the prophet in the Bible was to speak God’s truth to those in power. In approximately 100% of the time, those in power did not receive this message warmly, as, approximately 100% of the time, the message from God would condemn how the powerful were currently wielding their power.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Amos were just a few prophets who proclaimed doom and destruction upon nations that thought that they were doing just fine, thank you very much. In general, the prophets judged kings and their kingdoms by how well they treated the widows, orphans, and foreigners. (Pick up any of the books of the prophets and read beyond the few familiar verses you hear on Christmas Eve about Bethlehem, and you’ll see the truth of this statement.) Micah 6:8 offers a classic summary of the prophetic message: “God has told you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah’s dictum is fantastic for Sunday school memorization. Other prophets are less family-friendly. Amos, for instance, speaks for God and announces, “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on Mount Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy. . .” (Amos 4:1) and, later, when God is even more riled up, “Take away from me the noise of your songs, I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream” (Amos 5:23-24). Jeremiah’s insult to King Johoiakim was delicious in its detail: “With the burial of a donkey he (Jehoiakim) shall be buried---dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 22:19).
By the standards of these prophets, one “have mercy” at a prayer service seems like small beans and unworthy of congressional opprobrium.
And yet it is Scripturally sound that the prophet would pay a price for their proclamation. Tradition tells us that several prophets were martyred by kings who hoped that shutting them up would get God off of their backs. There were lesser indignities of the prophetic life, such as Hosea who had to stick with a serially unfaithful wife and give his kids excruciatingly embarrassing names. Ezekiel lay on his left side for 390 days. “Ezekiel, this is the Lord, you can now stop lying on your left side.” “Well, finally, thank God! Umm, I mean, thank You. . .” “That does it, give me 40 more days on your right side.”
King Jehoiakim was so enraged by Jeremiah’s words that he took Jeremiah’s scroll and tore it into pieces in front of everyone, which was surely his version of a congressional rebuke.
Even Jesus spoke prophetic words to his hometown, simply by reading aloud Scripture that proclaimed good news to the poor and release to the captive. He was run out of town and almost thrown off a cliff for his troubles.
So, to members of Congress who have stayed silent in the face of the shredding of the fabric of our country and of our highest aspirations of tending to the poor and strangers in our midst, thank you for getting at least one thing right in these days. A prophet is truly without honor in her own land, and your congressional resolution makes that fact clear.
Bless your hearts.
