Prophesy

Preached at Hanover St. Presbyterian Church's Pentecost Worship

Held at Fox Point on June 4, 2006

By Pastor Thomas C. Davis

Texts:

Acts 2: 1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.  And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?  And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?  Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs?in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"

But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."  But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

 "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

Ezekiel 37: 1-14

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord God, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord."

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord."

Sermon Text

Happy birthday, church!  Today we remember how the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples of Jesus, who were afraid and dispirited, giving them new life, and the power to communicate that new life to others.  As the disciples thought about what had happened to them that day, they understood it in terms of the fulfillment of the prophet Joel's vision.  He had said:  In the last days God will pour out sacred Spirit upon everyone. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy. Young folk will see visions. Old folk will dream dreams. Even upon the lowliest of servants, both men and women, God will anoint with sacred Spirit; and they shall all prophesy.

What is this strange verb, "to prophesy"?  It means much more than foretelling the future.  A prophet is not a sooth sayer, a crystal ball gazer.  A prophet is one who is gifted with remarkable insight.  A prophet understands what God is doing among us, and has the courage to speak about that in plain language (courage, I say, because knowing what God is doing and speaking about it often makes one unpopular). 

I chose to speak about prophesying this morning, on the birthday of the church, because the New Testament account of Pentecost makes it sound as if the disciples were merely passive recipients of sacred Spirit.  A mighty wind blew, and tongues of fire danced on their heads, and presto, they were suddenly able to speak in foreign tongues; and they weren't afraid anymore.  Like magic!  But, as they thought later about what had happened, they tied the event into an ancient convention in their Jewish culture, the convention of prophesying.  And prophesying is not an automatic response to God's gift of Spirit.  No, no!  Prophesying demands creative intelligence, and gritty courage.  Prophets are not passive conduits of a magical energy.  They do not merely announce what God is about to do.  Rather, they help God to make it happen. 

Consider the other story we read about sacred Spirit this morning, the story about the dry bones.  The exiled people of God in Babylon were like an army of the dead, the story says.  They were long past done for.  They were like a valley strewn with the bleached dry bones of the long ago defeated.  The Spirit of God came upon Ezekiel the prophet, and moved him to prophesy to those dry bones, telling them what to look forward to:  God is going to breath new life into you, dry bones, and put new sinews and flesh upon you.  Get hold of yourself now.  You are not dead!  You shall live again! 

But this didn't happen all at once, of course?  No, God's healing work takes time, and God's sacred Spirit needs a prophet's help.  Prophesy to those bones!  God orders Ezekiel.  Prophesy to those dry bones!  Exhort them, encourage them, prophesy! 

I think the next part of the story is really interesting.  God orders Ezekiel to prophesy not only to the dry bones, but also to the Spirit (the wind, the ruach that blows and blows, and eventually enlivens the bones again).  Prophesy to the breath, God says. (In Hebrew, breath, wind, and spirit are all expressed by the same word:  ruach).  Prophesy to the ruach, God says, and tell the ruach to blow.  My, do you see how active a role the prophet has in God's work!  Ezekiel, a mortal, is called to prophesy to divine breath, ruach, spirit--and he does!

Then Ezekiel writes:  I prophesied as God commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude!

People of God, religion is not magic.  God doesn't do everything for us, presto change-o! Sacred spirit is real, yes indeed.  Sacred spirit blows in every culture, inspiring people to acts of kindness, and creativity, and courage to do right.  But sacred spirit without the perceptive creativity of a prophet, who can speak a message for God to a particular people at a particular time, in particular circumstances--without that help of the mortal prophet, dry bones will not pull together and live again.  The Spirit may blow and blow, howling like a mighty wind, all sound and fury; but that will signify nothing.  No, God needs the prophet.  God needs even lowly you-- yes you, man servant, maid servant.  God needs you to bespeak your vision, puny though it may seem to you; for this is how Spirit becomes enfleshed.  The Spirit of God is powerful indeed, but God needs you to express and begin to incarnate your vision, to take at least a step or two toward making your dream come true.  Otherwise, the valley of dry bones will stay just that.

Let us pray:  God, our creator and redeemer and sustainer, we thank you this day for the prophets great and small who have lived and spoken and acted before us.  We thank you that your divine breath continues to animate and inspire prophets great and small.  Help us to do our part in your kin-dom work.  Amen.