In the midst of our staffing discussion this summer we didn’t even consider one particular position: church prophet. We wouldn’t have even had to work so hard at a job description for here it is: speak for God so the people don’t get scared to death by the fire and pyrotechnics that accompanied God’s word. Speak the truth and don’t speak presumptuously about things that you aren’t so sure about. Finally, speak the truth or you will die. Sounds great doesn’t it? Think we would get any takers?

Alas, the prophetic work will fall to all of us, though I must admit it does give me pause to know that when ascending the pulpit here I better speak the truth or, zap, that might be the end of me!

What does it mean to be a prophet, what is the job? Today’s reading comes from the book of Deuteronomy which is one long farewell speech  by Moses to the people of Israel. They will be crossing into the promised land but Moses will not. The people are worried. Moses wants to reassure them that they are not being abandoned. God will continue to be with them and God will send a prophet, like Moses himself, to guide them.

Our text comes in the middle of a section of Deuteronomy that defines many roles: what kings should do, what priests should do, and what the job is for prophets. It is a personnel manual for the Israelites if you will. Ultimately, the job of a prophet is to stand between God and people and interpret the word of the Lord. Who would want this job?

Plenty of folks style themselves as prophets. It is truly amazing what comes up when you Google the word prophet. I spent a few minutes learning about the Prophet Yahweh, Master UFO caller who says he alone can call down spaceships which are operated by Yahweh and his angels. To learn more one can buy a webstream at $15.99 a month or even get a prepaid credit card. Right.

Or there is Prophet U a website for pastors who serve congregations and are looking for that prophetic message to add to their voice. Again, subscribe for a low, low price.

In more of the mainstream, there are people who claim to speak for God all the time, often in what I consider obscene ways. There are bad so-called prophets in every tradition but I will pick on our own tradition of Christianity.

“In 1986, Oral Roberts caused a huge uproar in the media when he announced God would kill him if he didn't raise $8 million to fund medical scholarships at Oral Roberts University. The money was raised in time to save Oral's life, but the funds were never used for their intended purpose. Within a year, the decision was made to close the medical school.” (raptureready.com) Roberts got his money. And he didn’t die. A prediction from God? (or from his financial advisor?).

Pat Robertson also styles himself a prophet. The evangelical preacher continues to speak horrendous statements purportedly in the name of God. A few recent examples:

 The Louisiana hurricane devastation was caused by those who sought abortions in that state.

 Ariel Sharon’s stroke was Gods’s punishment for conceding land to the Palestinians.

 9-11 was caused by feminists and gays and was God’s retribution on the US.

As Christians, do we want this prophet speaking for us? Obscene. Even Robertson’s fundamentalist allies have been shrinking from his comments.

Charles Kimball, writes in his book When Religion becomes Evil that alarms should go off when religion exhibits any of these five characteristics: fanatical claims of absolute truth, blind obedience to totalitarian, charismatic or authoritarian leaders, actively trying to usher in the end times, justifying religious ends by any means, and any and all forms of dehumanization. 

That would go for Jim Jones and the horrible event with the poisoned Kool-aid as well as for Pat Robertson spouting off hate in prime time.

Or as Anne Lamott, the writer, mentions: “when God hates all the same people that you hate, then you can be confident that you have created God in your own image.” 

Yet it is true, sometimes we long for God to just come down and speak to us, a loud booming voice from the heavens, or a burning bush in our front yard. A sign. But would we hear the prophets any better than the people populating our scriptures?

I believe Jimmy Carter was a prophet. He spoke hard language about alternative energy and launched a comprehensive alternative energy plan to conserve and reduce foreign dependence on oil. That dependence on oil which clouds our vision and leads to so much violence and oppression and environmental degradation in the Middle East, in Nigeria and so many other places.

And this program was scoffed at, rejected, put away in a drawer. And look where we are now. Standing here wishing we had followed it as we face drilling the national wildlife refuge, and ongoing war in the Middle East.

Jimmy Carter also signed into law the Foreign Intelligence Spying Act, the special court to hear cases of wiretaps that were executed by the executive branch without warrants. Carter felt a very real need to put checks and balances on executive power and so signed it into law. This is the very same court procedure that is under debate now.

A prophet. A prophet who lost a second term amidst a hostage crises and spiraling inflation. A prophet who may or may not have been a great President depending on how one sees that role. A prophet whose words have proved truer as years go by.

But how do we know who to listen to? Hindsight is 20-20. But what about now? What about the barrage of voices speaking and crying to us now, pulling us in so many directions. Who will tell us the future? Who will speak with the voice of God?

Our needs and desires are not so different from those of the Israelites. Their lives were uncertain. They wanted leadership and security. They needed direction and were constantly being pulled by competing religious practices and social forces outside their group. What was right? How was God speaking? How do we make decisions? The different forms of divination practiced by their neighbors were probably quite appealing for at least they promised answers.

“Some of the practices such as divination, are found in popular form today, such as reading horoscopes. Tarot cards and other ways of reading the future are popular with people.

“However, a prophet is not about divining personal futures, but proclaiming God's word into a situation which needs to change.” (Anna Henderson)

Being a prophet is not about telling particular futures like making stock picks. Being prophetic means speaking to where we stand right now as a community of faith. We are trying to speak a vision of an inclusive world, a God who is love not hate or exclusion, a society that values justice over money. To stand as a light in this community. To speak and speak out again to what is right and true.

Our Edgewood community is also not that different from the ancient Israelites. We are looking for direction and certainty with an unknown future. We stand at a time when we seek to divine our future as a church on a basic level. Shall we grow to include a second pastor? Can we afford this vision? What will happen with rising utilities and insurance costs? What if we fall short? Is this fair to the one we call to join us if we don’t know what the future holds?

Oh to have a prophet from God here in our midst to stand and say on authority from on high whether the future holds promise or disaster in our budget plan. Are we tempted to consult Tarot cards, horoscopes or divine fortune cookies? Where is God’s prophet when we need one?

But that kind of prophet is not what is coming. To be prophetic is to be engaged in the ministry of reconciliation and welcome and healing in this community and our wider world.

A prophet would not tell us whether we will have enough money in 2007 and 2008.  A prophet could tell us what God calls us to do and how we should be shaping our selves, our church, our ministry, our hope, on those ways of service.

It is less about having a prophet to tell our future than to come together as a community to do prophetic work. Prophetic discernment comes when we gather together. It comes out of the staffing pattern discussions we had this past summer. It comes out of the hard questions that we ask in annual meetings and previews. It comes out of turning back again and again to the strategic plan which was founded on three questions: who are we, who is our neighbor, how is God calling us to serve.

This has been a year of great growth in ministry at Edgewood. The launching of Circles of Faith which meets a huge need for spiritual discernment, a way to engage our faith on a deeper level and see how it intersects with everyday life. The beginning plans for mission trip-to truly engage with another culture and understand how what we do as people, as church, as a nation, impacts others in God’s world. The successful harvesting of a crop in partnership with others in the Lansing area so that people half a world away have food sustainability. The seeds of a penpal project with orphans in Rwanda. Our weekly service of worship that welcomes the Sprit in our midst and challenges to go out and live in love. And much more.

There is certainly further to go. A prophetic voice in our midst calls us to greater advocacy on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised. A prophetic voice calls us to greater interconnectedness one to another. A prophetic voice challenges us to give to God what is truly our best, in body, mind, spirit, wealth, time and thanksgiving.

I can prophesy today that this church will grow in faith and in works and in depth in the next year. This is not because I have seen some great vision or divined this from a mysterious source. I can say this because together we are working hard to listen to God and to live our lives to bring about change for the greater good. Because I know that we all will take up the call to be disciples again and again and again. And it is in that faithful following of the call that we grow and change.

I can also prophesy that there will be moments when we will be scared, uncertain, unsure, and worried.

But I also know that God will raise up leaders in our midst to help this congregation walk forward no matter what happens.

Ultimately, whatever we decide in this annual meeting, however the following year progresses, as long as we continue to listen hard for the words of God coming to us through prophets of old in our scriptures, through prophets of today who challenge us to greater things, and prophets yet to come, we shall be walking faithfully as church and as community, in the steps of the great prophet, Jesus the Christ. Amen.