WHY PROPHETS CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN – Part I

An Epiphany Message

(Please read Luke 4: 14-20 for background)

The life of a prophet is not easy. Whether it be Elijah in 850 B.C. feeling desolate and forsaken, praying to God, “It is enough, now let me die.”, or whether it be the rustic Amos in 760 B.C. being told by his sophisticated, northern audience to go back down south where he belonged and preach there, or whether it be the urban sophisticated insider to power, Isaiah, in 742 B.C., being told by his fellow Jerusalem power broker to cease and desist his critique of their dishonest economics, oppressive hypocritical politics and religion – the life of a prophet is not easy.

Yes, the life of a prophet is not easy, whether it be Jeremiah lamenting God calling him in his youth to be a prophet, to be friendless and lonely and imprisoned by the King for speaking truths the King did not want to hear, or whether it be the mythical Daniel in the mythical lion’s den for bearing witness to God, or whether it be the austere, ascetic, truth-telling John the Baptist beheaded in 28 A.D. for critiquing lusty Herod Antipas after his stepdaughter, Salome’s, sexy, sultry dance, or whether it be Jesus of Nazareth scorned, mocked, betrayed by one of his own and crucified by the powers that be – yes, whether it be all these and more, the life of a true prophet is not easy.

False prophets are another matter. Instead of disturbing the status quo, they defend it. False prophets usually are on the payroll of the powers that be. It was so in Jeremiah’s time when false prophets advised the King, “ ‘peace, peace’ when there was no peace.” False prophets say what those who write the checks want to hear. Whether it be advisors to presidents who spin information and intelligence in acceptable ways, whether it be chief financial officers who falsify reports and cook the books to make CEO’s look good to Wall Street and shareholders, false prophets often are in it for profits and power.

Yes, false prophets are another matter. Whether it be school superintendents padding expense accounts while publicly advocating belt-tightening and fiscal responsibility, or whether it be representatives and senators professing to be proponents of the people while developing instead an elite club of the best congress money can buy, or whether it be economic crusaders outsourcing to create millionaires in China to the demise of America’s backbone middle class, false prophets are another matter.

(to be continued)