Word to the Wise
Saturday, August 9, 2008 - Saturday in the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
[Habakuk 1:12 - 2:4 and Matthew 17:14-20]I will stand at my guard post, and station myself upon the rampart, and keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what answer he will give to my complaint. Then the Lord answered me and said: "Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.
The prophet, Habbakuk (pronounced hah-BAH-cook) provides a very noble description of the role of a true prophet. A prophet is one who must first be attentive to what is happening around him/her and attentive to the voice of God at the same time. Then the prophet must clearly communicate the message of God. The prophet must also have patience (Jeremiah and Jonah had trouble with this!) and faith that God will do what God has promised - although it may be done on God's timetable and not the prophet's! In the Old Testament, the prophet had a recognized social role even if it could be a dangerous one. There were many prophets, some of which were all too ready to tell the authorities what they wanted to hear instead of what God was saying. Recently we read the incident where Jeremiah and Hananiah squared off over what would happen with Nebuchanezzar and the Babylonians. Hananiah prophesied that the Babylonians would be defeated and all the temple treasures recovered. Jeremiah knew differently and said so and was almost lynched! In our own day, the social role of prophet is not recognized till long after the challenges and predicted consequences (not in the sense of crystal-ball future telling) have occurred. By then, we may well have found a way to get rid of or more likely ignore the voice that warns us. Consider the subject of global warming, as an example! In any case, it might be a useful experience to think about the figures we know who have been prophetic to our nation, our communities, our church and ourselves personally. If we can say about someone, 'I wish we had listened to him/her!" then we know we have ignored a prophet! AMEN
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