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The Charismata or Spiritual Gift of Prophecy Over the past 4 weeks we have been exploring in our sermon series, the various spiritual gifts or charismata of the Holy Spirit. ·We have seen how the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples in the upper room at Pentecost and then subsequently on those who committed their lives to following Jesus. ·We have seen that accompanying this outpouring of the Holy Spirit way back then as now, is the manifestations in the lives of believers of a variety of Spiritual Gifts. ·We have learnt that these gifts are given not for the personal use of the individuals concerned but for the building up and edification of the Church of Christ. ·We have seen that the gifts are given at the discretion of the Holy Spirit, available to all believers and that the grace of receiving these gifts comes out of a life of Prayer which brings us close to the heart of God. ·Finally, we have taken a closer look at the gifts of faith; healing and miracles; knowledge; speaking in tongues; and today we will look at the gift of prophecy. What is Prophecy? I wonder if you can work out what the following disparate images have in common? They all bring messages of one sort or another and yet not one of them is in themselves the source of the message. This is my understanding of Prophecy. Simply put, Prophecy is a message which comes from God . The prophet or the person bringing the prophecy is not the source of the message. Rather, the message comes from God. This message usually comes in the form of words but it can also come in the shape of ideas or circumstances or actions. I used to think that prophecy was about foretelling the future and I suppose that is often one aspect of prophecy, but the Biblical understanding of the term is a lot broader and the banal fortune telling that goes on at village fairs and the like is certainly not what prophecy is all about. In the New Testament especially, the verb to prophesy does not necessarily mean to predict. Rather it means ·to declare the purposes or will of God in a given situation. ·It is a revelation which may aim either at correcting or comforting those who are in a relationship with God. ·It is the telling forth or the forth telling of a truth believed to have been revealed by God and speaking that truth into the life of a person or the lives of a group of people. ·It comes through the action of the Holy Spirit. It cannot be known by natural means (Matt 26: 68). The Bible and Biblical Prophecy. Today is Bible Sunday, the Sunday on which we reflect on this extraordinary resource we have at our disposal which we call the Scriptures. It is worth noting that in this one book we have at our disposal on a daily basis a prophetic tool which can reveal to us the will and purposes of God, can correct or comfort us in our relationship with God, can speak God’s truths into our lives through the action of the Holy Spirit which has inspired the words written on these pages, for “All Scripture is God breathed”. I don’t know about you, but when I think about prophecy in the Bible, my mind instantly flicks to the Old Testament. This is the bit in the Bible that tells us most about the unfolding of God’s plan to send his Son to save the world. It is interesting to note that in Old Testament times when the Holy Spirit came to people it was always via one chosen individual like Moses; Isaiah; Elijah and so forth. This is somewhat different from the New Testament which tells us about the life and ministry of Jesus, the Messiah and the birth of his Church. Here the Holy Spirit is given by Jesus to all who believe in him and try to follow in his way i.e. the whole Church. What this means for each of us. This is good news for each of us. Christ anoints all his followers with a holy priesthood and gives them the Holy Spirit to empower and enable the building up of his kingdom here on earth. Thus at various times each one of us may be given one or more of the gifts of the Spirit according to the ministries we have been called to perform. You do not have to be a great and clever person to receive the gift of prophecy or any of the other charismata for that matter. You simply have to make yourself available to God and he will fill you with his Holy Spirit and give you the gifts you need as and when you need them for the work he has called you to do. Acts 2 makes this abundantly clear. Peter quotes from Joel 2 when he states that the new age heralded by the coming of Jesus into the world as Saviour has meant that the Holy Spirit is bestowed on all irrespective of sex, age and rank. “I will pour out my Spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.” I have my own personal experience of this truth. Long before I had embarked on the practical steps towards ordination, someone spoke prophetically into my life. Tell the story of the Alpha Holy Spirit Camp. False Prophecy. Now this is all good and well but in the Gospel reading for today we find a word of caution about this gift. Jesus invites us to be sensible and discerning about it and to always do a reality check on any prophetic messages we may think we are being given. Before I continue let me ask you to reflect on those occasions when you, like me, may have been stumped by someone making the following statement: ‘God is calling me to do this or that’ or ‘God has led me to say this’, and it has been patently clear that the person is deluded, or that they are simply using those statements as justification for what is clearly an inappropriate action or an off the wall idea? The novel the Poisonwood Bible tells of such a man who believing that he is acting on a message from God takes is family down a painful and destructive path to hell and back. The gift of prophecy is not without its dangers and it is not without its charlatans as Jesus so clearly points out in the Gospel reading for today. We must learn, Jesus says, to tell the difference between someone with the true gift of prophecy from someone who may be nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing? How to discern true prophecy. In the metaphor of a tree, Jesus draws on a popular proverb of that time to help us discern the truth. It went something like this, ‘ Like root, like fruit’. ·False prophecy will not bear life-giving fruit. · False prophecy will not strengthen and enliven God’s people for ministry. ·False prophecy will not draw people into a closer and more loving relationship with God and with others. In the passage from Matthew 7, Jesus tells us that If a prophet’s teaching is producing bad fruit, then we must walk away from them. An example of a modern day prophet. So where might we look to find a true modern day prophet that could illustrate what we have been saying about prophecy? I believe that such a man is Brother Roger who established the Taize Community. Let me share something of his story with you. Roger Louis Schutz-Marsauche was born in 1915 in the Swiss Mountains. As a young man he felt a prophetic call on his life. He felt that the Holy Spirit was directing him to live a life that was based on Gospel values of simplicity and love. Love especially for the marginalized whoever they may be or however society may be defining them. So it was that ·he sheltered in his home at Taize in France Jews during the German occupation of France ·and German interns and French collaborators after the war. ·He has also sheltered refugees and orphans, welcoming into the community at Taize anyone who came seeking love and truth. His un-dogmatic approach was modelled on Jesus who welcomed all who came his way and especially the marginalized whether Jew; Gentile; leper; tax collector; woman; child; prostitute or criminal. Brother Roger spoke prophetic truths and he lived those truths also. Like a true prophet his teachings and life-style enlivened and strengthened all who came to Taize seeking God. And the fruits of his ministry are plentiful. Thousands upon thousands of young people stream to Taize each week of the year searching for the living water which will enliven their own spirits and equip them spiritually for ministries that will make the world a safer, more loving and nurturing place for everyone. What more can one say other than that, the life of someone who exercises the gift of prophecy is often not an easy one. The tough reality of the Christian walk is that we cannot take the Cross out of Christianity, tempting though it sometimes is to do so. The Christian walk whichever way you look at it is a self-sacrificing journey. On Thursday, August 18, 2005, Brother Roger, founder of the peace loving Taize community, was fatally stabbed during an evening service. I remember the day well. I was on my way to my Spiritual Supervisor when the news broke. Devastated I found myself asking her “Why this should happen to such a peace loving prophet who did nothing other than try and give a voice to the voiceless”. I found myself silenced by her reply: “Why not, they did the same to our Saviour!” What about each of us? Following our Lord and Saviour is risky business. Let me remind you of the prophetic words of Brother Roger which we used in our reflection this morning: We ask you Lord : what do you expect of me? And the Holy Spirit answers I pray in you. Daare to give your life. Dare to go that far. And he did! So as we open our spirits and our lives to the Holy Spirit to receive the gifts we need for our calling, let us prayerfully affirm our own prophetic ministries, always remembering that like the images displayed at the start of this talk, we are all called to bring messages of one sort or another about the love of God that will never let us go, and yet not one of us is in ourselves the source of these messages for all true prophecy is grounded in the One God whom we worship here today. I invite you to stand and sing We shall go out as a way of affirming the prophetic ministry to which Christ calls his Church of which you and I each form a vital part. |
