First Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Psalm 111
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28
In the Old Testament lesson this morning, Moses is nearing the end of his life. He has led the Israelites from Egypt through the wilderness of Sinai to the plains of Moab, east of the Promised Land. This is part of his farewell address.
God is speaking through Moses, and he tells the people that he will send a new prophet, and they should listen to that prophet, and if any prophet presumes to speak in God’s name and God has not spoken to him, he shall die. The prophet who would come after Moses was Joshua, and he did lead the people into the Promised Land. Moses died before he could get there. He died somewhere in Moab.
The lesson alludes to the issue of false prophets and false gods. How do we know for sure someone is speaking for God? Who are the false prophets of today? Who are our false gods?
Prophets are those to whom God has spoken. Their task is to share that message with the people of God. Often, even in biblical times, prophets were not recognized until after time had passed. The persistence of the prophet was important, because more often than not, they brought a message from God that the people just did not want to hear.
For example, Isaiah warned Judah of the danger of aligning with Egypt and the damage that would come from it;
Jeremiah was much concerned with rewards and punishment, the results of good and evil, faithfulness and disobedience;
Ezekiel warned of the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 b.c. for straying from the ways of God;
Hosea spoke about Israel’s infidelity to God as an unfaithful wife;
And Amos denounced Israel for its grave injustice in social dealings, abhorrent immorality, and shallow, meaningless piety.
Who wants to hear these things about themselves? Who wants to be repeatedly warned about the consequences of turning away from God?
The best known prophet in the New Testament is John the Baptist. His message was similar to that of the old prophets, “Repent and turn back to God, or else you will experience consequences of your own unfaithfulness.”
I was thinking the other day about the communication exercise of ‘active listening’. Maybe some of you are familiar with it. It’s an exercise to improve our understanding of what someone else is saying. For example, if I say to Bruce, “Honey, could you take out the trash, please?” He would say back to me, “So I hear you saying you want me to take out the trash?, to which I would respond, “Yes.” And then Bruce would probably add, “Right now?” To which I would respond, “So I hear you asking me if I would like you to take out the trash right now?”
Or suppose one of you says to another, “I do not like traditional church music as much as I like contemporary Christian music,” then the other person would say, “So I hear you saying you like contemporary Christian music more than traditional music.” It seems to be a silly exercise, but it does improve our understanding and appreciation of the other person. And I think it can help us listen to God and discern false prophets.
God has spoken to us primarily in the Word of God, the Old and New Testaments. God often speaks to us in our hearts when we pray, but also through other people and events. It is helpful to ask God if this is what he is saying to us, to have a dialogue with Him. When we have a sense of peace and confidence about it, I think that’s confirmation we have heard from God.
Are there any prophets speaking for God to us today? Or should we continue to heed the warnings of the prophets in the Bible? Who are the false prophets of today?
In his farewell address Moses alluded to false prophets serving false gods, or idols. In the second lesson, Paul was concerned about the Corinthians falling back into the worship of idols. The Corinthian Christians were living in the midst of a pagan society, and there were temptations to fall away from this new Christian way of living.
The Corinthians were gifted with knowledge, but it was leading them to be arrogant and to rely more on their knowledge than on God. Did you ever meet someone who knew so much or thought they were so smart that they couldn’t learn something new?
In a way, Paul is speaking prophetically to the Corinthians, warning them that their knowledge may lead them to eat food sacrificed to idols, and tempt others to do the same. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.” What is more important than knowledge is loving God. That will keep the Corinthians from going astray. It will also keep us from going astray too.
Christians are intended to live life in the Holy Spirit, to have it dwell within us and among us when gathered together. Together we discern the truth of what we encounter, we measure it against how God has acted in the past, and what Jesus taught about the coming Kingdom of God.
If we continue to seek God in the Word of God, to want to know Him, we will be able to recognize the false prophets and their false idols. Though it may take some effort to not be influenced by them, through our baptism we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and if we listen to it, the Holy Spirit will open our eyes. Amen.