and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
And the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.
Immersed in reading the prophets now for the third week.
Jonah. Amos. Hosea. Micah.
And now the somewhat winding journey through Isaiah.
I am struck anew with just how foreign this all is, whether in Hebrew or English.
Rhythm and rhyme and passion pouring out
A prophetic fountain bursting off the page
Drenching me in metaphor and color and hyperbole
Valleys and hilltops, deep rifts and jagged peaks
Mad prophets carried about by the Spirit
Wildly slinging words like a crazed painter missing more than an ear
Unlike Baal’s prophets, no bloody gashes on themselves do they cut
No, rather, they fling out an endless supply of divine tears
Pain and anguish, desperation and heartbreak
A divine romance collapsing in a heap
The prophet finally falling, exhausted, voice fading, reddened eyes pleading
Does anyone even hear?
Does any care?
Why is our preaching so lame, so limp, so flaccid by compare? Spock-like we mount our pulpits and dissect our texts – and each other, for that matter. Flatlander words. Greekish, analytical, or, for those daring a different flavor, comedic and brash and loud like a bad salesmen with that noxious cologne, confusing volume with veracity as we push our product line.
Some say people are tired of talk, that people want deeds and not words (this of course does not keep us from offering our sermons still). But perhaps they are merely done with meager fare, with the retreaded and tired old sermons of our endless regurgitations.
But prophetic passion, unaffected, unabashed…to see it walk off these pages and into our streets…would we risk it? Would I risk it?
Would I risk the stones?
You are right it does take being more than a Gogh or even inflicting oneself with incisions intended to discipline our way to God to be a prophet. I'm really not trying to say homage of any kind can justify Godliness.Just saying that looking to join our Fathers desires with ours produces an intensity for the peace of Jesus and Godliness.
ReplyDeleteSane people don't set out to be prophets, but normal people, sheep herders like Amos, set out to seek God's face and wind up compelled to speak out for Him, holding His hand. Unflinching rock targets. Whiny well dwellers.
ReplyDelete