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"Prophets of Peace"
Jeremiah 28:1-9
A Sermon Preached by The Rev. Douglas M. Donley
September 2, 2001
University Baptist Church
Minneapolis, MN
Any kind of theology that is worthwhile these days is a prophetic theology.
Prophecy is in vogue today. It is gaining popularity through the best-selling books by Tim Lehaye of the "Left Behind" series. If you don’t know what the plot line is, it’s a fictitious portrayal of what happens to people left behind after the rapture when all hell breaks loose. If you don’t know what the rapture is, it’s based on one verse of the bible from 2nd Thessalonians which says that at the time of the second coming of Christ, the righteous will be lifted up to heaven and rescued from all of the tribulation that the world is going to go through because they did not take Jesus as their lord and savior. This is a popular belief that says that your own person al salvation is all that matters. That’s one kind of prophecy that’s out there.
But there is another kind of prophecy which I think is more important. It is the prophecy of Jesus recorded in the Gospels and the similar prophecy of the Hebrew prophets. This strand of prophecy is less concerned about individual personal salvation. Or at the very least it is equally concerned with the salvation of the world. This strand of prophecy calls us to be prophets of peace.
Carlo Carretto, in his book, In Search of the Beyond said: "Jesus was killed by a group of 'respectable Pharisees' because they were not waiting for salvation; they thought they were saved already." Prophets challenge the status quo on behalf of love and justice. Jesus in the sermon on the mount said "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."
This morning, I want to talk about what makes a prophet of peace and see if there are ways we can be such prophets.
The Hebrew Prophets were interested in setting things right in God’s eyes. They saw the way things were falling apart around them and they sought to tell the truth to power. Most of them lived a lonely life. But none were more lonely than poor Jeremiah. Jeremiah began his work at a time when the Hebrew people were about to be taken into exile by King Nebachadrezzar of Babylon. He didn’t have Wal-Mart to promote his theories. He had the scribe Baruch, instead. No match. No one wanted to hear of his gloom and doom. And no one wanted to repent of their wicked ways. They wanted to maintain their idolatry, their denial of the downward spiral which maintaining the status quo was driving them.
Jeremiah, that troubled prophet, put a wooden yoke around his neck to symbolize how the Hebrew people would be under the yoke of the Babylonian empire. Very dramatic, but a real bummer. Who wanted to hang around with this guy? We want to hear something positive. Something to inspire us, not tire us Jeremiah. Nobody wanted to listen to Jeremiah, even if he was bringing the word of God.
That’s where the false prophet Hananiah came in. If one prophet doesn’t say the right thing, bring in another.
Let me give you some background. These names can get pretty confusing. Jeconiah the 18-year-old king was thrown into exile along with his Queen mother and the major leadership of Judah in 597 BCE. His equally inexperienced uncle, Zedekiah was put in charge of Judah, with the blessing of King Nebachadnezzar of Babylon. Zedekiah was fearful of public opinion and could not control the ultra-nationalism of his own officials. Zedekiah was not a threat. Nebachadrezzar could watch Judah implode thereby making his job easier in the long run.
The encounter between Jeremiah and Hananiah happened in 593 BCE, about six years before the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. The temple had already been raided. The king was in exile along with many of the people of Israel and Judah. The writing was on the wall that the Babylonians were going to take Jerusalem. The faithful kept trying to save the temple, but they refused to do so in ways that would make for peace. They did not forsake their idolatry. They did not turn from their wicked ways. Jeremiah said, if you don’t repent of your evil ways, God will not dwell in your land. It is not enough to have the Temple, you must have God as well. If you don’t have that, then you are deluding yourselves and you will fail. As the Borg of Star Trek fame would say, "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."
Of course Zedekiah and everyone else liked Hananiah’s words. He spoke of a two-year war that would end the exile. Jeremiah spoke of the destruction of the Temple followed by a seventy-year exile. Hananiah said: "In two years, God will bring back all of the temple treasures from Babylon. I'll bring back Jeconiah, heir to the throne of Judah, and I will bring back all of the people who were thrown into exile. Everything will be just fine in the sweet by and by. And to prove it, Come here, Jeremiah, let me break that yoke from around your neck. It’s such a drag. There. That is how it will be in two years time. The yoke of Babylon will be broken and we will live happily ever after. Don't worry, be happy." We can just hear the cheers of the crowds.
Jeremiah wanted it to be all right. He really did. And Jeremiah said, "If you prophecy peace, may there really be peace. That is how people will know that you are a real prophet. If what you prophecy comes true."
Well, what Hananiah prophesied did not come true. But his triumphal religion attracted a whole lot of people. Hananiah gained status. They liked his wide door and they marched right through it.
Jeremiah's door was a narrow door and there were very few who walked through it. They really didn't like the fact that Jeremiah replaced his wooden yoke with an iron one.
Jeremiah tells us that talk is cheap. Any politician can tell you what you want to hear whether it’s "read my lips" or "I did not have sexual relations with that woman…" or "I won the election fair and square", "no I won the election fair and square"or "we can cut taxes and increase military spending without touching social security. Just don’t confuse things with your fuzzy math." We nowadays expect our politicians to lie to us. We no longer trust them. We look to what is behind the rhetoric. What matters, says Jeremiah, is does this bring peace? How do we bring peace? If your prophecy of peace comes true, I will know you are from God.
I submit that there are three aspects to prophets of peace. And I also submit that these are the kind of prophets we are called to be.
Prophets of peace tell it like it is, but they do so with compassion.
Prophets of peace are more interested in the truth than in making friends.
Prophets of peace are willing to stick their necks out for justice.
Prophets of peace are always on God’s side.
Jesus was a prophet of peace. He was also the savior of the world. He spoke in parables but always did so in order to expose the injustices that surrounded him. He held hands with the lepers and ate with the tax collectors and the prostitutes. Breaking the law, he healed people on the Sabbath. He stood up to the religious authorities who sought to deny these people their rightful place at God’s table and showed them the error of their ways. But he always did so with compassion. He did so aching for the souls of those who were so hell-bent on exclusion and intolerance. He told the story of the Good Samaritan when he was asked "Who is my neighbor?" so that people could see the error of their ways. Few of us have the capacity of Jesus to say the right thing at the right time, but we can speak the truth with compassion.
Gandhi is one of my heroes. I love the way he spoke the truth, but in a nonviolent and therefore powerful way that made for peace. He said there are seven deadly social sins which keep us from peace: Politics without principles; Commerce without morality; Worship without sacrifice; Wealth without work; Pleasure without conscience; Education without character; Science without humanity. Prophets of peace tell it like it is, but they do so with compassion.
Jeremiah could have had a lot of friends. He could have been well-liked. He could have been popular, the life of the party. But that would have meant him sacrificing the truth that he knew so clearly—the truth that was burning within him. When we tell the truth, it won’t make us always popular, especially if we expose an injustice.
Our country’s failure to attend this week’s international summit on racism is an exercise in avoiding the truth in order not to upset our friends. The problem of racism needs to be investigated and challenged, even if we get called racists.
On this Labor Day Sunday, we remember those labor leaders who fought for the right for people to unionize and have decent wages, working conditions and benefits. This was not always popular, especially if your friends were business owners. But then you have to ask yourself, if they were really your friends, would they not give you what you deserve? As Frederick Douglass once said, "power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will." Prophets of peace are more interested in telling the truth than in making friends.
Folks didn’t like Jeremiah because he called on them to change. As the Psalmist said, "unless you embrace justice, the land will vomit you out of it. We are to speak the truth with love as the Apostle Paul suggests, so that in the end truth and love will win the day.
Prophets of peace are more interested in the truth than in making friends.
3. Prophets of peace are willing to stick their necks out for justice.
I know there are people here who are beginning their University careers this week. Others are back from a long hiatus and we welcome you back. For those of you who do not fit into these categories, you can listen in too.
Many students are coming to the University as people of privilege. You may not have financial privilege, but you do have the privilege of opportunity. The question for you, therefore, is how will you use this privilege? Will you become a person of compliance, or will you become a prophet of peace? The two might seem like the same thing on the surface, but at MLK once said, "Peace is not simply the absence of conflict. It is the presence of justice." You have a choice as you embark on a new year, whether you want to be a prophet of comfort, or a prophet of peace.
A Prophet of peace can be a comforting presence, but only in the sense that they tell the truth and call the people to accountability. That is often the most comforting thing one can do. When you see an injustice happening, are you going to call someone on it, or are you going to leave that task to someone else?
In my first year of college, there was one person on our floor who marched to a different drummer. He was a dancer and a singer. He was African American on a mostly all-white floor. When he sang, he liked to sing in a high falsetto. One night he was in the bathroom putting on his make-up for a night on the town. I knew because a person from across the hall came out of the bathroom laughing hysterically and telling us that we all had to check out the freak down the hall. Not knowing what he was talking about, I went to the bathroom and there was James fighting back tears, trying to ignore the harassment. I said to the other man, "I can’t believe you are saying this, especially when James can hear you. Don’t you have any respect for his feelings?" He shot back, "He doesn’t have any feelings. He’s a faggot." And thus began my pilgrimage for the rights of all people to dignity and respect regardless of their sexual orientation.
Prophets of peace tell it like it is, but they do so with compassion.
Prophets of peace are more interested in the truth than in making friends.
Prophets of peace are willing to stick their necks out for justice.
Prophets of peace always have on God on their side.
I have seen it here in this church. I have seen people stick their necks out. I have seen people lose the acceptability they feel amongst their family members. I have heard people talk about how they wished their family members would at least accept them. It’s hard when they don’t. But remember, as long as you are a prophet of peace God is on your side. As long as you are working at making peace, then you are participating in a prophecy which will come true for you are a child of God.
So as we look a the new year at the U or anywhere else, may this be a year when we are known as prophets of peace.
As we seek the truth, may we ask the hard questions that are out there.
Have our answers questioned by inquiring minds.
Have our belief systems challenged and thereby strengthened.
Let art happen to us, enlivening and challenging us. Expanding our minds and enriching or even troubling our souls.
May we take advantage of the relationships that are here.
May we take advantage of the opportunities that are here to learn and to grow.
Remember that we are not alone. Although we might feel at times like a stranger in a strange land, there are people here who will walk the journey with us. People who may not have all of the answers, but who are not willing to say "peace peace" when there is no peace. These are people who will accompany you on the journey.
I know at this church, there are prophets of peace who feed the hungry, grant shelter to the homeless, visit the homebound and confront the powers that be when injustice is around. But we also make a safe space for people to grow and become the kind of peacemakers whom Jesus calls God’s children. That is what the church is all about and I am happy to be among so many prophets of peace. May God grant us insight and courage for the living of these days so that we might be prophets of peace. Amen.