The Lectionary gospel for this week is from the end of Matthew 10. “Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward...”
The prophet is never a comfortable guest. The prophet is the one who disturbs, stirs, unsettles, disarranges the accepted narrative. The prophet is the one we often want to ignore.
The prophet, with her anger and passion, her drive for change, her vehemence, her intolerance of equivocation, her blazing eyes, her piercing voice; is often unwelcome in polite society. Her behavior doesn’t suit the proper standards. She disrupts the norms. Her insistence grates our nerves. Her power threatens our egos...
Or. Her silence condemns us. Her sullenness discomforts us. Her lack of agency convicts us. Her vulnerability repels us.... or some combination that causes us to not want to hear.
I notice prophets all around these days. Speaking to us of the snags in the fabric of our society, the holes in our safety nets, the injustice of our laws, the abuse of our leaders, the power-mongering of our enforcers, the idolatry of our obsessions, the disorder of our priorities...
Specifically, I’ve been thinking of various people groups who are prophets speaking to me in this time, such as:
Those murdered by police
The poor and uninsured,
The Indigenous/First Nations peoples
The 14% of the US population that is Black/African-American
The LGBTQIA+
The immigrants
The Dreamers
The houseless
The veterans of war
The victims of abuse and/or trauma
The planet herself
The imprisoned
The minimum wage workers
Those children orphaned or in foster care
Those children who are survivors of school shootings
… and more.
Are you listening? Who are the prophets you notice and what are they saying? Are you amplifying or stifling their voices?
God, we perceive the words of Christ:
Whoever welcomes us, welcomes Christ.
Whoever welcomes Christ, welcomes God.
In this, we embrace our Oneness with Christ, and with you. …