My dream and prayer for prophets
With a name like Nathan, I should have some prophetic inclinations, but I'm almost pure priest. Like most priests, I want to build bridges, and make intercession, and connect people to each other and to God. I want sins overlooked and unity and atonement and reconciliation. I usually try to explain on another's behalf. I am not too hot on polemics. I am, by conviction, a confessional and charismatic Lutheran, but I delight in the catholicity of the whole church.
I love prophets because they keep unity true, justice authentic, and love real. They don't let us get by with cheap talk. They call us on stuff. They don't let people like me say, "Peace! Peace! Where there is no peace."
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. inspires me to pray for the prophets God raises up for today, for they are needed now more than ever. I'm not talking about the modern prophets who say what people want to hear. Who scratch itching ears. The self-proclaimed who so easily say, "Thus saith the Lord" and themselves reap a great profit from their confident proclamations. I'm talking about that band of men and women who so align themselves with the pulsating justice and truth that pumps through the sacred heart of Jesus, which grants courage to speak out sacrificially. I'm talking about the prophets who dream about the Kingdom of God!
When King was giving his prepared speech on August 28, 1963 in front of Lincoln's memorial, Mahalia Jackson, who heard him preach in a church not long before, said mid-speech, "Tell them about your dream, Martin!" So, Martin went rogue - and prophetic!
O God, raise up prophets who speak truth, for you are the Truth.
Raise up daughters and sons who speak about the way to true unity, authentic justice and real love, for you are the Way.
Help us listen to the the old and young who are courageous enough to open their mouth and speak an aligned life-giving word with your Word, for you are the Life.
I love prophets because they keep unity true, justice authentic, and love real. They don't let us get by with cheap talk. They call us on stuff. They don't let people like me say, "Peace! Peace! Where there is no peace."
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. inspires me to pray for the prophets God raises up for today, for they are needed now more than ever. I'm not talking about the modern prophets who say what people want to hear. Who scratch itching ears. The self-proclaimed who so easily say, "Thus saith the Lord" and themselves reap a great profit from their confident proclamations. I'm talking about that band of men and women who so align themselves with the pulsating justice and truth that pumps through the sacred heart of Jesus, which grants courage to speak out sacrificially. I'm talking about the prophets who dream about the Kingdom of God!
When King was giving his prepared speech on August 28, 1963 in front of Lincoln's memorial, Mahalia Jackson, who heard him preach in a church not long before, said mid-speech, "Tell them about your dream, Martin!" So, Martin went rogue - and prophetic!
O God, raise up prophets who speak truth, for you are the Truth.
Raise up daughters and sons who speak about the way to true unity, authentic justice and real love, for you are the Way.
Help us listen to the the old and young who are courageous enough to open their mouth and speak an aligned life-giving word with your Word, for you are the Life.
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