Prophets

In the opening chapters of the book of Ezekiel, we hear his call story. Ezekiel was among the people of Israel in exile in Babylon when he received his summons. God says to him, Mortal though you are, you are going to carry my message to the people. And whether they hear – or refuse to hear, they will know that there has been a prophet among them (Ezekiel 2:1-5).

In his commentary on this passage, Andrew Foster said we can stand in at least two different places in this text. Sometimes, like Ezekiel, we are the ones called to speak a prophetic word or embody a prophetic word by how we live. However, there are other times when, like the House of Israel, we are the ones in dire need of hearing the message ourselves. And in these times, God sends the prophet to us.

I wonder about this. It definitely makes me think about those encounters I’ve had with people over the years who, maybe I didn’t know it at the time, but looking back on it, I can see that somehow through their words, or through their life, God was speaking a prophetic word to me. Perhaps God was saying to me: Come back to me. Or: Let go of that… Or: Can’t you see my heart is with those in need?  Or, why don’t you trust me?  O You of little faith.

I think sometimes God brings people into our lives for a reason.  And sometimes these prophets embody a word of hope, and sometimes a word of challenge.

Sometimes we leave the presence of a person perhaps feeling challenged to open our hearts in some new way, or challenged to love more fiercely, or to give more generously, or to change how we’re living. Sometimes we’ll be open to hearing it, and sometimes it may be hard to hear. But if our hearts are attuned, they may very well carry the message we need most to hear.

Let us pray: Open our hearts, O God, to your prophetic word to us this day. What would you have us hear? What would you have us do? How would you have us respond? Amen.