ON NOT PASSING THE BUCK

One of the responsibilities of every preacher is to be prophetic. That may sound quite imposing and arrogant, but it is not. It can also be a little frightening. A prophet is not, as we often assume, someone who predicts the future. That is impossible to do. No one, not even the greatest of minds, knows what the future will hold. One may have a pretty good idea, but no one knows for sure, not even, I dare say, God. For if God knew the future, then free will is out the door and we are all robots already programed to do what God has intended us to do from conception. That would mean that there is no such reality as sin and that none of us is responsible for our actions. It would all be God’s fault. It isn’t. It’s ours and we need to own up to that truth.

What a prophet does is speak for God, speaks the truth. A prophet points out what should be obvious but which we, in our selfishness, often deny. When the Old Testament prophets reminded the people that there were not living the lives God wanted them to live – and they knew they were not, and if they continued to live that way and did not repent – which so often they did not, then bad things would happen to them because of their sinfulness – and it did.

Prophets were usually not welcomed as guests because no one likes to hear what is needed to be heard. Whenever a prophet does his/her job, s/he is usually asking for trouble, which is why we preachers are often reluctant prophets. We like to be liked. Most of the Old Testament prophets tried to find some way out, some excuse, for not doing their jobs. Who wouldn’t? When they did speak for God, they often wound up on the wrong side of the stick. I know several colleagues who had to move on because the congregation didn’t like their prophetic sermons. They were too close to home.

And yet, while a prophet has an obligation to speak God’s word and not mince words even though the message will be denied, railed against or even cause the prophet some harm, even bodily harm, nevertheless the word must be spoken. Yet, even when a prophetic word is spoken, that does not let the prophet off the hook. A prophet can’t pass the buck and say to himself, “I did my job. Now it’s up to them to do what needs to be done, to do what God wants done.” A prophet must also be part of the solution. S/he can’t stand above or beyond the fray.

The truth is that we are all prophets. Not only must our words but our very lives speak God’s word. We can’t tell our children that they must always be truthful when we don’t speak the truth ourselves. We can’t tell others what to do and not do it ourselves. The fact is, we really do not need prophets or prophetic preaching. The truth, God’s truth, is already written in our hearts. It is part of our DNA, children of God that we all are.

Whenever we demand of others what we do not demand of ourselves, whenever we act in ways that we know are contrary to the way God would have us live and which we should want ourselves to live, we’re passing the buck of responsibility to others even though we know in our head and in our hearts that the buck stops with us. The sooner we all act on that truth the better we and our world will be, but until then.