Tag Archives: prophecy

At Home with God

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Pentecost 21 (Jeremiah 29: 1, 4-7)  10/13/2013

Welcome to what is for many people the middle of a long weekend as we take time to celebrate and remember the adventures and discoveries of Christopher Columbus. The long weekend is an opportunity to enjoy the beautiful season of fall and perhaps a time to have some adventures of your very own. Throughout this past week as I was thinking of the many folks that would be traveling during this weekend, I was reminded of a phrase we often hear from returning travelers, “I had a wonderful time, but it sure is nice to be home!” Travel is a time of adventure, relaxation, and discovery, but as we return to our regular routines and our familiar places, it is nice to be home…except maybe for all the extra laundry you have to do! Coming home is a popular theme; as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz exclaimed, “There’s no place like home!” And even Christopher Columbus was exploring the world in search of a shorter trading route to the Far East in the hope of returning home a bit sooner. The comforts and the familiarity of “home” have great appeal to our sense of safety and stability, but what would we do if returning to that familiar home was not an option? What if our familiar world was turned upside down in a new and unusual way? This was the world in which the prophet Jeremiah lived and spoke to the people of the nation of Judah. Continue reading →

“Prophetic voices in our modern world: where have they gone?”

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Brueggemann (On Being)

“In those days the word of the LORD was rare; prophecy was not widespread” (1 Samuel 3:1b, TANAKH translation)

In a recently released interview (12/22/2011) by Krista Tippett (“On Being,” by APM), Walter Brueggemann (Biblical scholar and well-known author) discussed the poetry and imagination of the Old Testament prophets. His interview was thoughtful, insightful and compelling, but this is what I have come to expect of him nearly every time I have read one of his books or listened to him discuss a wide array of topics. Brueggemann’s wisdom is not limited to the Old Testament. (For more information on his interview with Krista Tippett, please follow the link: <here>) One of the most profound and striking sections of his interview came when questioned about the preacher’s ability to prophetically speak to a frenzied and hurting world; a world that is so accustomed to the “idealogy of consumer capitalism”; especially when the preacher is part of that world and shares the language and the culture of those whom are listening for the prophetic word to be spoken. Brueggemann responded: Continue reading →