This week and last week we have been hearing about John the Baptist. Last week we heard that John was a Prophet. We heard it first in the Canticle, the Song of Zechariah, that was in place of the Psalm. That was the song that John ‘s father sang right after John had been named at the Temple. People asked what was going on with him, as there seemed to be something special about him, and Zechariah sang, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. He goes on in the Canticle to say,
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
We learned in the Gospel last week that is exactly what John did. He embodied those words that his father spoke concerning him. Who knows how many times John heard that song growing up. Perhaps it was the lullaby that Zechariah sang as John was put to bed every night. John embodied those words and became the Prophet. Luke told us last week this prophetic ministry is grounded in the ancient Prophets of old, specifically Isaiah. John was the one to prepare the way of the Lord, to bring the mountain down and the valley up.
If John is a Prophet, it raises the question, what is a prophet, and what is prophecy? It is an important question because I think a lot of people get this wrong. Some think a prophet is something close to a fortune teller, and prophecy is predicting the future. The prophets’ words are puzzles that we are to put together to figure out what it is that is going to happen. This, decidedly, is not what a prophet is.
A Prophet is someone whose life is so aligned with God’s dream and God’s vision, that they cannot do anything except live their life and speak words that align with this vision. A Prophet is somebody with a very large imagination to help put into words the dream that God has for this world. A dream that is grounded in our faith. A dream that is grounded in creation. A dream that says that every single person is made in the image of God, so every single person deserves dignity and respect. That is what the prophetic ministry is all about, grounded in the rule of love, to love God and love your neighbor. A Prophet will sometimes talk about the future, but it is not about predictions. It is the imagination of God put in new and interesting ways. For instance, Isaiah talks about the lion and the lamb lying down together, a vision of vegetarian lions. A pretty big imagination is needed to envision vegetarian lions. But that is God’s dream, a time when there is no longer predator and prey, but they can be friends and fall asleep in each other’s company. This is the kind of stuff that the Prophets do, sharing images of what God desires in this world.
Prophets also have to so some truth telling, because this world is not aligned with God’s dream, especially those folks with power. God’s dream challenges them in ways they don’t want to be challenged. So the Prophets have to do some truth telling because they are so aligned with God’s dream they can’t but speak and live a life aligned with that dream.
We hear more about that dream in the first reading from Zephaniah today. The dream God has is a world without fear, a world in which we are renewed in love, a world in which the lame are saved and the outcasts are gathered, a world in which shame gets transformed into praise. This is the beautiful vision that the Prophets proclaim, the beautiful dream that God has for a world that is aligned with God. It is a beautiful dream, and the people come out to hear John share it.
But there is a problem with this dream. It is rather audacious. It seems unrealistic, it is impossible, and even if it is possible, what can I do as one little person in the midst of it. I can’t bring a mountain down or bring a valley up. So in today’s Gospel, John is addressing the more concrete questions. What specifically am I to do? John says here is one thing you can do: if you have two coats, you probably don’t need them both, and you certainly don’t need two coats if someone else has none. So why not share that coat with someone else? If you have extra food, more than you need, perhaps you should share that with someone who doesn’t have enough. John is not saying that you are going to solve the problem of unhousedness or of people being cold in this world, you are not going to solve the problem of hunger all by yourself. What you are doing is taking one pebble off the mountain and throwing it into the valley. That is what you can do where you are.
Some tax collectors come to John and ask what they should do. I don’t know what you think about the IRS or your current tax bill, but that is not what we are talking about. First century tax collectors were fellow Jews who were collaborating with the enemy, the occupying Roman force, helping abuse their fellow Jews. They were traitors. When the tax collectors ask what they can do, John doesn’t say stop collaborating, but he says, don’t make it worse. A tax bill might shows that eight shekels are owed, but the tax collector would say that it was ten, and pocket the extra two as a Christmas bonus. The system is already abusing the people, and then on top of it the tax collectors are abusing it more. John says, don’t do the extra abuse. Don’t go find a pebble down in the valley and throw it back up on the mountain.
What about soldiers? John knows they have to keep their jobs and feed the kids, even as they are helping the occupying force, but he tells them to stop using the power they have been given to hurt people. Don’t exhort money from people. Don’t threaten people with your power. Do your job, but don’t make it any worse. Stop taking pebbles and throwing them back on the mountain.
We are not going to individually make God’s dream come about, but what we are doing when we do this is, like John, aligning our lives with God’s dream. That is the task for each and every one of us, to try and align our lives evermore with God’s dream. You don’t need to become a vegetarian lion, but start doing things to make the world a little bit safer in whatever spheres you live in. Try to make the world a little kinder in whatever spheres you live in. Try to make the world a little more loving in whatever spheres you live in. Take the pebbles on the mountains and toss them off, and when you are down in the valley, keep the pebbles there. Don’t try and throw them back up.
It will look different for each one of us. But what John is challenging each one of us to do is look closely at our lives, and see how it is we can be more a part of God’s dream for this world. It is a decision we have to make each and every day, probably multiple times every day. It is a decision to do the right thing. It is a decision to take those pebbles and put them in the valley to help level things out.
AMEN.
