At the end of the movie, How
the West Was Won, cars drive on super-highways around clover leafs toward a
distant city. The movie, an entertaining story of manifest destiny, greed,
chaos and order, romanticized the development of the West and projected a
vision of utopian living.
The past was laid aside, and the vision of the future was
laid out like an advertisement for the West as the land of opportunity. It was
a vision dreamed by humankind and exploited by humankind.
In today’s reading, we hear of men and women prophesying,
dreaming and visioning. To be a prophet in the Hebrew sense did not so much
mean that one predicted the future as much as it meant that you became a
vehicle for speaking God’s word for God’s people in a way that judged the
behaviors of the world, lifted up the oppressed, and spoke of God’s plan for God’s
future kingdom.
In the midst of Lent, as we begin to think about Christ’s
suffering (passion), death, and resurrection, we are reminded of the Pentecost
story. It does not romanticize the past; it recognizes humanity’s part in that
past. It then points to God’s resurrection world of forgiveness possibility,
justified (made right with God) through Christ who is not limited by the world
but powerful enough to overcome death for us.
This vision empowers us to address the issues of the world,
expecting and accepting failures but knowing that God, active with us and
through us in the work of the Holy Spirit, continues to build relationships of
hope and peace.
In the waters of baptism, God’s spirit is poured out upon us;
we are marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit. With that
outpouring of love we are empowered to be speakers of God’s vision and dream—prophets.
What are God’s words that we will speak?
Prayer
Lord, we thank you for words: words of prayer, words of
forgiveness, words of reconciling peace; but, most of all, we thank you for
your Word, Jesus Christ. Give us courage to stand like 
No comments:
Post a Comment