Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves! Jesus said it long ago – and in this very reading proclaimed by his Church today, he says it again: beware of those who come with their own agenda, their own message, their own isolated way of doing things that are not really part of total package that only he and those who are in covenant with him can deliver.
But how can we know the false from the true prophet – spokesman - for God? We will know them by how closely their message is to the gospel message of love and hope and peace; and how well they themselves live out that message. We will know them by their fruit! A person living a chaotic life filled with all kinds of contradictions and inconsistencies can hardly be a reliable mouthpiece for God. A person trying to convert his chaotic life filled with contradictions and inconsistencies and is used by God to speak both for his own benefit and the benefit of others is the true prophet.
Being a true prophet does not mean that one has to be perfect – but it does mean that the focus has to be on God and his merciful action that is carried out in the prophet. God wants us to KNOW THE WAY to get through the day! The true prophet – cooperating with God speaking – can point out the way!
In the time of King Josiah, in the reading from the Book of Kings – Shaphan acted as a true prophet of the Lord by allowing God to use him to deliver a very important message to the king and the people of Judah. It was time to make a new covenant of friendship with God – so that salvation history could continue – and that one day the greatest of all prophets and spokesmen of God could arrive on the scene: JESUS – the very WORD OF GOD MADE FLESH! Not only would he be a prophet, he would also establish with God the Father, in his blood, a
new and everlasting covenant! it would guarantee our redemption and the forgiveness of our sins!
O Lord, teach me the way of your decrees today! Make me sensitive to the true prophet who can deliver the contents of those decrees to me – and help me to be a true prophet bringing that content to others!
No comments:
Post a Comment