Who can be a prophet -- who is qualified "preach the word"? Read this challenging words from William Willimon:
The purpose of my preaching, the test of a "good" sermon, is its ability to be enlisted by God as part of God's prophet-making process. God intends to have a people who speak the truth, who testify to the world of God's great, loving assult upon the world. As Moses put it, "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!"
In Acts 2, the pentecostal test for prophecy is not how outrageous we preachers have managed to be in the pulpit but rather how many people we have produced who are able to say, NO: people who speak the truth to power, people who can go up and stand before the Pharaoh and impudently tell him that he is not fully charged in the world - old men and women, janitors and maids with visions and dreams who don't mind telling the world about them.
From my reading of Acts 2 and Luke's account of the birth of the church, I derive a few principles for prophecy: (1) The Spirit has given the world a prophetic community, not simply a few outspoken social critics; (2) the goal of the Spirit's descent is the creation of a polis, a people who look, speak, and act differently from the world's notions of community; and (3) No individual prophets are possible without the existence of a peculiar prophetic community whose life together is vibrant enough to produce a band of prophets who do not mind telling the truth to one another and to the world, no matter what.
The goal of our pastoral care, preaching, visitation, prayer and praise is the production of a whole gaggle of prophets who will let God use them to get back what God owns.
Wow! I love that! Does that encourage you today? Yes! It is more than just creating "good" sermons -- finding that story that everyone will love. It is much deeper than that! Is your ministry producing prophets who live out the gospel during the week?
That's the question we should be wrestling with!
2 comments:
I think you're a great preacher! I agree with what you said; sometimes a good sermon is something noone wants to hear, like the prophets of old, but it's necessary to listen to God's call.
Take care brother and I put you in my favorites so I'll be back for more! In His love, Chris Cassity
Chris, I really appreciate that. But the real point is - YOU are a great preacher, too!
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