Jeremiah 14:13-15

Jeremiah 14:13-15New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then I said: “Ah, Lord God! Here are the prophets saying to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.’” And the Lord said to me: The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name though I did not send them, and who say, “Sword and famine shall not come on this land”: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.

Who are our prophets?

Here in Jeremiah, who the prophets definitely were not, were the guys bringing the good news.  Be wary of those promising peace?!?!

In turbulent times it would be nice to think the prophets were the ones bringing good news, but prophets - rather than being good news bringers, or even really bad news bringers - were bringers of truth.

We think perhaps of prophets predicting the future, whereas instead, prophets tell people the news God wants them to hear.  The truth God wants them to hear.

And most often, the news means that God is looking for a change of heart.  For repentance.  For a turning away from sin.

And to us, that often doesn't sound like good news.

Because when push comes to shove, we don't really want to change much do we?  It's scary and even if it isn't scary, it's hard.

So back to the question.  Who are our prophets?  How can we tell if they are from God?

As hindsight is 20/20 it is probably easier to note who was a prophet rather than who is one now.  Martin Luther King, Jr. certainly.

But not all prophets are the headline makers.  Some prophets might be just under our noses.  Who are those in your life that tell you the truth - even if you don't necessarily want to hear it?  I've seen a number of posts from friends on Facebook that sound like they were posted by prophets.  Those telling the truth of what it means for us a people if we don't deal with the racism in our nation.

Those telling us the truth about what happens if we don't take our environment seriously.

Those telling us the truth about how God wants us to care for the alien and the outcast.

Some of those telling us the truth are names that will never go down in history. Not like Jeremiah, or Isaiah, or Elijah.

So how do we know they are a prophet?

We can read what the prophets of Israel and Judah said to God's people.  We can hear the truth echo from down the millennia and see it.  We can hear the words of Jesus and look to the cross to see the lengths God would go to show us how turned around our way of doing things is, and how far God would go to bring us back.

Is there a prophet in your life?  It may seem as if the news they bring isn't good.  The truth often fails to impress as much as good, slick marketing.

But the real truth IS good news.  And sometimes we need a lone voice calling us from the wilderness to get us to pay attention.

God of life and truth, open our ears and our hearts so we can hear your call.  Amen.