Day 36 of the End to End in 2019 started at Grimley and continued along the Severn Way. There was a small Parish church at Grimley and one at Holt; they will both be closed now. But after my second breakfast, it was a small notice on the door of what looked like a refurbished stable block that caught my eye: ‘Faith at Work Worcester’ it read. It was the office for the workplace chaplaincy of the Diocese of Worcester. It was good to know that workplace chaplaincy still existed in these parts.
That it still exists in 2020 looks essential as we move on from being pilgrims to prophets. Of course the two are not unconnected. Pilgrims may walk but so too may prophets. Whilst many definitions of being prophetic seem to concentrate on having a view of the future my understanding is firmly linked to the here and now. Being prophetic is being willing to live and speak against the grain, especially against the thrust of power as it marginalises some people and leaves others more vulnerable. Prophecy is about setting the scales straight so that we call attention to and set right what is at the root of inequality. That the meaning has changed to some sort of vague notion concerning future utopias is itself concerning but maybe just another sign to confirm what a church leader once told me: ‘There’s no room for prophets in the churches’. ‘Ah, so they’ll be dead churches then’ was and is my reply.
When Elijah, that most prophetic of prophets, called out Ahab and Jezebel, he was not concerned primarily for the future (note that I am of course using my remembered bible here) but for all the abuse of power in the royal court at the time and its consequences. He found himself under attack from their supporters (you can think of many modern equivalents I’m sure) and ran away. Well, who wouldn’t. God reconfirmed the prophet’s calling on an exposed rock ledge outside a cave in the wilderness.
What God required of Elijah at that point was to confront the abuse of power; to go back and put the ruling class to rights. Of course all of this does depend on what sort of bible you are remembering, to paraphrase Desmond Tutu. That name alone, amongst all contemporary prophets, should give you a clue to the bible I remember.
I first read his speech before the Eloff Commission when I visited South Africa in 1984. In the subsequent decade it was liberation theology that made the most sense to me and in 1994 we were in South Africa as the first democratic elections were held. Religion and politics, well to me they are like pilgrims and prophets: the same stuff.
Last night I read some words by an Anglican asking ‘Where was the prophetic voice of the church’. I looked up some things. It is there, standing alongside those who need food banks and the like, but at the moment the church in its many forms is mostly concerned for the pastoral, and far too concerned with whether churches are doing the right kind of zooming or not or whether we’d like to enter a logo colouring competition. Of course pastoral concerns are also prophetic. If there is a predisposition to ignore the most vulnerable and leave them to die in care homes then it is prophetic to be along side them. But we also need some contemporary Elijah’s. We are not called to be sycophants and flatter government ministers. We are called to request clarity and equity. And the most pressing question: ‘Who will go for me?’
From the remembered gospel
Jesus said ‘Don’t worry about what you will say. The words will be there from the Word and will get right to the heart of the matter’.
Although it can be disconcerting to hear the small voice,
easy to ignore as a whisper of a breeze in leaves,
simple to say we are occupied elsewhere,
less trouble to keep our heads down and claim it’s not our issue,
ultimately we cannot ignore that we are the ones God calls.
Word of Life, equip your knock-kneed, tongue-tied prophets:
from rock ledges to the corridors of power,
take us to the places where you words must be liberated,
unleash your kindom of equality through us.
JAL: 11.05.2020 in Longdendale.
(As I’ve mentioned before, kindom is a word I use instead of kingdom, as it has a more gender neutral meaning and yes, these things are important)