Foretelling What God Can Do

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, May 28, 2023
Acts 2:1-21

Pastors get teased sometimes for using too many $5 words.   I try to avoid using theological jargon as much as possible, but sometimes our scripture readings are so familiar that we forget to stop and ask ourselves, “What is God trying to tell us here, anyway?  What does that churchy word mean, exactly?”  The $5 word that jumped out at me in both our first and second readings is, “prophesy.”  The word “prophesy” appears 84 times in the Bible, mostly in the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, and Zechariah) to warn against false prophets who just tell people what they want to hear, and encourage instead people to listen to the truth, even if it’s a difficult truth.  There’s an interesting story told in both 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles about the prophet Micaiah predicting that King Ahab, the king of Israel, will be killed in battle when all the other prophets are afraid to tell the king the truth.  Probably the instance the word “prophesy” is used most powerfully in the Bible in my mind is when Jesus is arrested and brought before the high priest.  People strike Jesus, spit on him, blindfold him and shout, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah!  Who is it that struck you?”
So what does “prophesy” mean, especially when we think of this gift being given to the 70 elders, Medad, and Eldad besides in Numbers, or in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost?  At his arrest and crucifixion, the people who don’t understand what God’s big project to save the world in Jesus Christ is think of prophesying in a very narrow way.  It’s playing magic – predicting the future or Jesus being able to know who hits him while not being able to see.  People given the title “prophet” throughout scripture indeed are able to foretell the future, but good prophets tell exactly what God gives them to tell, not their own version of events.  But as we see in our readings from Numbers and Acts, the gift of prophesying is not just about being able to predict the future, but proclaiming what God has done, is doing, and will do – revealing the truth about God in inspiring and amazing ways.  In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes in chapter 14 that “those who prophesy build up the church” so that all may learn and be encouraged – prophecy is a spiritual gift.  
It’s important for us to know what “to prophesy” means, because it’s a part of our mission TO PREACH, teach, and share God’s love in Christ.  It’s not just Moses who preaches and prophesies to the people, after all – the Lord sends the Holy Spirit upon seventy elders to support Moses and prophesy, and Eldad and Medad besides!  On the day of Pentecost, Peter preaches, but he retells the words of the prophet Joel that God’s Spirit is poured out on ALL flesh so that God’s children shall prophesy – sons and daughters, everyone!  There is an understanding here that not all of us are called to preach in a pulpit every Sunday morning or prepare a sermon from week to week, but telling what God has done for us and will continue to do for us.  Inspiring people in order to build up the church, helping people learn and encouraging others with our prayerful words is something all of us can do!  And it is the Holy Spirit that gives us this ability to prophesy – to tell what God has done and even foretell that greater things will be done in his name.  As Moses says in our first reading, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”  Sharing a message of the hope that we have in Christ is important for all of us to do, not just the pastor!  In this sense, our mission to preach is for everyone.
So rather than thinking of “prophesying” as a magical ability to predict the future, what if we tried to understand it as using encouraging words to give people hope for God’s promised future for us?  The media understands that bad news sells.  We easily buy into predictions that the government will default, there will likely be an economic recession, the war in Ukraine will be prolonged, the effects of climate change will be catastrophic.  We have plenty to worry about, and dire predictions feed our anxiety.  I wonder why we have such a hard time believing that God might want good things for our future for us?  Perhaps we think it’s too good to be true, or “I’ll believe it when I see it,” as even a subconscious defense system to protect ourselves from disappointment.  Believing fiercely that God gives us a hopeful future is not ignoring or dismissing that there will also be challenges, or knowing exactly what that hopeful future will look like.  Part of the good news of our future with God is that the Holy Spirit will be with us regardless of what happens in the future.  Like all people, Christians endure challenges and struggles, and God is there in the midst of it.  
In the book of Acts, Jesus has just ascended into heaven.  Jesus, the Messiah and Savior, has left the world, but the disciples don’t lose hope, even though there could be plenty to worry about.  They had to be at least a little anxious and afraid about a future without Jesus physically being with them.  Instead, they gather to worship on the festival of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit fills the entire house.  Some doubt in what is happening around them – that in all different languages people are speaking about God’s deeds of power.  They are prophesying!  They are telling what God can do!  Yet some sneer and say they must be filled with new wine – they can’t let themselves be too hopeful.  And then Peter gives us this inspiring, hopeful message, that is a continuation of the message first foretold by the prophet Joel, that these people are not drunk. They are a fulfillment of God’s promise that God’s children shall prophesy, young men shall see visions and old men dream dreams, the Holy Spirit shall rest upon all flesh, and EVERYONE who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!   
So in our first reading, the elders prophesy that though they were in slavery in Egypt, the Lord brought them out of slavery. Though they wander in the wilderness for forty years, the Lord will bring them into the promised land.  Though Israel was in exile in Babylon, the prophets foretell that they will return to Jerusalem.  Though we endured a global pandemic, the Lord brought us through!  Though we experience pain, suffering, and death because of sin, Jesus died and rose so we might have eternal life. What other messages of hope does God give us to share with a world that more easily trusts in fearful predictions of doom?
God calls us to foretell what the Holy Spirit can do for us rather than face the future with foreboding.  If you want to impress or confuse your friends, you can say you’re prophesying.  But really, we are simply rejoicing in the Lord, praising God while we have our being as our Psalm says today.  We can face the future realistically yet hopefully, believing that God will do great things through us, just as God’s Spirit has done from the beginning of time, because the Holy Spirit already has!!  Thanks be to God!  Amen.