The Priest and the Prophet

During a conversation with the local Rabbi, I told her about a novel I had written about Moses. Well, it’s not exactly the characterization of Moses that you might expect, but it’s still about the same Biblical person. Moses has two sons. The Bible simply names them: Gershom and Eliezer. In my novel, Gershom, the elder, has been the “scribe” for Moses’ mystical experiences. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) Gershom likes to be precise and concrete. He doesn’t like to leave any possibility for the people to disobey Jehovah as a result of any misunderstanding of divine meaning. Because he’s such a good organizer, he’s been put in charge of the priests. Eliezer, the younger son, is more of a mystic like his esteemed father. He sees his own and Moses’ mystical experiences from a completely different perspective that causes him to question the kind of Promised Land they are about to inhabit. For Eliezer, the mystic, the journey to the Promised Land is not yet complete. You can see the inevitable tension that must rise up between the brothers. Well, enough about that. (If I am successful in getting some copies printed, I’ll let you know.)

Her comment to me was something like: Of course, Gershom is the priest and Eliezer the prophet and the novel is about the tension between the two.

For the sake of this blog installment, I want to consider the timeless tension between the Priest and the Prophet, particularly how it plays out in modern society and ministry. When people are ordained to ministry, they are typically called to be both priest and prophet. Is that even possible?

The purpose of the priestly function is to maintain order and tradition, and to mediate between the divine power and human vulnerability and need. Priests know the stories and their official meaning; they are competent in leading people through the rites and rituals; and they know how things “should” be done. They provide excellent pastoral care and they are expert at “comforting the afflicted.”

The purpose of the prophet is to listen to the “God that is still speaking” and communicate this apparently new divine message to people and institutions. Often what the prophet “hears” relates to the prevalence of injustice and hypocrisy. The divine message hurts on the inside if the prophet doesn’t proclaim it, and it is likely to hurt on the outside if the prophet does. While the priest is busy comforting the afflicted, the prophet is “afflicting the comfortable.”

Religious institutions are usually quite willing to pay for priestly functions, but they’re not so sure about the prophetic ones. Priests get hired; prophets get fired.

I am not implying that if people were “just” more faithful that the prophetic message would go down easier. Prophetic messages tend to be messy. They challenge what is generally accepted to be normal. They cause people to change very basic aspects of their lives with no guarantee of any desirable outcome, at least in the short run.

In Jesus’ prophetic call, he even indicates that if people listen to, and do, the will of God, they are likely to be persecuted, if not killed. I think he needs a new publicist – that message will never take!

While there is much in Christian theology and practice that is appropriately priestly and comforting, the other, more prophetic, side of the message can never be eradicated completely. The prophet still speaks to our hearts, calling us to avoid receiving comfort in ways that exclude or make life more difficult for others. The prophet calls us to exercise more compassion than judgment towards the disenfranchised while still calling systematically unjust institutions to account.

Jesus’ life and ministry did not reinforce the status quo. He saw the possibility for the Realm of God to become a reality in the present, and this prophetic vision motivated people to make radical changes in the way they lived.

As it always happens when we deal with something real, it doesn’t work to affirm just one side and vilify the other. Jesus was both the “shepherd for the sheep” and the courageous prophet who risked his very life when he stood up to the religious authorities and the full power of the Roman Empire.

If we follow Jesus honestly, we also are called to be both.

What do you think?

Wayne Gustafson
“Never place a period where God has placed a comma.” Gracie Allen
The United Church _ of Christ