Several weeks ago, all of us in the Divinity School received a 2 line e mail saying that Dr. Walt Brueggemann would be in Greensboro on February 7 giving a lecture titled, "Three Urgent Prophetic Tasks" starting at 7 PM. There were no more details than that.
Generally, when things like this happen at night, I tend not to attend them. It's dark, I have work to get done, I have a family to spend time with, or I'm just too lazy to go out for some academic lecture. But, for some reason, this 2 line e mail caught my attention and I decided instantly that I was going.I sent the information to people in my church and let them know that they could ride with me if they wanted. I realize that Walter Bruggemann is not a name that one throws around at the dinner table, but in the Theology and Biblical Studies World he is the equivalent of the what the Beatles were to Rock and Roll. In fact, he has been deemed the "Rock Star" of Christian Scholarship, and especially of the Old Testament of Modern Times.
February 7 came along, and it was one of those evenings that was just not pleasant. The temperature was not quite cold, but just south of comfortable. It wasn't raining enough to call it rain, but it was wet enough to be irritating if you wear glasses. People who have "weather issues" like arthritis or migraines and such definitely felt it that day. In fact, I second guessed myself, and considered not going. But go I did.
A lady from my church was going with me, and we were meeting another pastor friend of mine who knew her way around Greensboro so that we wouldn't be hopelessly lost. Yes, I can get lost. I can travel the same path 20 times, and there's something about my sense of direction that if one thing about that path changes, I will get lost.We showed up to Greensboro College at Finch Memorial Chapel at 6:30, and we were the first people there...literally. We actually turned the lights on. The security guard in charge of the place followed us in to unlock the already unlocked building.
We found prime seating, and we sat, and we talked, and we waited. A few minutes later, another pastor that I know came in with a friend. We had a grand total of 5 people there. I was somewhat shocked by the small turnout. Then, the host of the event brought in the sign to put next to the podium stating that the lecture began at 7:30. We were slightly peeved, but only slightly...and not for very long.
At 7:30, people were still coming in, and they brought out the folding chairs and delayed the lecture for a few minutes.
Finally Dr. Brueggemann was introduced. Dr. Brueggemann retired from Columbia Theological Seminary in 2003. He also taught at Eden Theological Seminary and Cambridge University. Dr. Bruggemann earned his Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary in New York. He has written over 58 books and hundreds of articles. He is also an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.
Then the lecture began. It was nothing like I expected it would be! I was expecting either dry academic speak or interesting academics with no practical application. I was wrong!
Dr. Brueggemann began by saying that at the center of the Old Testament we find a strange group of characters called the Prophets. They are un-credentialed, and they have no pedigrees. They speak a strange language of metaphorical poems, and they rally around the destruction of Jerusalem. These Prophets seem to walk into crises and out of crises.
Many people, he said, wrongly depict Prophets as predictors of Jesus - as fortune tellers, or as social justice advocates. Both views are wrong. They are poets - poets of their volatile situation. If we were to compare them to current events, they would be the people who speak to the events of 9/11, or of the Fiscal Cliff, or of the Newtown Massacre, or they would piece all of this together and speak of the world as falling apart in some poetic manner relating to God.
The Prophets of the Bible performed 3 basic tasks that can and should be imitated by the Church.
According to Brueggemann, the first reality is that the Prophets confronted the Ideology of Ancient Jerusalem. Although God made an unconditional Promise to the line of David, God never proclaimed how this would "play out." When things were going badly because of Israel's and Judah's choices, they continued to hold to this ideology.
They continued to recite Psalm 46: 1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah
4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
5God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
6The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
10“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”
11The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Brueggemann said this is similar to how America acted after 9/11. For a little while, we realized things were not right, but very quickly we went back to our regular lives. We were told to confront the terrorists by "shopping." We believed God was on our side. Wether or not that is the truth is not the point. The point is that things were not right. Our nation fell into the trap of losing its identity to National Identity over Christian Identity.
The First Prophetic Task is to Subvert the Ideology that Ignores the Historical Reality - Bear witness to the actual Historical Reality.
Brueggemann cited texts from Jeremiah 8: "Is there a Balm in Gilead?" - This is poetry reaching into the heart of God. He also cited Jeremiah 4: "I looked...I looked..." - This is the undoing of Creation through the policies and practices of Jerusalem that were so damaging.
The church should bear witness to the undoing euphemism. What is that euphemism today? Brueggemann pointed out that the undoing of God's creation is in part US exceptionalism - That is to say that God has specially blessed America above and beyond all other nations, and that America has divine right to dominate other people at will. There is the Marked Ideology that says that everything is a commodity. People are commodities in this system - the very few should treat people as objects and have them work for as little as possible so that they can gain as much as possible. Bruggemann said that this produces individualism (which finds very few if any Biblical support - that is my observation, not his, though I doubt he would disagree), racism, and it refuses to recognize the poor, the widow, the immigrant, the prisoner, and those who can't produce. He called up on us to be Prophetic to artistically (through song, art, poetry, word, sermons, letters, etc.) bear witness to this reality and to declare that it is not the true narrative of our lives.
The second reality happened as the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians became more imminent. As the destruction came closer, denial rose. The Prophet Jeremiah symbolized this destruction and foreshadowed the oppression to the people by wearing a wooden yoke. When the false prophet Hananiah took the yoke off of Jeremiah saying that this would not happen and all would be well in 2 years, Jeremiah came back the next day wearing an Iron Yoke symbolizing the Babylonian Oppression to come.
The establishment in Jerusalem practiced such denial saying that they could go on with business as usual and there was nothing to worry about. They were wrong.
The Second Prophetic Task is to Engage in Grief Work in the Face of Denial
It's a fact that those who benefitted in our society have lost a lot - the financial market caused many to lose a lot of money, our society is less civil and less safe, and Christianity is on the decline. There is still denial saying that this is all temporary and that we will get all of this back.
The Prophetic Task we are to undertake, according to Brueggemann, is to be truthful to others and let them know that we must let go of what we can no longer have. He gave a real life story of a friend of his. His friend is getting old and only wants his life back. The pastor of their church talked to Dr. Brueggemann about how to handle such a conversation, and the only way to handle this is through ugly honesty, but with a loving heart. This old man will not have his life back. He is on his way out of this life. There's no easy way to say that. But, he's not alone and will be surrounded by friends and family.
The Prophet Micah used weeping for a world that is gone as did Jeremiah in Chapter 9.
Brueggeman said that we should find artistic ways to get in touch with the feelings of loss that we won't admit even to ourselves.
The third reality is that Jerusalem was destroyed and the prophets were correct. Isaiah accounts this in 40:27, 49:14, 50:2, and Ezekiel accounts for this in Chapter 37 before the bones begin to rise. All of this shows that God did not save Jerusalem...yet.
We live in a Despairing Society. The greed and anxiety and hopelessness of our time leads to violence. People feel that God has nothing to give. People deny that God exists.
The Third Prophetic Task is that In the Middle of Exile - We must Explode with Positive and Hopeful Messages From God
As Israel was in exile in Babylon, Isaiah wrote the words later used by Handel in Messiah, "Comfort Ye My People."
All of this is counter-intuitive. It goes against our total being and understanding of life. In our deepest despair, God delivers the greatest hope poetry through the Prophets. When all possibility is shut down, new possibility comes alive - just like the Crucifixion of Jesus!
Poetry stirs us from despair just as the Liturgical work of the Church does. It shows us a new possibility - one in which the world has not yet lived by.
Brueggemann then asked the question of what hope looks like and answered it with these three examples: Martin Luther King Jr. who fought on despite everything being against his struggle - yes, there is much more to be done, but look how far he came. He also said that we should slow down, dream, and keep Sabbath. Finally, we are limited only by what we can dream.
He ended the lecture by giving us concrete examples of ways to live into this new vision:
* Lower our own standard of living so others can raise theirs. Don't be dependent on cheap labor that treats others as a commodity.
* Be ecumenical in the sense that we can be one in Christ despite theological differences - Do we really need to profess the belief "in one holy catholic and apostolic church," and then scream absolutes at each other and threaten schism?
* Always remember the end of Isaiah 19 - God speaks of "My People Egypt and Assyria" (at that time enemies of Israel). In other words, God has Many Chosen People - All people are God's chosen people - God created all people, and we don't know how God is working in others.
Dr. Brueggemann concluded the lecture by reviewing his points through the giving of this illustration and relating it to Holy Week.
Prophets speak truth to the world's ideology (Crucifixion - Good Friday).
Prophets speak grief to the world's denial (Holy Saturday).
Prophets speak hope to the world's despair (Easter Sunday).
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