From Father Nik During this season of Advent, we are using the Threefold Office of Christ—Prophet, Priest, King—to direct our hope for and exploration of the mystery of what we are waiting for. Last Sunday, we looked at how the line of prophets, leading all the way up to John the Baptist, serves to prepare our hearts for the Prophet foreshadowed by each of the prophets who came before. Christ is the Prophet because he is the Word that gave the words of hope to the prophets who anticipated his first advent. And we who await his second advent are also prophets insofar as we have a share in his Threefold Office through our baptism into him. Reflecting on this, Jesus says that John the Baptist was the greatest of the prophets who prepared the way for him, but each of us who participate in Christs own prophetic office are greater than John (Matt 11:11/Lk 7:28)! This may be difficult to believe. Didnt those prophets of old entertain angels and receive messages from the Holy Spirit, herself? Most of us cant claim to have had the kinds of experiences that those prophets of yore report, so where would we get the words to speak prophetically? In last Sundays sermon, I suggested that Scripture provides us with the prophetic words we must speak in our age. And in every age, Christians who have immersed themselves in Scripture have given voice to the testimony and prophetic witness of those words in poetry, hymnody, theology, preaching, story-telling, truth-telling, and speaking the messages of hope, comfort, or conviction that a friend or stranger needs to hear. We live in a culture obsessed with the new, the latest & greatest, and the next big thing. But we who have a share in the prophetic office of Christ know that its the old, familiar words of scripture and tradition that actually speak of the new creation. Like those same, well-known Christmas carols that we look forward to singing again and again, year after year; we tell these same stories of Scripture, we give voice to these words of our Tradition, again and again, year after year. We do this because these words provide us with the gift of hope and point us, prophetically, to the one who is making all things new. We do this so that we may take hold of our share in his prophetic office and bear witness to the hope that is within us, to Gods faithfulness, to our great High Priest, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Nik+
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 19:19:05 +0000