This morning I spent a little time (especially when the first version of this disappeared into the Internet galaxy never to be seen again), pondering the life of the prophets. Their lives weren't glamorous or especially joy-filled. Jesus said of them, "So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs..
So...not joy-filled, but necessary. They spoke, a few (very few) listened. Things haven't changed.
Years ago we went to a Christian concert at a fairly large church in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans. The concert had plenty of groups, but the headliner was Crystal Lewis. Lewis, who has virtually disappeared as I write this, had the No. 1 Christian radio single, "People Get Ready" in 1996.
Lewis, as at most concerts I guess, was the last act to perform. Avalon, among others, went on before her. The crowd was lively and loud by the time she went into the Chancel area of the church. She did a variety of songs, but the one I actually went to the concert to hear, "People Get Ready," was not one of them.
There was a pause in the music after Lewis had sung "God's been good to me," and "Beauty for Ashes" and "Beauty of the Cross" (all songs we knew and had sung along with her), and someone asked the individuals in the crowd if they wanted to know Christ or know Him more. I (and just about everyone around me) raised our hands and shouted gleefully. We were then asked to come forward if that was the case. I, being the greatly intelligent person I am, plowed forward thinking that we were being invited to come into the Chancel area and be close to Lewis as she sang, the equivalent of being on stage at a non-Christian concert.
We went forward, then we were shuffled to our left, and OUT THE MAIN BUILDING. As we walked, I knew I had made some sort of incorrect decision, and lo and behold, the big thumping base lead in to "People Get Read" began. We were led into other rooms where "counselors" began to ask us about our eternal choices. I missed the final song of the night; the song I had come to hear. The "counselors" were greatly amused when I told them I was a United Methodist pastor. Apparently I had made the decision to follow Christ previously, they agreed. I was released just as the massive crowd left the sanctuary. Apparently I wasn't one of the people who were ready. My dear wife, Mary, was greatly amused.
Sometimes the message isn't, as they say, easily understood, perhaps. But the message for some of the Prophets of the Old Testament was straight-forward. There was no masking it. There was no hiding from it. There was no parable teaching. It was a plain, straight-forward grouping of words. Powerful, yet without mystery.
Amos, this prophet-farmer who walked out of a little town in Judah toward what was then called the Northern Kingdom, shouted, whispered, talked, preached, a message that God had told him needed to be heard.
The message?
Judgment, like invading armies down through the years, was coming. Get yourself ready. You've been sinning; now you've been caught, seen, brought forward. Get yourself ready.
Amos wrote, "Does disaster strike a city unless the Lord sends it The Sovereign Lord never does anything without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets. Be ready."
Crystal Lewis wrote, "There's a day that comes when we will be divided right and left, for those who know him and those that do not know. Those who know him well, will meet with him in the air,
Hallelujah, God is with us...Those who do not know they will hear "depart i knew you not" For my friends to see there will be a day when we are counted so know him well; So people, get ready. Jesus is coming. Soon we'll be going home."
Prophecy says, be ready. Intelligence says, be ready. Every fiber of our being should be saying, be ready.
Just don't find yourself ready but in the wrong place. There might not be any coming back from that.
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