Category: Prophets

We Can’t Say We Weren’t Warned

‘Yet they did not listen or incline their ear; they stiffened their necks and would not hear or receive instruction’ – Jeremiah 17:23

The Bible contains a lot of warnings.  In the Garden of Eden, God explained to Adam and Eve that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would bring death into the world.  In Sodom, God sent messengers to turn its people from injustice, inhospitality, and violent sex crimes.  Throughout the history of Israel, God sent prophets to Israel to warn them of their need to turn from idolatry and injustice.  On the day of the Triumphal Entry, and during the course of the week that followed, Jesus himself wept and warned the people of Jerusalem of what would happen if they rejected his nonviolent way in favor of their dream of a nationalist warrior Messiah. 

Yet in every case, the warnings went unheeded.  Adam and Eve ate the fruit and bore the consequences.  The people of Sodom, apart from Lot and his family, attempted to gang rape God’s messengers, sealing the fate of their city.  Israel by and large persisted in ignoring the prophetic warnings spoken to them, and experienced exile.  The people of Jerusalem chose the way of the sword over Jesus, and, in 70 AD, felt the full wrath of Rome as the empire breached her walls and filled her streets with blood. 

In each case, no one could say they weren’t warned. 

Fast forward to America 2024. 

The warning signs have been blaring for nine years, and yet here we are, facing the possibility that we might, again, elect a white supremacist authoritarian President.  Today, I simply mention the latest warning sign, which comes from Trump’s own White House Chief of Staff Brigadier General John Kelly, who, in a recently published interview in The Atlantic (which you can easily read about elsewhere online), warns America that Trump is an authoritarian who ‘fits the definition of a fascist,’ has expressed a longing to command the kind of generals that Hitler had during WWII, longs to be a dictator, and has no respect for democracy or the Constitution.  In this, Kelly echoes similar warnings issued by others who worked in Trump’s administration, including the Commander of the Joint Chief of Staff, Mark Milley, who describes Trump as ‘fascist to the core,’ and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who warns that it was Trump’s desire to ‘just shoot’ protestors during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. 

This comes as we listen to Trump deliver campaign speech after speech in which he expresses the need to eliminate ‘the enemy within,’ plans to create deportation (concentration) camps, speaks of the insurrectionists he unleashed on the Capitol on January 6, 2020, as heroes, and proposes sending the military onto the streets of America to crush those who protest his policies. 

For most of my life, such news and views would end a politician’s career.  In 2024, nearly half of America shrugs.  Or worse, they love it.

And so here we are.  Less than two weeks away from an election in which it is entirely possible that American voters will return Trump to office, free and unfettered from the likes of Kelly, Milley, and Esper who were somehow able to check his worst ambitions during his first go round as Commander in Chief.  We already know that the Republicans in Congress won’t check him, and it is entirely plausible that, should Trump win, they will command both houses of Congress.  Plus, and this is a real hoot – he will assume the powers of the Presidency complete with a new Supreme Court grant of immunity that could render him completely unaccountable for his ‘official’ actions. 

I mean, what could possibly go wrong? 

A lot.  Which is why if American voters ignore the sirens, which at this point are sounding so loudly our ears should be bleeding, no on will be able to say that they weren’t warned. 

I could go on, but honestly I’m just plain exhausted at this point.  In the words of John Kelly, which he used to punctuate a prior warning to America several months ago that has largely gone unheeded, ‘there’s nothing more to be said.  God help us.’ 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

We Need to Talk About Bruno

‘I am the prophet and I smolder and burn.  I scream and cry and wonder why you never seem to learn.  To hear with your own hears, with your own eyes to see.  I am the prophet won’t you listen to me?’

– Michael Card, from the song, The Prophet

It seems everyone these days is talking about not talking about Bruno.

Bruno, of course, is one of the characters in Disney’s most recent cinematic contribution, Encanto, which tells the story of the Madrigal family and their magical house.  I’ll try not to ruin the movie much for those who have not seen it, but briefly, the members of the Madrigal family, all except one, Mirabel, have received magical gifts from their magical dwelling.  With each gift, however, comes a tremendous burden, none greater than the one carried by the unfortunately un-talked about Bruno. 

The problem with Bruno, it seems, is that he’s a bit of a downer.  As the song informs us, Bruno has a habit of telling people things they don’t want to hear.  On his sister’s wedding day, the sun was shining, and all seemed right with the world.  Bruno said, ‘it looks like rain,’ and soon enough – a hurricane!  A townsperson is told his fish will die, and it happens the next day.  One man complains about being told he would increase in girth over time and, Walla!  Beer gut!  To another Bruno points out a receding hairline, and of course is blamed when the recipient of this news eventually goes bald.  People come to fear his every ‘stuttering or stumbling,’ his ‘muttering or mumbling.’  They come to believe that Bruno is the cause of every impending calamity of which he speaks.

But he isn’t.  He’s just a seer.  An observer of reality.  A truth-teller.  If there are storm clouds in the sky, you should probably move the wedding inside.  If your fish is sick, you should take care lest it die.  If you eat too much, you will gain weight.  If your hairline is making a run for your backside, you may as well get used to the idea that you’ll go bald someday.  Bruno isn’t the cause of things.  He’s just the one who points them out. 

Which, I will reveal, remembering my promise not to ruin the movie too much, lands him in exile; hiding in the eaves and crawlspaces of his own home while his family and community do their darndest not to talk about him.

The Bible has people like Bruno.  They’re called prophets.  Seers and truthtellers.  They speak for God, sometimes in the form of divine visions, more often by simply reading the signs of the times and communicating what is wrong and where things may go if certain courses aren’t altered (all under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course).  Sometimes they tell of hopeful things (as does Bruno) but such words usually get lost in the rush of their chastisements and warnings.   Theirs is the reputation of Gandalf in the halls of Rohan.  They are seen as the harbingers of bad tidings.  Storm crows. 

God surely appreciates their efforts and rewards them, if not in life, in eternity.  But when it comes to human society, the task of a prophet is a pretty thankless job.  People don’t always (usually?) want to hear the truth.  The most common reaction to a prophet’s words is exemplified by King Ahab’s response in the wake of Micaiah warning against his plan to go to war: ‘Didn’t I tell you?  He never prophecies anything but trouble for me!’ (2 Chronicles 18:17).  Jeremiah was, among other things, tossed in a cistern and held in stocks for his troubles. Isaiah, tradition holds, was sawed in half. Zechariah stoned in the courtyard of the Temple.  No prophet had it easy.  Frederick Buechner noted that ‘no prophet is on record as having asked for the job…like Abraham Lincoln’s story about the man being ridden out of town on a rail, if it wasn’t for the honor of the thing, the prophets would all have rather walked.[1]  

But we need prophets.  To help us see when we are wrong.  To speak truth when the world goes mad.  To point the way to sanity.  Bruno, who no one wants to talk about, is exactly what the Madrigal family needs.  Without him and his ‘prophecies they couldn’t understand,’ there would be no hope for them.  Bruno’s truth-telling is what his family most desperately needs (watch the movie and you’ll find out precisely why).  Which is why they most certainly need to talk about him, to think about his words and act upon them, just as much as people needed to talk about, listen, and respond to the prophets in Bible times. 

Every generation needs its prophets.  Its Brunos.  Ours is no exception.  There is a deplorable dearth of truth in our day.  People create their own versions of it, even going so far as to label them ‘alternative facts.’  They stroll along in ignorance in self-created fantasies which harm others (and themselves).  They deny evidence of impending calamity, even as they sow its seeds.  They prefer to silence serious discussion of important matters for fear of upsetting either themselves or the people around them; like the false prophets and priests of old they cry ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace (see, Jeremiah 6:14).  Whether we are talking about political, cultural, environmental, spiritual, medical, scientific, or other realities, too many stick their heads in the sand and ignore the signs of the times.  They’d rather pretend their ‘wedding day’ will be lovely, even as a hurricane bears down upon them. 

Which is why I thank God for the Brunos in our midst.  Yes, they may be downers, they may rain on our parades, but we need them.  We dare not forget about them, sending them off to live in the eaves and basements while the world falls apart.  We need them to call us to awareness, repentance, and action. 

So by all means folks, let’s talk about Bruno. 

And, more importantly, listen and respond to what Bruno has to say.

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

[1] Frederick Buchner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC, s.v. ‘Prophet.’