Restoration Ministries

Called to be Prophets. This year I’ve been drawn again to the life and witness of one of the great prophets of the Old Covenant who often comes in for a lot of bad press – undeservedly I might add – Jeremiah. We need prophets, prophets like Jeremiah, those who are willing to speak out for justice and righteousness and peace and mercy. We need them not only to speak but to commit themselves to prophetic actions. If you read the book of Jeremiah you will see that he did both. He came from the village of Anathoth, two or three miles north of Jerusalem, therefore very near to the centre of influence and activity. His ministry spanned the forty years prior to the people of Judah being exiled to Babylon in 586 B.C. Later he himself was taken under duress to Egypt and died there. On a superficial reading the whole of Jeremiah’s career could be labelled as failure, one disaster following another. But at a deeper level he is supremely a prophet of hope.

Part of our problem in Ireland has been that we have had too many speaking in the name of a Protestant god or a Catholic god, or a god of some particular political persuasion, and not enough who have been willing to bear the cost of moving beyond in order to speak and act out of their primary identity in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. For those ‘beatitude people’ who have dared to respond to the call, the cost has often been marginalization, rejection, vilification and threats. God didn’t treat Jeremiah with kid gloves, quite the reverse, but he did assure him of his presence and his protection and that he would give him the words to say when he had to speak.

Could it be that in your Faith and Friendship gathering, whatever stage you are at on your journey, God is calling some to be prophets? Maybe he’s calling an individual or the whole group. Perhaps for a long time his word has been like a fire in your bones, and you have served faithfully, even joyfully, but now he’s asking more. We may think we’ve done enough, a lifetime of service, and on one level we have. On another level, we’ve hardly even started. Prophetic actions are possible for all of us. For example, if you as a group decide to attend one another’s services of worship you are making a statement that the desire in the heart of God is that we should be united in our diversity. And by that action, by that statement you are challenging others, in a non-aggressive and loving way, to take on board the truth that, although we are all different, we are all members of the one family, God’s family and in his Kingdom there is no ranking order of importance.

Sometimes the Old Testament can seem rather daunting, but it is the cradle of the New Testament. In fact the latter takes on a much deeper and richer meaning as we see the prophecies and promises in the old being fulfilled in the new. I hope that this year, as you get to know Jeremiah and reflect on some of the situations he had to face, you will become excited at how very relevant books like this one are to today’s world. I also hope that you will be encouraged and strengthened in your prophetic witness to the desire in the heart of God for restoration, reconciliation, unity and peace.

Yours in faith and friendship,

    Ruth