News from Sophia Christi

“Get up, Elijah. You have a long journey ahead,” the angel says, putting food and water near him, ordering him to eat. Poor Elijah—exhausted and depressed after his flight into the desert, away from Jezebel’s henchmen. He has quickly forgotten what God accomplished through him just days before. Easy to forget when running for your life! We meet him sleeping under a broom tree, praying for death, defeated. He doesn’t want to go on. Have you ever felt that way, like you just don’t have the energy or the will to fight the good fight anymore? That it’s not worth the effort? If you have, then you know what Elijah is going through under that broom tree. You know the human experience of self-pity and despair. But if you’re paying attention to the story, notice how God responds. First, there is no judgment. In our human misery we are offered food and water. The nourishment can come in any form, but it will be something that gets our attention, brings a little comfort, offers a bit of sustenance and lifts our spirits just enough to get us going again. We are loved and we are needed. Without us, without Elijah, God cannot do the work of rectifying and resurrecting the world when humans go off the rails. Human to human contact is how we learn love, forgiveness, mercy and redemption. So God feeds Elijah with the fruits of the earth—tangible love, drinkable hope. There is more work to be done, work that can’t be accomplished without his willingness and energy.

Despite how frightened and tired he is, Elijah obeys. He eats the cakes, drinks the water, and walks the arduous road to Mt. Hebron. Finally he arrives and finds shelter in a cave only to have God question why he is there! Elijah doesn’t skip a beat. He launches into complaints against his people. They haven’t been faithful. They’ve torn down the altars and killed the prophets. Now they want to kill him, he tells God. He says he is the only one left who is truly faithful! Notice God doesn’t respond to his emotional outburst. Again, there is no judgment. God simply tells Elijah to go stand on the mountain, maybe hoping to get him out of his head and into his body. It’s almost as if God is saying, “let me help shift your focus, Elijah. This negativity isn’t helpful and you’re getting all wrapped up in your ego here. Let’s see if we can clear the debris. Go stand on the mountain, Elijah.” (more…)

God speaks to us through the Prophets, both current and ancient. Last Sunday, through Ezekiel, God said: “I am sending you to your own people. They are a stubborn and obstinate bunch. Whether they listen or not, they will know that a prophet has been among them.” Today we hear Amos standing up to Amaziah, the priest in service to Jeroboam, King of Israel. Jeroboam brought prosperity to Israel by expanding his territory. The new land was given to his supporters creating a wealthy class of landowners. As land and money were redistributed the number of poor people increased resulting in a class of servants and slaves exploited by the rich. It was these social and economic abuses that led Amos to deliver God’s demand that the poor of the kingdom be attended to. They had a legitimate claim on the wealthy and powerful of Israel. Throughout Scripture we hear that continuing cry for justice, for healing, for care and mercy to flower in people’s hearts replacing hard-hearted self-interest.

Amos is a simple shepherd and tender of figs. He is not a “professional” prophet, one paid to tell the people what the king wants them to hear. No. He speaks TO the king, to the priest, to the entrenched authority structures of his day. The Spirit is at work in him, directing his attention to what is being done to the weak by the wealthy, to the powerless by those who hold the reins of power. He is inflamed by the injustice of it all and compelled to challenge the status quo. He puts his neck on the line not because he wants to do this or because his position requires it of him, but because the God of justice and mercy sends him to this moment—to confront the system and its King!

Real prophets challenge centers of power. Like Amos, their prophecies highlight the selfish failings of organized religion and society’s constant oppression of the disenfranchised, marginalized and helpless. They unsettle social structures that create or uphold inequality, that exploit resources and harm communities for the benefit of a privileged few. We have many prophets among us today. Pope Francis is one. (more…)

As I hear God’s words to Ezekiel I can’t help but hear them through the filter of our current national quandary. “Mere mortal,” God says, addressing us. “I am sending you to your own people. They are stubborn and obstinate children. They and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. You will say to them, ‘thus says the most high God.’ As for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. We have so many prophets among us today! I will introduce you to four I’ve discovered. One, at least, you already know and I will begin with him. At the international conference titled “Saving our Common Home and the Future of Life on Earth” Pope Francis, our first prophet said: “The pace of consumption, waste and environmental change has so stretched the planet’s capacity that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes, such as those which even now periodically occur in different areas of the world…There is a real danger that we will leave future generations only rubble, deserts and refuse…Humanity has the know-how and means to cooperate responsibly in safeguarding the the earth…All governments should strive to honor the commitments made in Paris, in order to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. [This} requires honesty, courage and responsibility, above all on the part of those countries which are more powerful and pollute the most….we cannot afford to waste time.” Whether we listen or not, a prophet is speaking. (more…)