St Brendan's Anglican Church
 

TO KNOW THE UNKNOWABLE

Moheb Ghali

July 24, 2011

 (Lectionary: Romans 12:1-8, Matthew 16:13-20)

Matthew 16:13-20

“When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.”

Studies of the gospel passage we read today usually focus on one of three statements: Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Son of God; Jesus’ statement regarding the foundation of the Church against which the gates of hell will not prevail; and the authority Jesus gave the disciples to bind and loosen. This morning I would like us to focus on a statement that we often gloss over: Jesus said "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven”. Please take a minute and think: What does this sentence mean?  

I believe this is a very important sentence because in it Jesus tells us about a gift that is essential for the survival of the Church: to know that which is unknowable by our human nature.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO KNOW AN UNKNOWABLE?

Let me start with a question: Who do you say that I am? Some will say: You are Moheb. Some will say: You are Nancy’s husband. Some will say: You are an economist. Some will say: You were one of the early members of this church. And all of these are true statements. All of these are things you know already through your human faculties or can know by “Googling” me or visiting my Facebook page!

Now, here is the real question: tell me something profoundly real about me that you have no way of knowing, and in fact is not knowable through the web, the senses, memory or the intellect. Probably you would doubt my sanity: How can anyone know the unknowable? Well, here are some example from the Gospels of people who did, and how they did it:

·         How did Peter know that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the Living God”? According to Jesus “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. ”[Matthew 16:17]

·         How did Zechariah know that the Lord is coming and that his new born son, John, “will be called a prophet of the Most High; for [he] will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins"? [Luke 1:76-77] According to Luke, Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit when he made that statement.

·         How did Elizabeth, Zachariah’s wife, know that Mary was pregnant with the Lord and exclaimed in a loud voice: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” [Luke 1:42-43] According to Luke, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

·         How did John, the son of Zachariah and Elizabeth, know that Jesus is the Son of God and said: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! … I testify that this is the Son of God." [John 1:29 -30, 34]? According to John the Baptist: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, `The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'”[John 1:32-33].

·         And How did Simeon know when he took the eight-day old baby Jesus in his arms that he was holding the salvation of the world and said: “"Sovereign Lord,… my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." [Luke 2:29 – 32]. We are told he was moved by the Spirit.

All those people knew what could not be seen or known by human faculties because God the Father and God the Holy Spirit chose to reveal what is unknowable to them. And each proclaimed to those around what God had revealed.

This is what prophecy is: God choosing to reveal something that is beyond human knowledge and the recipient of the revelation proclaiming it to others. Prophecy need not be about predicting the future – it can be about the present: all the prophecies about Jesus cited above are about the present- who Jesus is. Prophecy can be about the past: what existed before creation is unknowable, yet St. John knew and proclaimed that: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

Lest you think my definition is too simplistic, the Catholic Encyclopedia also defines prophecy as supernatural knowledge given (infused) by God and then proclaimed (manifested) by the person receiving the knowledge: “Prophecy consists in knowledge and in the manifestation of what is known. The knowledge must be supernatural and infused by God because it concerns things beyond the natural power of created intelligence; and the knowledge must be manifested either by words or signs, because the gift of prophecy is given primarily for the good of others, and hence needs to be manifested.”

Paraphrasing Jesus’ words, prophecy is what “flesh and blood cannot reveal to you, but my Father in heaven reveals to you.”

DOES GOD STILL REVEAL KNOWLEDGE TO PEOPLE? AND WHY?

The answer depends on what you believe about God. If you believe that God is active in the lives of the believers, after all, that is the promise He gave us in the Holy Spirit, then you believe that He can choose to reveal supernatural knowledge as He wills. What limits prophecy is our inability to listen and/or our unwillingness to proclaim what we hear.

In his letter to the Romans, a passage of which we read this morning, St. Paul says: “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.” The first gift he mentions is prophecy. That gift is given, firstly as God chooses, not as we desire or choose. Secondly it is given in proportion to faith: if one has no faith that God has spoken, one is not likely to proclaim the message – recall prophecy has two components: receiving and proclaiming. The stronger the faith the more one is willing to go out on a limb and share with others what God reveals to him. Though faith is required in prophecy, faith is not measured by how often a person prophesies – for it is the Spirit who distributes the gifts as He chooses.

Why do we need prophecy if we already know God’s will and what He expects from us through Scripture? We need prophecy because the application of this knowledge to specific situations may not be immediately obvious, and may even be beyond our understanding: we need God’s guidance, and we need Him to help us understand. Recall that after the resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples and “he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” [Luke 24:45].

God’s purpose of giving the gifts of the Spirit, including prophecy, is not to reward or exalt an individual, but to build up His body, the Church. St. Paul writes: “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” [Ephesians 4:11 -12]. Prophecy helps build the Church because through it God can reveal what we do not or cannot know in order to warn, correct, call to repentance, exhort, commend and refocus His people on the work He has for them, and without these the body will drift away from His will and wither. This was God’s purpose in giving prophecies to St. John to deliver to the seven churches in the Province of Asia [Revelation 1 – 3]. A sure way of weakening the Church and rendering her impotent is to cut her off from hearing God.

Prophecy also helps build the Church in a different way: it can be an effective evangelism tool as it will evidence the presence of God to unbelievers. St. Paul writes: “But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody [in the Church] is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"[1 Corinthians 14:24 – 25]

WHAT TO WATCH FOR AND GUARD AGAINST

Because prophecy is so essential to the health and the strength of the Church, it is not surprising that the enemy will attempt to either keep us ignorant about it or mislead us with counterfeit prophecies. We need to be on our guard: Not all claims to prophecy are true prophecy. Jesus warned us of false prophets: “and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” [Matthew 24:11].  And because we are not perfect and we cannot hear God clearly all the time, some of the prophecies we bring, even if we believe them to be true may not be true; this is why St. Paul tells the Church to “weigh carefully what is said” when someone brings a prophecy [1 Corinthians 14:29]. Three tests that will help us distinguish true from false prophecy are:

·         Does the person bringing the prophecy love Christ and His Church? It is the deep love for the body of Christ that allows one to be used by God to help in building up the Church. St. Paul writes: “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge… but have not love, I am nothing.” [1 Corinthians 13:2] True prophecy will come from those who love the Church and have a burning desire to see the Church strong, healthy and growing. False prophesy’s objectives are to tear down, weaken and stunt the growth of the Church.

·         Scripture, not reason, social norms or sincere desire for social justice, must be the standard against which the truth of prophecy is measured. No prophecy that contradicts the Scripture or that is not consistent with Scripture is from God. As an example, if Jesus told His disciples regarding the end time that “"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”[Matthew 24:36], any claim that at a certain time the end will come is a false prophecy. If Scripture tells us clearly that some acts are wrong, anyone who claims it prophetic to call these acts blessed is a false prophet.

·         We need to test the spirit that is the source of the prophecy. St. John writes: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” [1 John 4: 1 -3]

A summary of the guidelines from the Catholic Encyclopedia regarding the distinction between prophecy and false prophecy is:

·         The recipient of the gift of prophecy should, as a rule, be good and virtuous.

·         The prophecy must be conformable to Christian truth and piety.

·         The prophecy should concern things outside the reach of all natural knowledge.

·         It should also concern something of a grave and important nature, that is something for the good of the Church or the good of souls

WHY DO WE NOT HAVE PROPHECY AT ST. BRENDAN’S?

I believe God wants to guide us, correct us, encourage us, and move us to focus on His plan by revealing to us that which we cannot know through our human faculties. He had promised “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” [Joel 2:28]  St. Paul says, “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.” [1Corintians 13:5]. St. Paul wishes that every member of the Church would prophesy – that is that every member would be open to hear from God and have enough faith to share the message heard. He is not calling on each member to be a Prophet. A Prophet is a person who has been chosen by God to be His spokesperson – a person who is constantly open to hearing from God and whose faith is consistently strong enough to bring forth the messages even if the cost of doing so is high.

Each one of us can prophesy to strengthen and build up the body. In fact, Paul was concerned that too many will prophesy when the church is meeting so he wrote: “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” [1 Corinthians 14: 29 – 33].

However, four things are needed if we are  to hear prophecies in the Church:

(1)      Openness to God: as we saw in the examples above, those who prophesied heard from the Father or were filled with the Holy Spirit and moved by the Holy Spirit. God does want us to hear from Him: In the reading from Isaiah this morning God says: “Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation.” [Isaiah 51:4].

(2)      Intimate knowledge of Scripture in order to distinguish that which is from God from that which is not.

(3)      Faith sufficient to trust that what God says is what the Church needs to hear, and the courage that comes from faith to overcome reluctance to proclaim what God is saying to the Church. St. Paul urges us: “Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy,” [1 Corinthians 14:39].

(4)      Respect for prophecy as a gift from God. St. Paul warns: “do not treat prophecies with contempt.”[1 Thessalonians 5:20], accompanied by humility of the one bringing the prophecy and willingness to have the prophecy tested against the standard of Scripture.

We actually have heard prophecies at St. Brendan’s without realizing them as such- prophecy does not need to begin or end with “Thus says the Lord”, and the person bringing the prophecy may not even be aware that that is what he is doing. Peter certainly did not; he thought he was making a statement of fact, as indeed he was, until Jesus pointed to him the source of the fact. Because we are somewhat timid, we do not stand up and say “Here is a prophecy”.  Instead, you may have heard during announcements or during prayers someone saying: “I believe that the Lord would have us…”, or “I think the Lord is telling us to…”, or “Last week when I was doing this, the Lord showed me that…” These are prophecies we need to seriously consider and heed: God chose to reveal what the Church needed to hear and the person receiving that knowledge proclaimed it to us.

Here is an example of God revealing His will and people, in faith, sharing what they heard with each other. Four years ago God spoke individually to a small number of individuals directing each to leave the Episcopal Church, the only home some of them had ever known, without telling any of them the destination. They were obedient. God then brought them together to pray, study Scripture, share what they heard, and break bread. Revealing His will, He encouraged the group to start a church that honors Him and His Word. None had done any such thing before or knew where to start. And here we are today! St. Brendan’s was founded on prophecy.

We were told in the Epistle today that we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to each of us: prophecy; ministry; teaching; exhortation; generosity; leadership and compassion. Whatever gift you have it is given you for the building up and strengthening of St. Brendan’s, and we will be weaker if you choose not to exercise your gift. In particular, if you hear a message from God for us, do share it – we need to hear it. God does not give you a message that has no value or that will not serve to build up and strengthen His Church.