When Hope is Not Enough: Who Are the Prophets Now?

Who Are the Prophets Now?

Chair’s January Blog

But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honour except in their own country and in their own house.” Matthew 13:57

There is no doubt that those we call ‘Prophets’ have a hard time of it; the nearer they are to us, geographically or relationally, the more reluctant we are to be convinced by their message.

Matthew places this heartfelt sentence at a pivotal point in his Gospel. Three the five great discourses have just been completed. Jesus’ followers have been intrigued by three pairs of parables: the ‘Wheat and Darnel’ with the ‘Dragnet’; the ‘Mustard Seed’ with the ‘Yeast’; and the ‘Pearl of Great Price’ with the ‘Buried Treasure’. What memorable images and great stories these are; good enough to be remembered decades later when the Good News is written down by Matthew.

We like to imagine Jesus’ listeners being entranced and hanging on his every word. Surely this would be a favourable time to go back to his home synagogue and share his wisdom with those he knew best?

But when he does, they “took offence at him”. The richness of these stories right at the centre of Matthew’s Gospel is followed by this rejection. It seems almost incomprehensible.

But are our own actions any different? When we are presented with an idea that doesn’t suit our view of the world or suggests some limitations to our perceived freedoms, our response can range from passively ignoring it, to an aggressive attempt to discredit the speaker, and everything in between.

Let us consider the environmental issues which have been presented to us with increasing urgency since the 1970s. After half a century of concern, warning, raised voices, and dire predictions, there are still climate science deniers in the highest positions of public office in countries such as the US and Australia. Why has it taken us so long to listen?

Even conservationist David Attenborough was once skeptic of climate change. His skepticism ended when he participated in a two-part documentary in 2006 entitled, Are We Changing Planet Earth? and Can We Save Planet Earth? for the Open University (Sean McDonagh in Climate Change - The Challenge to All of Us, 2006). In the face of the evidence, he accepted the urgency of the situation: “How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew about this and did nothing?” 

Perhaps it is a question of language. In her 2008 book, Eco-theology, Dr Celia Deane-Drummond, Director of the new Laudato Si’ Research Institute in Oxford, attempts to separate the theological from the political.

“I am … deliberately avoiding using the language of ‘crisis’ to discuss these changes, not because I see a lessening of the problems at the dawn of the 21st century, but because this language been around since the early discussions of environmental issues in the 1970s, and it has often been used as a rhetorical, polemic device for particular political purposes.” 

But others might feel that a softening of the language allows us to ignore the urgency and risk not merely the censure of our grandchildren, but the possible extinction of the planet. Perhaps this is what prompted the Guardian to ramp up the impact of its environmental language last year - to refer to the ‘climate crisis’, and to ‘global heating’, rather than the less urgent ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’.

In 2004, Sir David King, the chief scientific adviser to the UK government attacked governments for doing too little to combat global warming, and described the problems arising from global warming and climate change as “the biggest challenges facing governments.” The tide was turning, the slow wheels of change creaked into motion, the evidence was mounting. The authoritative warnings from Sir David and others began to influence international environmental policies. It would take time, but there was hope.

In 2003, a child was born who would shatter our complacency. Her 16-year-old prophetic voice startled the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, almost a year ago on 24th January 2019, with these challenging words:

“I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is!”

Like a Biblical prophet, Greta Thunberg does not mince her words. Are you offended?