Saturday, August 01, 2020


Prophets, Priests, and Kings 

Biblical literature is foundational in our culture. The competing categories of prophets, priests, and kings have been basic in the formation of our political and social systems. 


Politics and religion are in the Bible 
  and in most kinds of its literature. 

As a Christian, I strongly believe 
  that the best way to study the Bible 
    is to read and study it as literature. 

I want to go even further than that. 

In order to understand the Bible, 
  it's important to study it 
    using the same tools we would use 
      to study any document from the ancient world. 

For us Unitarian Universalists, 
  it's important to study the Bible 
    from the point of view of history and culture, 
      and to recognize it as one of our own 
        Sources of faith and understanding. 

That is to say, Christianity is one of our sources 
  of UU faith  
    so its most basic source document, the Bible, 
      is important for us to understand. 

Almost needless to say, 
  we do not regard any Scripture 
    as infallible or authoritative. 

In fact, one of the best Facebook memes 
  that I have seen lately says, 

"Buy a Bible, don't read it, and you'll be a Catholic. 

Buy a Bible, and read only what suits you, 
  and you'll be an Evangelical. 

Buy a Bible, read it fully, analyze it, reason it, 
  and you will be an atheist. "

Of course, I would prefer to say, 
  "Buy a Bible, read it fully, analyze it, reason it, 
      and you will be a Unitarian Universalist." 

There are other possibilities to be
  as well as Unitarian Universalist: 
    United Church of Christ, Lutheran, Anglican, 
      progressive Christian of any stripe, 
        and many others. 

In our highly charged social and political climate, 
  it's especially important to study and think carefully 
    about the ideas that helped shape our culture, 
      and I feel that we UU's are uniquely equipped 
        to provide guidance for a good, positive, 
          historical critical, and scientific way 
            to understand the Bible. 

Leaders and leadership
  have been foundational in our republic 
    and its democratic principles. 

Different kinds of leaders 
  were part of the biblical story. 

Prophets were those who spoke for God. 

Priests were those who led and sustained 
  religious institutions, especially the Temple. 

Kings were political leaders 
  whose power and rule were thought 
    by some biblical writers 
      to supplant the power and sovereignty 
        of the God of Israel. 

Other biblical writers believed and wrote 
  that kings were appointed by God 
    to represent Him and to rule His people 
      on His behalf. 

It's clear that many of the writers 
  who believed that God appointed the rulers 
    were themselves official representatives 
      of those rulers. 

The Bible is filled with disagreements 
  among its writers and those they wrote about. 

So much for the infallibilty of scripture, 
  even in matters of faith and theology! 

Each of those categories 
  of prophets, priests, and kings provided 
    an important definition of social roles, 
      and each one formed a foundation 
        for different aspects of our society to this day, 
          regardless of our own individual religious 
            or political commitments. 

Let's start with the king. 

Every society or organization needs 
  a chief executive officer. 

In our time we are seeing more clearly than ever 
  that the chief executive officer 
    can be a man or a woman. 

In our time, we have a shining example 
  of an effective chief executive 
    who is a woman. 

Elizabeth II has been the Queen of England 
  for many years. 

There are significant examples 
  of Queens in the Bible. 

Queen Esther is among the best known. 

She was so important in Biblical literature 
  that she has a whole book named for her. 

Mary the Mother of Jesus 
  is another important Queen
    in Biblical literature and faith. 

Among many Christians, she is known 
  as the Queen of Heaven, 
    a bearer of many of the ancient traditions 
      of the Goddess. 

The chief executive 
  has both power and responsibility. 

In the social relationships 
  that a king or queen  represents, 
    those two aspects have to be held in balance. 

Power cannot be exercised 
  without responsibility 
    for long. 

There will be protest, rebellion, and even civil war. 

The U.S.A. was born out of just such a rebellion. 

King George would not exercise power responsibly, 
  so he lost the Thirteen American Colonies
    to their rebellion. 

It fascinates me that to this day, 
  the war that established 
    the independent United States
      is known in the U.S. as the American Revolution. 

In the British Commonwealth, 
  including our neighboring nation of Canada, 
    that same war is known as 
      the War of Insurrection. 

So much depends on one's point of view! 

The concept of a chief executive 
  keeping power and responsibility in balance 
    can help us understand our situation 
      in our own time and nation. 

If the current chief executive of the United States 
  is willing and able to take responsibility 
    for his own exercise of power, 
      he has a chance 
        to earn the respect of many people
          who do not now believe 
            that he has their best interests at heart. 

As my mother used to say, 
  “Time will tell.”  

The role of priest is another link between us 
  and the ancient world. 

Basically a priest is someone who presides or assists  
  at some sort of religious celebration. 

Priests also serve as go-betweens 
  for people who need divine aid of some sort. 

So those in our time who offer thoughts and prayers 
  for people in hard times 
    are serving - or claiming to serve - 
      a priestly function. 

From ancient to modern times, 
  priests offer sacrifices 
    to placate the gods they serve. 

More often than not today 
  the sacrifices are symbolic 
    or commemorative. 

Among UU's there are both priests and priestesses 
  in our communities of earth based spirituality. 

The high priests and high priestesses 
  are such primarily 
    because of their ceremonial function, 
      not so much as people who have been ordained 
        or inducted into a special order. 

The priest and priestess 
  represent the Lord and the Lady
    the God and the Goddess. 

While none of them made it into the Bible, 
  there were surely priestesses in ancient Israel. 

They would have led the worship of YHWH's wife, 
  Asherah. 

Her presence in the Temple and in the Bible 
  was likely suppressed by the ascendance 
    of a more radical monotheism, 
      the belief in only one God. 

As a result, the priestesses of ancient Israel 
  were also suppressed and all too often forgotten. 

In churches today, the ordination of women 
  has restored the rightful place of both genders 
    in the worship life of many people. 

Our own UU Association and its predecessors 
  were among the first religious groups 
    to permit and encourage women 
      as leaders of worship and pastors, 
        beginning in the mid-19th Century. 

Today in the Church of Sweden, 
  a leader among Lutherans, 
    there are more pastors who are women 
      than pastors who are men. 

In both the Lutheran and Anglican churches, 
  there are also women who are bishops. 

Prophecy is an institution of religious leadership 
  that goes back to biblical times, 
    and there is clear witness to both prophets 
      and prophetesses in the Bible. 

As an institution, prophets, both men and women, 
  are often seen as troublemakers, 
    especially by those who are in power. 

A phrase we have heard repeated many times 
  during the recent commemorations of 
    the great prophet and congressman, John Lewis, 
      was "good trouble, necessary trouble". 

It was a designation of his own. 

When he was told to stay out of trouble, 
  he realized that he needed to get into trouble 
    for the sake of making the world better. 

That could be a summary 
  of the meaning of prophecy. 

There are and always have been prophets 
  and prophetesses, 
    and the Bible bears witness to both. 

Jeremiah is probably the best known 
  biblical prophet, 
    and Deborah is probably the best known 
      biblical prophetess. 

Prophecy has continued to be part 
  of Judaism and Christianity, 
    even though the canon of scripture for both 
      has been effectively closed (for the most part) 
        for about 2000 years. 

The best known Jewish prophet of our time 
  was probably Elie Wiesel. 

He was a survivor of the Holocaust, 
  both Auschwitz and Buchenwald. 

He survived until 2016, 
  and it has been said 
    that survival is the best revenge. 

His words of hope and human kindness 
  indicate the heart and center of his prophecy. 

Among my favorite prophetic words from Elie Wiesel 
  are especially relevant for us today: 
    used on March 10, 2015: 
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. 

- Elie Wiesel

You see, prophecy involves 
   more insight than foresight. 

We think of prophecy as prediction, 
  but the reality is more like proclamation of truth. 

The civil rights movement in the U.S. 
  has produced great prophets 
    in the Christian tradition. 

The best known is almost certainly 
  the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

From biblical times onward 
  there have been schools of the prophets. 

At least two of the books of prophets in the Bible 
  were written by followers of the prophets, 
    some of them even generations later: 
      Isaiah and Jeremiah were both like that. 

In our time, too, 
  there have been schools of prophets. 

Followers in the footsteps of MLK, Jr. 
  have carried on the tradition 
    of protest and proclamation. 

John Lewis of blessed memory, James Clyburn, 
  and Andrew Young are just a few of them. 

Andrew Young is of special interest to us UU's 
  because he is an ordained minister of the UUC, 
    the Christian denomination most closely related 
      (as I've mentioned before) 
        in history, faith, and practice 
          to our own living tradition. 

Prophets and Prophetesses, 
  Priests and Priestesses,
    and Kings and Queens 
      are important historical characters 
        and contemporary realities and metaphors. 

There are a great many lessons we can 
  and need to 
    learn from them all. 

I could easily begin a series of sermons 
  about each of those categories. 

I may just do that, 
  especially if I get (even just a little) encouragement 
    from you, the members of our church community. 

Amen. 

Blessed be. 

Let it be.