Prophet, Priest, and King 

The three categories of prophet, priest, and king are ways of understanding religion and politics in ancient Israel and in our own time. 

 

In the delightful poem by Edward Lear, 

  the Owl and the Pussycat sailed away 

    for a year and a day in a beautiful pea green boat. 

It was a year and a day ago 

  that I first presented a sermon 

    on Prophets, Priests, and Kings. 

I offered to continue to speak on the subject, 

  even with just a little encouragement 

    from the congregation. 

I received an overwhelming response. 

A great many people wanted to hear more. 

Today begins my continuation of the subject matter. 

Its relevance continues for us 

  and for people all over the world. 

Many religious leaders would like to be prophets, 

  but few are capable of dealing with the rigors 

    of that sacred trust. 

Many political leaders 

  would like to be kings and queens, 

    but few are worthy of any such consideration. 

There are many priests among religious people, 

  whether they use the term of priest or not, 

    and they function in society 

      as leaders of religious and spiritual functions. 

Some of our priests are ordained 

  as official leaders of religious organizations. 

Many more are simply spiritual servants 

  of other people and of the wider world. 

Priesthood is both a function and an official office. 

Those who serve in both the function and the office 

  are often called, "Reverend," 

    although many of them 

      don't care much for the term. 

Every priest, bishop, pastor, or member of the clergy 

  is deeply aware that she or he is no more worthy 

    of being revered 

      than any other human being. 

This is exactly why I prefer the term, pastor. 

I'll say more about priests and priestesses, 

  and then I'll work my way backwards 

    through kings and queens 

      to prophets and prophetesses 

        before this sermon concludes. 

See? I just told you a little bit about 

  what I'm going to tell you. 

I'm openly using the sermon outline 

  that I spoke about a few weeks ago. 

Priests and Priestesses are often understood 

  primarily as go-betweens. 

Traditionally, they were thought to go between 

  people and God. 

Whether people today believe 

  in God or Goddess or both,    

    priests and priestesses can be understood 

      as going between 

        or bridging the gap 

          between people, each other,  

            and their spirituality. 

Remember that I understand spirituality 

  primarily as a matter of breathing. 

This doesn't mean that spirituality is limited 

  to a study of breath and breathing, 

    but the word "spirit" 

      does basically mean "breath." 

What this says to me 

  is that breath and breathing 

    provide us a paradigm for understanding 

      our relationship with the transcendent reality 

        of our place in the world and the universe. 

We all belong. 

We all have a function. 

Priests and priestesses are here 

  to help us understand

    how to use our unique abilities 

      to make the lives of others better. 

The function of a priest or priestess 

  is to help others understand their own function. 

No one can do this perfectly, of course. 

So a priest or priestess 

  needs their own priest or priestess, 

    their own pastor. 

A pastor is a shepherd. 

A pastor to pastors is a bishop. 

We UU's don't have bishops, 

  but we do have regional executives. 

Our own Pacific Western regional executive 

  recently spoke of the congregations in her care. 

By speaking this way, she described perfectly 

  the function of the bishop, 

    even if she isn't called a bishop. 

A bishop is a pastor to pastors and congregations. 

A reading from the Old Testament 

  a few Sundays ago 

    assigned by the Revised Common Lectionary 

      spoke about the shepherds of Israel. 

The Revised Common Lectionary 

  is a schedule of readings from the Bible 

    used by a number of denominations, 

      from the Roman Catholic Church 

        to the United Church of Christ (UCC), 

          (remember the word, UNITED, there), 

            the Christian denomination 

              most closely related to us UU's. 

Cindy Matthews tells me that one interpretation 

  of the abbreviation, UCC, is 

    Unitarians Considering Christ. 

The shepherds of Israel, as referenced 

  in the RCL reading recently 

    were the kings (and queens) of ancient Israel. 

Many people in Israel today 

  long for a king like the good ones of old. 

Although Netanyahu's name can be interpreted 

  as "gift from the Lord," 

    he has not quite measured up. 

Neither have other national leaders 

  who have aspired to be kings or dictators 

    in modern times. 

If I start talking about would-be kings, 

  I won't have time to say much else. 

So I will simply say that national leaders in our time 

  are far more effective 

    if they turn away from too much power

      and work for the well being of the people 

        entrusted to their care. 

Actual monarchs, such as the king of Spain, 

  the Queen of England, and the Queen of Denmark, 

    have often done better in caring for their people 

      than elected leaders have done 

        in many other places. 

My point in saying this is not to debate

  various systems of choosing leaders of nations

    but to show how leadership itself 

      is meant to be a form of stewardship, 

        providing care for the people 

          rather than a method of self aggrandizement. 

Beginning with our first president, 

  George Washington, 

    the USA has had many such leaders. 

Other leaders have not done so well as shepherds. 

Those who address the problem of leaders 

  who are not shepherds 

    are generally prophets and prophetesses. 

Sometimes an entire system of government 

  is brought down 

    by the testimony of a prophet, 

      at least in part. 

In the former Soviet Union, 

  the witness and testimony of the great prophet, 

    Alexander Solzhenitzyn contributed 

      far more to the fall of that unjust system 

        than most people realize. 

In South Africa Nelson Mandela 

  famously contributed to the fall 

    of the unjust apartheid system of government. 

In the U.S.A., the prophet, Martin Luther King, 

  contributed greatly to the continuing collapse 

    of the complicated and unjust system 

      of racial discrimination known as Jim Crow. 

Although there are today attempts 

  at reinstating portions of the Jim Crow system, 

    I believe that they are doomed to failure, 

      partly because of prophets 

        who are speaking out against those attempts. 

Prophets are not primarily concerned 

  with making predictions. 

One way of describing the function of prophets 

  is to say that they comfort the afflicted 

    and afflict the comfortable. 

In doing so 

  they contribute to the well being of all people. 

Social justice calls on everyone 

  to care for other people, 

    and prophets call on us all to do exactly that. 

So prophets are advocates for social justice. 

In this way a prophet may seem to be political, 

  but there is much more 

    to a prophet’s work than that. 

In every community there are prophets 

  to this very day, 

    and they are constantly calling us 

      to see and to live in the truth, 

        even when the truth is uncomfortable. 

For this very reason 

  prophets are not always popular people. 

Their lives may be at risk 

  from the powers that be 

    and from the people whose wealth and power 

      the prophets may threaten. 

The rest of us can do the work 

  of hearing and heeding the words of the prophets, 

    which are not always, but sometimes, 

      written on the subway walls, 

        as in the "Sounds of Silence" 

          by Simon and Garfunkel. 

At any rate, 

  the words of the prophets 

    are very often in unexpected places. 

The rest of us can look 

  in those unexpected places 

    and share the words of our own prophets 

      as well as others 

        to promote the mindfulness and well being 

          which the prophets themselves 

            are advocating. 

So the prophet, the priest, and the king, 

  as well as the prophetess, 

    the priestess, and the queen 

      are the people in every community 

        providing a view of well being, 

          guidance, and leadership 

            for us all. 

As we participate in their work, 

  we also become part of the well being, 

    the peace (Salaam, Shalom) 

      of our own times and places. 

Amen. 

So let it be. 

Blessed be.