“The Good Fruit of True Prophecy”
Eighth Sunday After Trinity – August 2, AD 2009
St. Matthew 7:15 - 21
In our Gospel lesson today we hear Jesus give a warning about “false prophets.” A prophet in the Hebrew tradition was one who claimed to interpret or communicate a divine message from God to humans. In some cases, there would be an aspect of predicting future events, but in most instances a prophet would speak a received oracle from God that had particular relevance to the hearers at that time. There may or may not be associated with prophets some ecstatic experience or special signs and wonders. Some Old Testament prophets, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, were also priests while others, like Amos, were simple laymen or were associated with the royal court.
Throughout the history of the Hebrew people, false prophets received harsh condemnation from God’s true prophets for leading people astray while appearing to speak for God. For example, Jeremiah Chapter 23 concludes with God giving this warning to the false prophets: “Behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city which I gave to you and your fathers. And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.”
Following the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the early Christian movement also had experience with people who would prophesy. At Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2, the first apostles were filled with the Holy Ghost as tongues of fire rested on each one; and when the multitudes gathered at the sound of the mighty wind from heaven, everyone could hear each other “telling in their own tongues the mighty works of God.” The role of prophet and prophecy became an important part of the early church, with St. Paul acknowledging prophets as second to apostles in the body of Christ and with prophesying taking place as part of worship in some congregations.
There is some variance of opinion among scholars as to the nature of this prophesying. Some, like Dr. Mickey Efird of Duke Divinity School, assert that this prophesying is just like what I’m doing now – interpreting and proclaiming the already revealed Word of God. Others view it in a more Old Testament sense in which the one prophesying is speaking God’s actual words like the Old Testament prophets. Other authorities state that to prophesy is to report something that God has spontaneously brought to mind or revealed to the speaker but that this “something” isn’t the literal word of God, and therefore, must be tested or evaluated. We learn something about how to test such prophecy from today’s lesson.
Prophesying was not without problems as the number of prophets proliferated in the early church. In Acts 13, we hear that St. Paul and Barnabas travel to Cyprus and encounter the Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus or Elymus. Elymus was a magician friendly with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, and he was apparently upset that the proconsul had summoned St. Paul and Barnabas to hear the word of God. God acts through St. Paul as he confronts this false prophet, saying to him “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord. And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” When that was what happened next, the proconsul was astonished and believed. St. Paul obviously wasn’t concerned about being politically correct when confronting Elymus.
Other problems with prophesying are noted in 2 Peter, Chapter 2, where we hear of false prophets who are bringing in destructive heresies. Also, in Revelation 2:20, the prophetess Jezebel is described as teaching and beguiling people to practice immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols.
Whatever the nature of the prophesying in the New Testament, one thing is certain from today’s Gospel. That is, we will be able to discern the true nature of the prophet and of what is being “prophesied” by the fruits resulting from those words. Jesus makes clear a couple of other points as well. First, He warns us that falsehood and sin can come in the guise of something as unthreatening as a sheep. In order to see where that ravenous wolf might be lurking, you need to have some street smarts when it comes to what you hear from others, and be brutally honest with what you hear from deep within yourself. Second, he states that whatever is produced will reflect the true nature or essence of the thing that produced it. Figs don’t come from thistles. The fruit from a healthy tree will be qualitatively quite different and superior to the fruit from a diseased tree. It’s important to note Jesus isn’t saying that the nature of a thing can never be changed. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have grace, repentance, and salvation. Likewise, we wouldn’t have the constant threats from within and without to our spiritual health. We can move forward to heaven or backward to hell in a heartbeat, depending on what we allow to take possession of our heart. Last but not least, Jesus warns that hypocrisy will be outed at the last. “Not everyone who cries ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
What are we crying today? Is it “Lord, Lord – Thy will be done” or is it “Lord, Lord – when will my will be done?” What is burning within our hearts today? Is it that Pentecostal fire of the Holy Ghost, or are the sulfurous coals of the devil’s favorite place smoldering within us. Maybe the answers to those questions are prompting other questions like “What fruit am I producing?” “Is it good fruit?” “How will I know?” The answers to these questions are important. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them,” says Jesus.
My cry today is “Lord, Lord – help me, and us, to produce good fruit.” Our lesson tells us it’s the Father’s will that we do so. But what exactly is “good fruit” in a biblical sense? St. Paul in Galations, Chapter 9: 22-23, says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.” There are numerous other references to fruit in the New Testament. Fruit is associated with repentance, practicing the will of God, answered prayer, and winning unbelievers to Christ. These are the results God expects.
What results do we expect from ourselves and from our Church? Perhaps we can listen with the ears of the Thessalonian church as St. Paul instructs them on how to live in the Way of Christ:
“We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” [1 Thessalonians 5:28]
We are unable to live this way under our own power, but we can be confident that the harvest will be plentiful through the power of the Holy Ghost if we graft ourselves to the “True Vine” and center our heart and actions on these words of Jesus from St. John, Chapter 15:
“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” Amen.
And now unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all might, majesty, honor, and dominion, as is most justly due this day, both now and forever, Amen.