4th Sunday After Pentecost: What Is A Prophet’s Reward?

As prophets arise all over the United States, Lindsey and Adam reflect on Matthew 10: 40-42. “Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward…”

What is a prophet’s reward?

Jesus also said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.”

Those who bear witness to injustice, speak truth to power, and rise up to challenge a status quo built on inequity are lauded as heroes… except by the authorities and those who benefit from the status quo in their own nation. Right now, we are witnessing the crackdown of authority on the prophets of our time, as militarized police and the National Guard enforce curfews and often use excessive force in response to Black Lives Matter protests. Several people have died; hundreds more have been injured.

And the officers quelling protests are the front lines of the system of injustice and racism created and sustained by racism, scapegoating, and sacrificial order. The blood of the prophets is on the hands of everyone not working to transform injustice. Lindsey and Adam recognize their own accountability as well.

So, a prophet’s reward is scorn, injury, and death.

But.

As the Spirit of Truth moves through the world, and more and more people stand with the prophets, change happens.

The prophet’s reward becomes hope. Transformation. And ultimately, justice.

We become prophets when we let the Holy Spirit speak through us. And as that happens, truth dispels the fog of racism, of over-againstness. Love casts out fear. Mercy casts out sacrifice.

Even the smallest actions we take in the spirit of Love ripple through the world, replacing the crumbling foundation of injustice with the firm foundation of compassion. Even a cold cup of water given to the vulnerable helps to build a world of love.