Tearfund Lent Devotional Day 38

The prophetic voice

‘His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.’ (Jeremiah 20:9, NIV)

‘Prophecy is the voice that God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor, to the profaned riches of the world. It is a form of living, a crossing point of God and humanity.’ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Piety isn’t clean. The way of Christ isn’t gilded. It is a ragged, dogged, dreadfully-felt thing.

It is the psalmist smashing together hope and despair at the bottom of a bone-lined pit. It is the prophet hammering at the walls of the temple, shouting until their throat bleeds that God’s cold fury is set upon those who allow injustice to exist. It is the woman wiping tears and perfume on Jesus – the rabbi who pointed out that it is not the rich or powerful who are blessed; that love doesn't look like your comfort.

Piety is a group of dreamers huddled in a small room, dangerously bold, trading whispers of revelation. The pious are radicals. They are found at the edges – rooted in justice and mercy and a wild each-otherness. They walk humbly, but relentlessly.

This is our call; the call of the prophetic.

God, I open myself to you. I choose to become your voice in the world. I want to feel what you feel, and to act accordingly. Amen.

Gideon Heugh

Gideon writes for Tearfund and is a poet and environmentalist