Based on Acts 7:55-60, 1Peter 2:4-10, John 14:1-7
Throughout human history there have been people who have been able to access the divine and be granted insights into God’s preferred future. These people have been known as “seers” and have occupied roles as shamans, oracles, prophets and sometimes charlatans. Notable seers in the Bible include Samuel, Nathan, Asaph, Hanani and Gad. There have also been numerous high-profile religious frauds who sought to part innocent and vulnerable people from their money by telling them “thus sayeth the Lord” without first receiving any divine insight or vision.
According to “Biblehub.com” seers and prophets serve similar roles. They write, “…A prophet, from the Hebrew word ‘navi,’ is one who is called to speak forth the words of God. Prophets serve as intermediaries between God and humanity, delivering messages that include warnings, judgments, promises, and revelations of future events. The role of a prophet is not limited to foretelling the future but also includes forth-telling, which involves proclaiming God's truth and calling people to repentance and obedience. A seer, from the Hebrew word ‘ro'eh’ or ‘chozeh,’ is often associated with one who receives visions or insights from God. While all seers are prophets, not all prophets are specifically referred to as seers….”
The scriptures that we have heard today speak to us about how our faith can lead us to be seers in our day. Stephen, who would become the first martyr of the new Jesus movement, has been delivering a soliloquy for much of the preceding chapter. He has been hauled before a tribunal because he was falsely accused, like Jesus, of crimes against Judaism. He becomes a seer after receiving a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God Almighty and then sharing that vision with his persecutors. This was enough for the Jewish leaders to convict him of heresy and condemn him to be stoned to death. Like Jesus, Stephen forgave them for not realizing what they were doing.
The writer of 1Peter is describing to believers how to live into the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus. The writer is reminding all believers in the Risen Christ that they have become part of God’s chosen people. As such, they are to witness to those who do not believe so that they don’t continue to stumble for lack of faith. Once, these converts had been like those who don’t believe in Jesus, but now they are the people of God who have received God’s grace. The believers are connected to God and thus can be seers to nonbelievers to help them come into grace.
Jesus is speaking his final farewell to the Disciples in the Gospel of John. This farewell takes up the next four chapters and includes some of the most important teachings of Jesus in John’s Gospel. Jesus is trying to help the Disciples understand that he will be leaving soon and that they have the ability to carry on the work that he began. Jesus tells them that he goes ahead of them to prepare a place for them to be with him always. He tells them to not let their hearts be troubled over this, but to trust that what Jesus tells them is true. They are connected to God through Jesus as they follow his way in truth and faithfulness. They will function as seers for those who will come and in this way help to bring God’s kingdom into being here on earth.
God’s grace and presence make it possible for us to be seers; to be blessed by the ability to connect closely with God and then share what we receive with others. Seers are given insights and sometimes visions from God about how to help God’s people move forward on their faith journey. Many people have been given insights as to how God wants to move us forward in our relationships with other humans and with God. The writer of 1Peter relates the insight that we who believe in Jesus the Risen Christ become living stones like him being built through God’s grace into a holy and living temple. We follow the chief architect of our faith and in so doing, we are enabled to help complete the structure. Each baptism we witness, each new member that is added is another potential seer – another opportunity to build God’s kingdom here on earth.
Each and every believer becomes another holy priest and part of the holy nation of the Body of Christ at work in the world. As God’s chosen people, we are granted through God’s mercy and grace, the ability to discern how God is calling us as individuals and as a holy people to help God transform the earth into God’s kingdom. The Resurrection happened so that we would see that there is no barrier, not even death, that can separate us from God. As Paul wrote to the Roman believers in the eighth chapter, “… Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord….”
The great seers of our spiritual traditions like Martin Luther King, Jr, and his mentor Howard Thurman – were people of deep faith and intentional prayer. I believe that Bishop Desmond Tutu, Dorothy Day, John and Charles Wesley, Sojourner Truth, and countless faithful people across time have been granted insight and visions from God to be able to move our human condition a little bit farther along the path toward salvation.
How about you…have you ever received visions or spiritual insights from God? When I have been granted God-given insights, it has always been the result of praying to God and listening intently for guidance – I have not tried to influence God to lead me in a particular direction but trusted that God would guide me as God knew best. It is how I ended up here with all of you – speaking about what insights and visions I receive from God and doing my best to help you follow Jesus into the way, truth and life that he promised.
God calls us to live as Easter people in our day and time. To live as people who embody intentional and faithful prayer; trusting prayer that allows us to patiently await God’s insights and visions – and then are bold enough to share those with each other and the wider world. The truth of our faith is that each of us has the ability to be a seer to help guide this congregation and our community toward living into the mind and heart of Jesus. Our future as a church and as the people of God depend upon the presence of seers in our midst. May God’s grace continue to raise up seers among us so that we can help God transform our lives and world. Amen and amen!