How to be a Minor Prophet
Imagining the world "otherwise"
Prophet Zechariah, Michelangelo
I will strengthen the house of Judah,
and I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back because I have compassion on them,
and they shall be as though I had not rejected them;
for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them.
Zechariah 10.6
The readings for the next few weeks leading to Advent include selections from the minor prophets. If you’ve never read Zephaniah, Joel, Habakkuk, or Zechariah, now’s your chance! I think prophets have been poorly caricatured in Christianity. They are either depicted as “predictors” who told the future or “activists” who dared to speak truth to power. It’s true that sometimes the prophets anticipated what was coming, not because they had some special magic, but because they knew God’s character. And yes, prophets sometimes called for justice, but not always. At their core, prophets were poets who helped others see the world as a place in which God acted.
T.S. Eliot once claimed that every culture needs major as well as minor poets. Eliot thought the distinction between them had less to do with the length of writing (as with the Biblical prophets) and more with focus. The major poets, who are few and far between, provide enduring expressions of the deep truths of life. They usually change culture in significant ways, but they rarely lead well-balanced lives. Minor poets have a more modest goal (and probably a more balanced life). They attempt to connect that truth to the everyday lives of particular people in particular places. That’s what the minor prophets did. They revealed God’s grace for their own time and place. They imagined the world “otherwise” for the people they were connected to. And now it’s our turn. Few of us will be considered major prophets, but we could all be minor ones.
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