New prophecy?

We had an interesting comment by the preacher in church today.   He was saying that whenever he preaches, he tries to have something fresh, something new and prophetic to say.

Now I whole-heartedly agree that preaching should be prophetic.   It should challenge people, show them what God is saying to them through the Bible, feed them with truth, and encourage them in their day-to-day lives.   And above all, it should point to Jesus.

Now, my understanding of ‘prophetic’ is not that it is all about predicting the future (although it often does include that).   Much of the prophecy in the Old Testament consists of the the prophets reminding the people of God’s promises, to bless them if they are faithful, and to punish them if they are not.   Granted, that included predicting the consequences of their disobedience, but essentially they were calling the people to remember God’s word and his promises, and to be obedient.

Now that will sometimes include something ‘new’.   That is, a fresh way of putting something, or teaching people something they didn’t already know.   However, my reflections on the Old Testament prophets is that very often the people did know what they were being told, they were simply choosing to ignore it.   Or, they needed to be shown or told something they already knew in a different way.

I think that preachers should not be too worried about having something ‘new’ to say, but having something faithful to say - faithful to God’s word.   The challenge comes not from what the preacher comes up with that is new or fresh, but from the word of God itself.

All this, the preacher tonight would agree with - his comment simply set me off on a train of thought!