The Last Policeman and the Reluctant Prophet (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

Their world was ending, but it was no excuse for continued injustice.

Henry Palace always wanted to be a police detective ... ever since he was a boy and his mother was murdered. The detective leading that investigation explained every step to the young boy who had lost his mother. And, somehow, from that terrible crucible came a desire to investigate and solve crimes ... to see justice done.

And that’s what we find Henry trying to do when Ben Winter’s novel, The Last Policeman, begins. Only, a lot has changed since Henry was a boy. And now, a lot of people, including many of his peers among the detectives of the Concord, New Hampshire PD, are puzzled by his dedication.

You see, everyone has recently learned that a huge meteor is on its way to destroy all life on the planet. There are those who don’t quite see the point of pursuing law enforcement when, six months along, there may well be nothing left.

Most think Detective Henry Palace should just cool it. But someone —maybe more than one someone— wants him gone for good.

Oddly enough, in one of this week’s Lectionary scriptures, Amos encountered a similar mindset while delivering God’s prophecies to the northern kingdom of Israel. Local leaders wanted Amos to know that he, and all his talk of justice for the poor, was no longer welcome in the north. They begged him to go back to the south, to Judah, to peddle his prophesying there.

But, where Detective Henry Palace continued to insist he was a policeman and must press on in the pursuit of justice, Amos balked. Amos rejected the title of prophet, declaring, "I am no prophet!”

What was going on there? Why would God’s prophet reject the title of prophet? The answer: in that time, being called a prophet was tantamount to an insult. It implied you were just spouting whatever would earn you some money. Yes, some people, supposedly speaking for God, were telling other people whatever they wanted to hear just to get a payday. The title had fallen into such disrepute that God’s actual prophet could not abide being thought of as one.

Still, despite his reservations, Amos responded to God’s call. Unlike Jonah, who also objected to some aspects of being a prophet, Amos went where he was sent and did what he was told to do. He carried God’s message that Israel, because of the injustices leaders heaped upon their own people, was about to be devastated by a foreign invader, that death-and-destruction was on its way.

And so, like Detective Henry Palace, Amos pursued justice in the looming shadow of destruction, asking only that people do right by one another despite what was to come.

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PHOTO (and more about The Last Policeman by Ben Winters): https://www.amazon.com/Last-Policeman-Novel-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B0076Q1GW2

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 10 (15) (July 15, 2018)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
Psalm 24
Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29
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No matter what may be coming your way, consider taking some time to be with God’s people. Join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet at the Waco “Egg and I” Restaurant and begin at 8:00. An hour later, you will have read scripture, eaten breakfast, discussed how we can live, and laughed. Sounds nice.

Blessings,
Steve