Delivered on Sunday 02 September 2007 in St George's Chapel

Habakkuk 2

A little while ago, a little concerned at the prospect of a new week I thought I would seek some support and advice from my old friend Mystic Meg. For me (as for all Geminis) she had this to offer:

The sun and Pluto set up a link between travel and love. This means someone working away is thinking of you. A chance to work or study in a new location, even if it's just for a while, could lead to special success for you. A handwritten message on a card is the key to luck.

It was all a little baffling. I can hardly imagine who it is that is thinking of me while working away; I have had no opportunity to work in a new location (not even for a little while); and the only handwritten message I can remember ran something like this: gone to collect the children; put on the spuds (I can't quite see how that will bring me luck!). And however confused I might be there will have been virgos out there that week searching madly for a partner with one special characteristic - that they practise Judo. Of course, I don't take this stuff seriously; I think it's all hogwash. The business of predicting the future is a difficult and sometimes dangerous occupation.

But I tell you about mystic meg this morning because what she does, ties in well with what many think about the prophets. If the Old Testament styled prophets were around today I bet they would feel exasperated by the question: And what do you do? I know myself it is the dreaded question of every dinner party. 'Hello, I'm James, I'm a merchant banker, and what is it that you do?' Frankly, I don't know. What do you say? I'm a priest - but how come you're married. I'm a canon of Windsor - oh, you work for the army. I'm the steward, responsible for building works - have you any experience in that line of work; eh, no, any chance we could change the subject? Well your Old Testament prophet would face the same dilemma. He'd get to dinner and no sooner had he walked in the door than someone would pop the question: and what do you do? I'm a prophet. Oh really, so you can tell the future, good oh, so what's going to win the 3.45 at Newmarket on Saturday? The horse racing inquiry is a natural one to make if your question is firmly based on this notion that prophet equates to someone who has a special knowledge of the future. But is this what a prophet does? Does he predict the future?

A close reading of the texts will show that what prophets did was more akin to social and cultural criticism. They would analyse society and point out the problems; they would explain that the continuation of such behaviour would lead to God's judgment; and they would make a call for repentance and change. Very few of the prophets were status quo merchants! And Habakkuk, from whom we heard this morning was no exception.

His is a short book and the piece we heard is from the central chapter, essentially his critique of society. He points out five areas of crucial difficulty - theft, exploitation, violence, debauchery, idolatry. Habakkuk reminds his listeners that God cares not only about what happens in an individual's life but also about what happens in history itself. Habakkuk wants his people to reshape their lives, to rethink their social loyalties and values.

The curious thing about Habakkuk is - as I pointed out last week - his words are as apposite today as they were when he first delivered them over two and a half thousand years ago. This is partly because of the nature of prophetic utterances - they are indeed directly applicable to a particular situation but they are also part of the Word of God and are therefore never exhausted; they remain appropriate. But it is also because there are some things that appear to remain constant about human behaviour. If Habakkuk was worried about theft, greed, violence and debauchery, we too have every reason to be concerned. If you live in a political system that is thoroughly capitalist then you must always be on your guard against the institutionalisation of greed. If you live in a society where it is acceptable for young people to play games of violence - and what violence - you must always be on your guard against the devaluation of life itself. If you live in a society where human rights are of constant concern and human responsibilities are consistently ignored, then you must always be on your guard against those forces that work against compassionate ways of life - for such forces do not understand sharing but only the satisfaction of personal desires.

Habakkuk brings his five woes to a climax in his fifth charge, the one where he speaks about idolatry. It's a climax because it is here that he shows us how he understands the other problems of his society. Greed, violence, sex, exploitation are all, in and of themselves, kinds of idolatry. Greed, for example, is the idolatry of things - in our language you might call it rife consumerism. But - and Habakkuk would be quick to point this out - it is not the action of buying things, or of consuming things that is the problem; the problem is our attitude towards consumption. When your heart is set on consumerism or violence or beauty or learning - then there is your God. As Martin Luther put it: 'Wherever I hang my heart, there's my God'. But, he warns, remember that it is possible to hang your heart somewhere that cannot bear its weight. The place where you hang your heart, that in which you place your hopes, your desire, might nevertheless be something of nothing, a kind of chasing after the wind. Habakkuk puts it eloquently: in idols 'there is no breath'.

Habakkuk's call then and now is a cry for the reshaping of society, for an examination of social loyalties and values. It is a call to discipline, to a way of life, to the way that follows God and not idols. As our Lord himself put it:

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself'.