Today I learned that Bob Dylan was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature for his writings which are song lyrics, a children’s book, a memoir, and other prose thrown in for good measure. Hardly voluminous, I say he was recognized because of his impact, which was that of a prophet.
What do you picture as you hear the word “prophet”? Maybe you see a social activist like Ralph Nader or a foreteller like Nostradamus or protester like Nelson Mandela. Work with me on this. A prophet is less a predictor of the future than a teller of hard truths we mostly shy away from. A prophet is less foreteller, more “forthteller,” giving voice to unpopular truth we need to hear, but often suppressed and unwelcome, because giving articulation to such things means change.
Walter Brueggeman, a United Church of Christ Biblical scholar, goes to the heart of the matter claiming: “the task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.” Prophets criticize dominant outlooks, energize new directions, and pose clear alternatives.
Prophets are contrarians capable of perceiving other realities than the status quo when the rest of us can only see “what is” as inevitable and permanent. And depending on if the prophet lives amid tyranny or in freedom, they’re sometimes stoned and other times granted high accolades.
Bob Dylan was ahead of the curve and unbending in his determination of things needing to be heard. Whether it was the dignity of all races or the raging of pointless wars, the environment or spiritual transformation (later in his career), Bob Dylan was out there before the rest of us. His award is well-chosen in my estimation because pioneers of the new realities we are living into deserve credit for the very real risks and the demanding sacrifices they make. Prophets are not just figures of the past like Moses or Jeremiah, but they speak in our own day, if we’ll hear. If you don’t believe me, ask member Roland Clough about Benjy Melendez’s work in the Bronx.
But here’s what I truly want to say. Rather than being cranky activists, real prophets have the heart and soul of a poet. That description fits Dylan from his origins to his more recent work. So why not let his poetry to speak for itself? A favorite of mine came out my first year of ministry:
“You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you’re going to have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re going to have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re going to have to serve somebody
You may be a construction worker working on a home
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome
You might own guns and you might even own tanks
You might be somebody’s landlord, you might even own banks
But you’re going to have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re going to have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re going to have to serve somebody
You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side
You may be working in a barbershop
You may know how to cut hair
You may be somebody’s mistress, may be somebody’s heir
But you’re going to have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re going to have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re going to have to serve somebody”
“Gotta Serve Somebody” on “Slow Train Coming,” 1979