Dionysus on a Bike

1 Samuel 3:1-9 – 6/16/2026

When God called Samuel in the sanctuary, it was at time when the biblical narrator says there were no prophetic revelations that “broke forth.” It’s unclear whether this means that no prophets were seeing visions from God or that those who were seeing visions from God were not recognized, their visions having not “broken forth.” Whichever of these two interpretations is meant, the people did not believe or experience those whom they perceived as prophets coming with the word of God.

The Lutherans that I am aware of in 2026 do not believe that the word of God is “rare.” Indeed we believe that the word of God is spoken every Sunday through the preaching of the law and gospel of God’s message to us. While the word itself is not rare, “visions” or prophetic revelations where a specific individual has been given unique access to God’s word are virtually unheard of in contemporary Lutheranism. Like in Samuel’s time, prophetic visions do not break forth among us. If they occur at all, we do not hear about them, recognize them, or speak of them. While Lutherans certainly do not believe that God has gone silent, there is not prophetic tradition within Lutheranism that I am aware of. There certainly is not such a tradition in the Lutheran spaces I have frequented.

Lutherans are a reserved bunch. As someone who grew up outside of Lutheranism, though I am somewhat reserved myself, I am not compared to the Lutherans I met. Among the midwestern Lutherans I have spent time around, I am on the outgoing, outspoken end of the spectrum. I cannot imagine someone with the charisma of a prophet coming into a Lutheran space and being taken seriously. There are some advantages to this attitude. Prophetic charisma and claims to prophetic insight can often be used to manipulate, deceive, and mislead people away from loving relationships with others toward hate, self-destruction, and intolerance. Guarding against those who claim to have special access to revelation protects against those who would exploit other people’s openness.

There is a clear disadvantage to the Lutheran attitude as well. While dismissing or being guarded against prophetic charisma is protective, it can also close people off to new insight, new leadership, and new inspired ways of understanding and experiencing the faith. Part of the Christian life is always being willing to grow and change to better follow the commands to love. Though prophecy can lead people away from love, it can also lead people to a greater understanding of ability to love.

Other branches of the Christian faith are far more open to the idea that individuals can receive visions and words from God. Though there is some charismatic tradition in Lutheranism elsewhere, in my communities it is non-existent. What would it look like for Lutherans to be more open to this work of the Spirit? What changes do Lutherans need to make to be open to prophecy without succumbing to the pitfalls of false prophets? I do not have the answers to these questions, but they are worth exploring. Most important though is how respond to the commands to love and the promises of God to be faithful to us. Insofar as attentiveness to visions breaking forth distracts us from love and the promise, it is dangerous, but if we can be open to visions breaking forth in support of love, then we should try to be more open to the new works God is doing.

Reflections of a Dionysian Lutheran, comments on the daily readings of the Revised Common Lectionary by Justin Marquis