The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost - the Pastor's Sermon - 15 July 2012

(The Text of our congregation's Indoor Picnic service's sermon - late but  present. The pot-luck-picnic was suberb!)

Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.

• Someone has said that the Good News that the Gospel is about cannot be found in this passage from Mark. The story of the beheading of John the Baptizer is a tawdry and cheap one. Herod the tetrarch is manipulated into executing John because the girl's dance “pleased Herod and his guests” and I don't want to go into what all that could mean. Suffice it to say that John was executed because Herod was weak in all his strength and because John was strong in all his weakness.
• Herod was weak in his strength because he had power, real power in the earthly sense. He could order the death of an enemy on a whim or order that person's release. He could make or break people.
• His weakness shows in a few areas: he doesn't want to go back on his rash oath and he doesn't want to appear anything less than magnanimous in front of his guests. He is grieved by what he has said but he'd lose face if he doesn't grant the girl's request. He also was so pleased by the dance his daughter did that he promised her up to half his kingdom. The subtext is one of lust, even for his daughter. The fact that he would permit his daughter to dance before him and the dignitaries of his kingdom carries the implication that he was shameless in his dealing with his family. Of course, that is already known because of his marriage to his sister-in-law. He receives his just reward later in his life when he styles himself a “king” without the emperor's permission and he and his wife are exiled to what is now France.
• On John's side is the strength in his weakness. He had no authority on earth, yet he spoke the Word of God fearlessly and maybe recklessly. He confronted Herod with nothing but righteousness and the Word of God on his side. That was enough to stir Herod conscience, who was perplexed by John's preaching, yet enjoyed listening to him. Still, all this was not enough to allow John to keep his head in the face of anger, jealousy, pettiness, and the desire of the powerful to be right in all things.
• If we look at it this way, there is no good news here. The Word of God is silenced for a while by the sword of the powerful. This, of course, is not true since Jesus and his disciples are preaching what John preached. Herod even believes that Jesus in John raise to life again.
• In a word, John was executed for being faithful. He spoke the truth to power without regard for the consequences he might face. As we say last week in the person of the prophet Ezekiel and in the mission of the Twelve which can be found in the verses just prior to today's reading. None of them were promised success nor were they charged to succeed, Prophets and disciples are asked to be faithful to their call, which John certainly was... to the shedding of his blood.
• That might be good news in a backward sort of way, but the Gospel story itself tell us that as prophet and apostles and Jesus himself were opposed and faced loss, we should expect to as well. This is NOT a comforting thought, nor is it an easy message to preach.
• We are left with a message that is news in a way. We hear a message that what we believe will be belittled and opposed and rejected.
• We also hear a message that tells us how much the world needs the Gospel. In the person of Herod, we see many of the weakness and sins that still may be found in our present day and in our present place.
• Things may not have changed all that much and a story like this shows us how much the world around us needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It shows us how much we need the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• In this, we can also be aware of the cost of being a disciple. John the Baptizer followed the direction that the Spirit led him and it cost him his life. Jesus did the same thing and we all know that that led to. The apostles were all either martyred or exiled. If we look at so many of the major personalities in the life of the Church throughout the ages, we will always see that there is a price for following Jesus.
• It is very important to understand that discipleship costs and failure is involved. The message of the Gospel is always uncomfortable and will be opposed.
• Those who wish to earn their salvation or make their own salvation, those who wish to make demands on God and who decide they deserve this or that from the Almighty are uncomfortable with the Gospel of grace.
• Those who wish to exclude some other person or some other group from the Kingdom of God because of a reason they hold to themselves are uncomfortable with the Gospel of grace preached to all.
• Those who want an easy road to an eternal reward, a way paved with “cheap grace” with no sign of the Cross are uncomfortable with the Gospel.
• We'll end today with the wise words of the British Christian writer, C.S.Lewis, who wrote eloquently and wrote a lot about our faith. He always realized the challenges and costs of discipleship, and he always realized the value of fidelity to discipleship.
• “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
  ― C.S. Lewis