The gospel this morning is a sizzler. What we've got here is a deliciously dirty scandal that has it all--suspense, intrigue, gore. It's such a good story in fact, that we may be distracted enough to miss it's very important purpose. Actually you see it's a story within a story. Jesus has just sent the disciples out on their first foray into the world. They are to preach and teach and if they can they are to heal. It's a big assignment. They will come back all enthused and excited but in order to give the sense that time is passing, the story writer Mark must separate their leaving and their coming back. He does this with this story, the story of John the Baptist's death.
Mark, I am sure, did not pick this story haphazardly. We have here the classic flashback. Herod has been hearing rumors about this man Jesus, who seems to be some kind of prophet, though people aren't quite sure what to make of him Some say he is one of the prophets of old, some say Elijah. But Herod, when he hears of this, says, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised." The rumors remind him of an incident from his own past, something he wishes never happened, something he wishes he could forget. But he can't forget, because he was responsible. He was responsible for murder, the worst kind of murder; the unwarranted, indefensible killing of an innocent man, a good man, a holy man. True, he'd been a problem, this John, a real thorn in his side. He'd criticized Herod for his marriage to Herodias. He'd even called him a sinner, and not just to his face, which would have been bad enough. John denounced him publicly, in the shrill, insistent voice of a prophet. This John the Baptist was not easily dismissed, like some guy standing on a street corner, screaming his lunacy to whomever would listen. Sure, John looked that part, with his rough clothes and unkempt hair. The difference was the people actually listened, took him seriously. His words had a ring of truth for these Jews, Herod's subjects. He backed up his claims with their own Scripture. What Herod did was against God's law. It was right there in Leviticus, for any good Jew to read. Herod married Herodias, who had been his brother's wife, not to mention his own niece. Moreover, to do this, he had conveniently rid himself of his own wife. It was a nasty little affair, really. But all's fair in love and war, right? Not so, says John. It was sin, pure and simple. And John made sure Herod and every one else knew it.
If John was a thorn in Herod's side, he was a bur under his wife's skin. Herodias hated him for speaking the truth, for exposing their sin. So she plotted, looking for a way to do away with him. Finally, as our text says, "an opportunity came." We don't know from the account if Salome's dance was her idea, or simply a convenient opportunity. Either way, she was ready. We all know what happened next in this flash from Herod's past. So taken was he with Salome's dancing, that he promised her anything she wanted, even up to half his kingdom. As a puppet king of Rome, he had no authority to give away so much as a vacant lot, but he talked big, and he gave his word. Anything she wanted, that was his promise. What a chance! There followed a whispered consultation in another room, while Herod waited with his guests. All his courtiers and officers were there, all "big names," all the "beautiful people." All waited to hear Salome's request. Finally she returned with her answer. "Give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter." No mere execution would do. It had to be one designed to bring humiliation even in death, and to send a clear message to any other would-be critics of her majesty. Her request put Herod in a quandary, a moral dilemma. He knew John was "a righteous and holy man," as Mark tells us. Surely, then, he knew John spoke the truth, and it was a truth that judged him. It was a truth that annoyed him, that frightened him. But it intrigued him, nonetheless. Still there was face to save, honor to be kept, the world to confront so the head of John the Baptist it would be.
This story is a graphic reminder of what happens to people who tell the truth to the world. This story is meant to make a comment about what discipleship in the world might mean. Oh the disciples will have a very good experience on their first jaunt out. They will be able to see the kingdom's presence in all that they do. But Mark, the gospel writer, wants to be sure that we know that isn't how it will always be when disciples go out to preach the kingdom and to tell the truth. Mark wants us to know that when the disciples go out to do the work of the kingdom, when the church rises up to be the church, that the world rises up to be the world. So the disciples go out to preach the gospel...well good. But don't forget, John the Baptist preached the kingdom too and the world snuffed him out. So, the disciples go out to cast out demons and to heal...well good. But don't forget , John the Baptist sought to heal the demons that raged in King Herod and it cost him his life. Mark wants us to know that when the church rises up to be the church the world rises up to be the world.
Now we might want to quibble with Mark's analysis of the way things are. That may not be indicative of our experience. We might want to give testimony to the fact that when we have brought the words of Jesus to the world we have been applauded and blessed. Mark would understand that I think. According to Mark, at first Herod did not want to harm John, he just wanted to domesticate him. As long as Herod could keep him in chains, Herod would willingly listen to John's ravings. But when push came to shove, Herod was just as sorry as he could be but John had to go. When the church rises up to be the church the world rises up to be the world.
Listen to these worlds from a sermon, a sermon like any other:
In the gospel of Christ ...one must not love oneself so much as to avoid getting involved in the risks of life that history demands of us...the experiences of a new earth must not weaken but rather stimulate our concerns for this earth...May we give ourselves like Christ, not for self, but to give justice and peace to our people.
It's just a sermon, right? Just like any other;
just the church going about it's business being the church, right?
The only thing is, I left out part of it. The part I left out
is that right after the preacher said "May we give ourselves
like Christ , not for self, but to give justice and peace to our
people," a shot rang out in the sanctuary and the preacher,
Archbishop Romero of El Salvador, was dead. Mark wants
us to know that when the church rises up to be the church the
world rises up to be the world.
Mark wants his readers to know that, but he wants them to
know something else as well. He also wants us to know that when
the world rises up to be the world, Jesus Christ rises from the
dead. In fact, Mark tells us that when Herod found out about the
church being the church, he slapped his forehead and exclaimed
something like, "I thought I had that nailed down, Jesus
Christ. Somebody's been raised from the dead!"
Mark wants us to know that you can not nail down Jesus. When the world is being the world, Jesus Christ is being Lord. As Luther put it in the great hymn: "the body they may kill/ God's truth abideth still/ his kingdom is forever..."
This past week, at the ELCA Youth Gathering in St. Louis I heard Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak. He began his speech by saying that the world was watching South Africa. He said the world governments and the world powers looked at Apartheid in South Africa and said, "This situation will never end without horrible revolution and massive bloodletting." But he said it did. Then the world watched as the first ballots were cast in a democratic society, ballots of blacks and of whites and the world said "A democracy can never be built on the decades of hatred and oppression." But he said, it is being built. And he said do you know why this was able to happen. He said "I am totally convinced that peace was possible because you, the people of the world were praying for us." Peace was possible because you were praying for us. When the world is being the world, Jesus Christ is being Lord.
So go out this day to be the church. Don't take two coats, a bag of money, an insurance policy or anything else that you think may protect you as you do Christ's work in the world. Nothing can spare you from the evil intents of the Herods of this world. Take only the Gospel and your confident faith that, when all is said and done, all the Herods of the world will say, "Somebody has been raised from the dead. The power we thought was nailed down in the world is loose again in the world."
Amen.