Sermon 7-13-03
The Messenger - Mark 6:14-29
(view lectionary notes for this text)
Our gospel lesson today is one of the vivid stories, one of the accounts with images that leap right of the page, making it easy for us as current day readers to step into the story. Today we read of the account of the beheading of John the Baptist, an act of murder committed at the command of a young woman, carrying out the manipulative orders of her mother. This story reads somewhat like a soap opera - King Herod is married to Herodias. Herodias was the wife of Herod's brother, Phillip. Such a marriage between Herod and Herodias was considered unlawful. Herod knew it, his wife knew it, and John the Baptist knew it too.
Who is this John the Baptist, anyway? He is, of course, Jesus' relative, connected through John's mother Elizabeth and Jesus' mother Mary. And Jesus and John have run in the same circles, both preaching and teaching to the crowds, calling people to live different lives, changed and repentant lives. But something separated Jesus and John, similar though their ministries were. John knew his role from the beginning. A bit older than Jesus, John started his ministry earlier, and he preached a special message. "Prepare the way of the Lord," he declared. "Repent, be baptized, your sins are forgiven you." He was the messenger. He testified to the light of the world, but he himself was not the light. He would say that he was not fit to untie even the thong of Christ's sandal. John was the messenger, and Jesus was the message. Still, John was important to Jesus - Jesus, despite John's protests, came to him to be baptized. John was an agent in the beginning of Christ's ministry. And even when Jesus began his own work among the people, John continued to preach and teach for repentance.
It was John's demand for truth and righteousness that landed him in jail, when he continued to criticize not just anybodies, but the rulers of the region, calling out the King for his indiscretions. To keep him quiet, Herod had him thrown in jail. It is after these events that we come to today's text.
Last week we read that Jesus had sent the disciples out two by two to preach and heal in the towns and villages. Today we read that because of the works of the apostles in the area, a buzz was rising - word was getting around that something was happening. That word got to King Herod, and he was quite confused. By the time he heard about the works of the disciples, he had already had John put to death. So he was alarmed - the buzz about the disciples sounded like the same kind of trouble he had had over John. Mark recounts the death of John in sort of a flashback sequence. Herod hears about the disciples, and is forced to think back about the recent events of John's death:
The disciples are casting out demons and curing those who were sick, as we read last week. People begin to speculate that John has been raised again in Jesus or the disciples, sensing the same power working in Jesus as in John. But Herod knows that John is dead. He has a guilty conscience, because he knows he acted unjustly. Despite disliking John's accusations against him, Herod was intrigued by this man. He was afraid of John and John's power. Obviously, he did not like to hear how wrong his actions were, but out of fear and some sense of fascination, he had been protecting Herod even in prison. We read that he was "greatly perplexed" by John, but that yet still he liked to listen to him. What was it about John that got to Herod? Herod must have sensed something of the truth in John's message. He must have known that John was legitimate, that his message was correct.
But as soon as an easy out arose, Herod took it. When his daughter Salome danced for him, pleased with her, he promised her anything she desired. Prompted by her mother, who was eager to be rid of John, she quickly asked for John's head. Now it was decision time for Herod - back out of his promise and risk the humiliation, or follow through and get rid of John and his problems in one move. Claiming he couldn't go back on his word, Herod had John killed.
As readers of this story, we must ask ourselves if Herod's claims were true, and if his options were really what he claimed they were. Was Herod tricked into killing John the Baptist? Was he forced into giving into Salome? Would his friends and guest have turned on him or mocked him if he refused her? It seems highly unlikely. Who would offer something to a child, and then follow through no matter how unreasonable the demand? After all, Herod was not just a nobody - he was the king. The power was his - the power over John's life was his, and the power over his family was his alone as well. Herod held all the cards in his hand.
So why does he give into Salome, knowing that she cannot really force his hand? Why does he follow through and execute John, knowing, as we read, that John was a righteous and holy man? The truth is that Herod feared John most because of John's message. He was dazzled by John, yes, intrigued. But he did not want to hear John's message. Hearing John's message would mean changing his life. So, in the end, it was easy for Herod to have John put to death. He wanted John's message put to death, and what better way to do that than to kill the messenger?
That's where Herod got things wrong though, and that's why he was upset when he heard about the work of the disciples. He'd thought that ending John's life would end John's message. But he didn't count on Christ being the message. He didn't understand that John was simply a messenger whose message would continue on even after John's death.
So where do we come in in this story? We know our role too, as John knew his. Like John, we are the messengers. We are not God. We are not the message. We are the messengers, set with the task of spreading the Good News that God is here and with us to all who we meet. But like John, our truth telling can come at a price.
"Under what conditions are you willing to tell the truth or speak your mind?" A professor at a Christian college posed this question to a group of young people and was startled by their answers - for them, truth-telling was optional or often restricted to 'safe' environments. Are we any different? John the Baptist spoke up for righteousness in an unpopular environment; over ages and eons many others have done the same. Under what conditions are we willing to speak up, set the record straight, or speak our minds? When we see injustice as John saw, are we willing to call wrong for what it is?
We proclaim a message bigger than the messenger, like John the Baptist proclaimed the message of Christ. But sometimes we forget our role, acting like King Herod, closing ourselves to the word of truth, turning away when we see injustice, suffering, abuse, and hurt, instead of speaking up, ignoring those who would call our attention to what is going on around us. We must not fall into this trap, we must not be swayed from our role - we are sent out like the disciples, and like John we are appointed as messengers, messengers of the Good News.
Herod eventually understood that God had something to say to humanity that could not be stopped by the death of one man. Let us also realize that God has something to say, and that we can be messengers through which God can speak. We proclaim a message bigger than the messenger. Let us stand up speak out. Amen.
Benediction: In Christ we experience our wholeness, we are a new creation. As you have received God's grace, go now and dare to reach out to others, to help others reconcile and make new. And the presence of God, who is our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, will go with you. Amen. (from Shaping Sanctuary, p. 95)