Sermon II for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Year B July 14, 2024
Power – God’s or the World, Which Will You Choose (Mark 6:14-29)
This story in Mark sure seems like a soap opera!
We have everything a good soap opera needs: the main characters are as follows:
Herod Antipas, a tetrarch, a governor, but he sees himself as a king.
Herodias, the ex-wife of Antipas’ brother Philip
Herod marries Herodias,
Herodias- the daughter who entertains the revelers with her dancing
John the Baptist, a righteous and holy man, the one who proclaims the coming of Jesus and the Kingdom of God
Herodias, Herod’s new wife despises John the Baptist and wants Herod to kill him.
Why you ask?
Simply because John had the nerve to speak the truth,
John stands up to Herod and his power, telling him that his marriage was illegal.
For this reason, and this reason only according to Mark, Herodias wants John killed
Herod feared John, because of his reputation as a holy man, so instead of killing him, he puts him in prison much to the dismay of Herodias
Then on the night of Herod’s birthday party, a night Herod’s house was filled with all the “right people”, who can help Herod achieve his goal to be king.
With the party in full swing- eating, drinking, entertainment, Herodias seizes the moment to accomplish her self-proclaimed mission- to have John the Baptist killed.
And here’s where everything falls apart-Herod offers his daughter anything she wants, up to half his kingdom…
and Herodias instructs her daughter to ask for John the Baptist’s head on a platter…
she does, and Herod, having giving his word, and wanting to save face in the eyes of his guests, grants the girl’s wish.
John is killed and his head is presented to Herodias, the daughter who then presents it to Herodias, Herod’s wife.
In the end, Herodias gets her wish,
Herod saves face,
Mission accomplished for both!
To muddy the waters, Mark drops the story of John’s death before the disciples return from their first mission given to them by God, through Jesus.
So, the question, the elephant in the room per se is this:
Why is this story placed smack dab in the middle of another story?
Why is this story sandwiched in between Jesus sending out his disciples and their return?
The reason is simple, this is a story about mission, its meaning, purpose and cost
Do we accept the mission given to us by God, a mission that is outside ourselves and our needs and wants? A mission focused outward to the world
Or is our mission, our goal in life simply to satisfy our needs and wants, to seek the power and status that is so valued in the world?
Jesus sends his disciples on a mission
Telling them, don’t be tied to material things!
Share the gospel!
Bring healing and restoration to those you meet! —
Jesus gives their lives direction, meaning, and purpose.
Most importantly this mission, this purpose comes from outside of them. It’s not about them, it’s about the people they meet, it’s about trusting God completely for their daily needs
This is in direct contrast with the characters presented in the story about Herod who have a different mission and purpose.
Herod’s mission is status! He wants to be King!
Herodias lives for power. She’s a social climber—jumping from one husband to another—she wants to be married to the man with the most power, the most clout.
Her daughter lives to please people. -- especially her mom-- even if it means asking for the murder of an innocent person like John.
The party goers’ sole mission is for pleasure. Their only goal is having a good time and being seen at Herod’s Who’s Who in Galilee party.
Everyone has a mission. Everyone has a purpose. The difference is this: the disciples have their purpose given to them while the people at Herod’s party all pursue their own personal mission in life. A completely self-serving mission.
We see this in the world today, as many people go through life following their own dreams, seeking their own goals for power and success, never seeing the struggles of others, never caring about anything that doesn’t directly affect them and their life?
If you don’t think this exists, ask yourself this:
What is the first question asked by the congregation when leadership wants to do some new ministry?
Most of the time the response is: What’s in it for us? What do we get out of it? How will we afford it?
Instead of asking how this will help others, or benefit the community.
When you are self-absorbed your life ends up meaning nothing, you don’t make a difference in the world, you simply live out your own self-centered mission. In the end your life, what you do just doesn’t matter. There’s no meaning or purpose outside yourself and your desires.
John the Baptist, Jesus, Jesus’ disciples and Christians follow a different path.
The meaning for life for us comes from outside ourselves.
We accept the mission that Jesus gave his disciples and now gives us.
We speak out against injustice in the world
We believe that God’s mission in the world is greater, more important than anything we envision on our own.
We have faith in God’s mission,
we look outward not inward for meaning, seeing the needs of others,
we respond with caring and compassion,
we try to ease the violence, pain, poverty and unrest that we see in the world.
We seek justice for all, not just a select few!
And we recognize that there is a cost, a risk to discipleship
The disciples are given their mission, their purpose from Jesus.
They are called to build the kingdom of God, to share the good news, to bring healing to the world, to cast out demons.
And immediately following the story about the death of John the Baptist, they come back to Jesus and celebrate what God accomplished through them.
What they did made a difference.
John the Baptist made a difference too, he too followed a mission given to him by God to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, and the kingdom of God.
He spoke the truth, and, in the end, he was murdered, beheaded for being faithful to God and his mission.
In the musical Hamilton, Hamilton says to Aaron Burr: If you stand for nothing what do you fall for?
In other words, if you don’t live for something—you don’t have anything to die for. And in that way you are already dead.
Jesus says, let me give your life meaning and purpose
Yes, there are risks associated with accepting my invitation-
Rejection, ridicule, arrest, even death, for speaking God’s truth, the way both John the Baptist and Jesus did.
This story is a picture of the death all Christians must face if they intend to carry out the mission of Christ.
Our own self-created purpose for our life must die in order for us to live in and for Christ.
Jesus says, to be my disciple, you must deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me.
Why?
Because that is the only road that leads to life.
Jesus says that only those who lose their life for my sake will find it
John the Baptist foreshadows Jesus and his death-
Both John and Jesus are arrested,
Both are executed by a reluctant politician because of a plot hatched behind the scenes.
Herodias seizes an opportunity to kill John, similarly Judas waits for an opportunity to betray and kill Jesus.
And finally, both bodies are taken by their disciples and laid in a tomb
The message is simple: we can surrender the mission, the purpose of our life to Jesus because Jesus first surrendered his life for us.
In the beginning of this story Herod wonders if Jesus is “John whom I beheaded, who has been raised from the dead.”
Jesus is not John the Baptist resurrected.
But Jesus will rise from the dead.
And Jesus will resurrect John the Baptist, along with all who put their faith in him.
Jesus gives purpose to our lives,
a real reason for living,
a way to be stewards of the world.
A world that God created for the purpose of giving us a life filled with blessings, relationships, and a need to care for others as God first cared for and continues to care for us. Amen
