“Killing the Messenger to Make Way for the Message” - Pentecost 8B

The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Saint Timothy Lutheran Church

Saint Mark 6:14-29

One of the weirdest production in all of opera is Richard Strauss’ “Salome” which tells the story of today’s gospel in a dramatic and ghastly fashion.

In its concluding scene Herodius, Herod’s brother Philip’s wife, whom Herod had taken as his own, and who, herself,  holds a grudge of unrequited love against the Baptist dances for the King at a party.  It is the famous “Dance of the Seven Veils.”

So overwhelmed is Herod by her beauty and the pure sensuality of the dance that he offers her anything she would like, even half of his kingdom.

Instead, she asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.

In the Lyric Opera production I saw they did not pull any punches.

The head was presented to her exactly the way she asked for - on a silver plate.  When I first saw it it looked like a dead cat but it was a lifelike head.

Here is the point where those of you who are faint of heart may want to check out.

Herodius, picked up the dismembered head and began to dance with it.  She didn’t hold it out at arms length but danced with it.  She held it, and caressed it, and whirled around with it, and finally, she kissed it.

At this point, much to the relief of every audience member, Herod points at her and yells: “Kill that woman!”  We all thought it was a very good idea.  The curtain fell, the lights came up, and the audience applauded more in relief that the nightmare was over than in appreciation.

When we arrived at the bar downstairs the server asked me if he could get me something to drink and I replied, “Believe me, you don’t have enough.”

The whole experience did remind me, in a very vivid, way just what an evil character Herod was.  He wasn’t just deplorable.  He was a one man basket of deplorables.  What makes him so despicable is not so much what he did but whom he did it to.
The whole experience did remind me, in a very vivid, way just what an evil character Herod was.  He wasn’t just deplorable.  He was a one man basket of deplorables.  What makes him so despicable is not so much what he did but whom he did it to.
Body
John the Baptist had made the mistake of challenging Herod’s authority.  “He stopped preaching,” as they say in the south, “and got to meddling.”  He called into question Herod’s relationship with his brother’s wife.  The king did not kindly toward this interpersonal interference and decided that his opponent should be locked up.  (Good thing that in the 21st century our politics have risen above this kind of rhetoric.☺)

So there John the Baptist sat until the fateful moment came when, on impulse, and as a favor to his mistress, Herod orders the Baptist’s beheading.

At this moment, Herod was only acting as he always had acted.  He always took his wrath out upon the weak.

Remember after Jesus was born and three Magi came from the east and mistakenly stopped at Herod’s place to tell him of the birth of a new born king.  Herod irrationally acted out and ordered that all males two and younger in his kingdom be slaughtered lest they be a threat to his peace and stability.  It was the ultimate child separation policy.

As was Herod’s order to execute three of his sons when they became a threat.  And, even worse than that, he ordered, “at his burial one member of every family was to be slain so that he nation might really mourn.”1

Herod never worried about the implications.  If he was threatened he fought back but only against societies most vulnerable.  When Herod stood face to face with Jesus it was an entirely different story. 

He had feared Jesus for a long time.  He thought he might have been the Baptist brought back to life.  He wondered if he wasn’t one of the prophets who had returned.  At Jesus’ trial he has the chance he had longed for.  With Jesus in front of him he has the power to face the one he feared.  He had the same power over Jesus that he had over John.  It was the power of life and death.  But Herod also feared the crowds - he was a prisoner of public opinion.

What Herod does at this moment of truth is cave.  His soldiers mock Jesus, put a gorgeous robe on him, and then send him back to Pilate.  Herod had, as they say in Washington, “kicked the can down the road.”

There is no bravery here, men and women.  Herod was a coward.  He was afraid of a baby born in Bethlehem.  He was afraid of magicians from the east.  He was afraid of his wife and his mistress.  He was afraid of the crowds that followed John the Baptist. He was afraid of anybody who challenged him.  He was afraid because he was a fraud.  He was afraid because he wasn’t as smart as he liked to pretend he was.  His was afraid because he knew that someday, someway, he would be found out.

Jesus has Herod pegged from the very beginning.  He knew he was coward.  Even though Herod had his cousin, John the Baptist, killed Jesus knew he was all bluster and bravado.  So when the Pharisees come to Jesus pretending to be his best pals and warn:  “‘Run for your life! Herod’s on the hunt. He’s out to kill you!’ Jesus said, ‘Tell that fox that I’ve no time for him right now. Today and tomorrow I’m busy clearing out the demons and healing the sick...’”2
That is what Jesus was all about and nothing was going to stop him.  That is what his followers are to be about and nothing should stop us.

Yes, for a time we may becomes afraid when a despot arises within our midst.  Yes, for a time we may become afraid when it looks like the world has lost its moorings.  Yes, for a time we may become afraid when it looks like the forces of evil are going to win the day.

That is just the time to look to Jesus and do what he did.  Reach out and include people whom others might shut out.  Reach out and heal people whom others might find unworthy.  Reach out and tell folks that they are not an infestation to be wiped out but very important people who should be included in.  Now is a time, now is the hour, to reach out and tell people that no one is vermin but that everyone is a child of God for whom Jesus died and for whom he loves.

Now is a time to live out the words of Edwin Markham’s simple poem:

“He drew a circle that shut me out-
 Heretic , rebel, a thing to flout.
 But love and I had the wit to win:
 We drew a circle and took him.3

How might that work?  How might that look?

In the midst of days, months, and perhaps even years of bad news cycles there was some good news.  In the midst of volleys on twitter and personal attacks by politicians.  At a time when all the current candidates for governor of this beleaguered state can talk about is who is paying less taxes or who has removed the most toilets from his million dollar mansion  (Bringing new meaning to campaigns that have gone down the drain!) there was something we could rejoice over.
 
A glimmer of hope came from a dark cave in Thailand where twelve young men and their soccer coach were rescued after 18 days while the whole world watched, waited, and prayed all sorts of prayers, to all sorts of different gods, in all sorts of different languages.

The acting governor of the province in which the accident occurred summed up the rescue perfectly as he praised the cooperation between rescuers from every nation.

“The situation went beyond being just a rescue mission and became a symbol of unity among mankind.” he said.  “Everyone worked together without discrimination of race or religion as the ultimate goal was to save the youth football squad.”4

Jesus came to save us all without any discrimination or qualifications!  Jesus came to heal the sick and cure us all from the demons of hate and mistrust.  And Jesus called us to follow him to do the same.

No need to lose your head over the matter.  Follow Jesus out into the light and the world will be a better place because you did.  Don’t you think?

 Thanks for listening.

__________

1. http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/matt2x13.htm 

2. St.  Luke 13:32-35. In The Message.  Eugene Peterson, trans.  (S.l.: Navpress Publishing Group, 2013.)

3. "A Quote by Edwin Markham." Goodreads. Accessed July 13, 2018. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8703-he-drew-a-circle-that-shut-me-out--heretic.

4.  Wright, Stephen, and Kaweewit Kaewjinda. "Team Flashes Signs of Recovery as U.S. Diver Details Cave Rescue." The Chicago Tribune, July 12, 2018, sec. 1. July 12, 2018. Accessed July 13, 2018.

"A Gracious World" -Pentecost 6B - 2018

The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Saint James Lutheran Church

Saint Mark 5:21-43

“A Gracious World”

I would have served the woman. I would have baked the cake.

Those non sequiturs from two unrelated news stories almost sum up our national conversation - or lack thereof.

The first happened just one week ago yesterday (Seems longer, doesn’t it?) when the President’s press secretary was refused service in a Virginia restaurant, because of her staunch defence of the policies of her boss, which many find abhorrent.  

The United Methodist Church, of whom the Attorney General is a member, the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterians and other Protestants have all echoed the sentiments of the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago, Blaze Cupich, who spoke for us all when he wrote: “There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents.  This is being carried out in our name and it is a shame upon us all.”1

The Press Secretary apparently felt no shame - even using the Bible to justify her position - until she felt the embarrassment  of being asked by the owner of The Little Red Hen restaurant to leave.  She did and promptly went home to Tweet about it.  Social media lit up with people choosing sides.

If you have been listening, what I am about to say will surprise you.  I would have served her.

Were I her waiter, when I finished I would have left a little note on her table saying that she had been cheerfully served by someone who was gay.

And, remembering that I have had a full week to think up what I would have said if I were the owner,  I might have taken her aside and said: “How was the meal?  Did you have enough to eat?  Remember that when you sleep in your soft warm bed, with a full stomach, surrounded by your loved ones.  Remember that many children are sleeping this night on mats, covered by Mylar blankets, not knowing where their parents are.  Remember that when you close your eyes and say your prayers to the God whom you believe to be just.”

That kind of brilliance only occurs in movies, or sermons after some weeks thought.  But I still like to think that I would have served her.

And if I were the Colorado baker, who literally made a federal case out of his beliefs, I would have baked the wedding cake for that gay couple who wanted it because, as George F.  Will wrote: “A cake can be a medium for creativity. However, it certainly, and primarily, is food. And the creator's involvement with it ends when he sends it away.”2
The problem, my friends, according to Gary Varvel, in USAToday last Tuesday is: “Politics is the new religion for the left and the right. We've decided to characterize those on the other side who doesn’t agree with us as nonbelievers who don't deserve mercy or grace.”3

And today’s Gospel tells us, indeed, and the whole Gospel tells us, that this idea could not be further from the truth.  It is not 
Jesus’ way nor should it be ours.

The two people who approach Jesus in today’s Gospel could not be more socially diverse.  One, the man, is a respected leader of his community while the other, a woman, is an outcast from society on many levels. `Both risked much when they came to Jesus.

Jairus risked losing the respect of family and friends but the cries of his little girl far overshadowing public opinion.  Who isn’t deeply affected by the sound of a child crying?  The goal of every parent is to stop the suffering as quickly as possible.  Adults who have a heart do not make children cry.  They do everything in their power to stop the tears from being shed in the first place.

That is what Jairus does.  Forsaking all he approaches Jesus - a travelling rabbi and faith healer - and kneels before him.  Don’t miss that act, men and woman, Jairus kneels.  That is an act of worship.  It is an act that could make the respected man an outcast.  That is an act of devotion.  That’s an act of bravery.

 “My dear daughter is at death’s door.  Come and lay hands on her so she will get well and live.”4

Without asking about lineage or legality Jesus goes.  This is not a time for the finer points of law this a time to care about a child and   not just only this one child but all children.  Jesus is showing us the importance of children and the desire in the heart of God that they not be separated from their families by sickness or anything else.
 
While Jesus is on his way with a large crowd surrounding him, a woman presses her way toward him.  Her disease has made her an outcast.
 
For over a decade she may have been doctoring.  She may have tried everything there was to try.  From pinpricks to patient medicines nothing seemed to work. 
 
So she sneaks her way through the crowd with only one thought on her mind.  “All I need to do is touch him and I will be well.” 
 
You can see her, can’t you, making her way through the crowd.  She gets jostled, she gets pushed aside, but still she presses on.
 
Finally she is with striking distance.  She reaches out, touches him and feels some kind of strange and mysterious power rushing through her body.  “Can it be?  Did it happen?  Am I okay?”
 
Then her joy left her as she heard Jesus say: “Who touched me?”
 
Jesus is not a fussbudget or a germ-o-phobic he needs to show us something and if we get all caught up in the healing we will miss it.
Jesus wants to show us that God has this thing, this special spot, for anybody in need.
 
Jairus may have been wondering, “What about my need?  Why is he talking to this woman while my daughter is dying?”  And with this delay Jesus is also showing us something about God.  God’s care, concern, love, is not a zero sum game where some are winners and some are losers, it is for everyone.

Jesus has not forgotten Jairus and neither will he forget us. 

When all around it looks like it can’t get any worse.  When it looks like the powers of darkness will win the day, Jesus says, “Don’t listen to them; just trust me.”5
What if we acted like we trusted God above everything?  What if we trusted God to heal not only us but our land?  What if we all followed Jesus’ way and were gracious to one another?
 
Chicago Tribune columnist Heidi Stevens wrote well of what Jesus was all about today and every day.  He was gracious to the leaderless and those who have lost everything.  He was gracious to those who belonged and didn’t belong.  He is gracious to us!
 
Stevens asked:

If you haven’t made up your mind about immigrant families — families who’ve been separated, families who don’t know when or how they’ll be reunited, families who are being talked about with terms like “infest,” which we usually reserve for insects — I wonder if you can think of a time when you benefited from [from an act of] grace.

When your child wandered off in a store and a fellow shopper, rather than kidnap her, returned her unharmed. When you left your garage door open and a neighbor, rather than ransacking your belongings, closed it for you. When you lost your wallet and a stranger, rather than stealing your cash and your identity, delivered it to you untouched.

A time when you didn’t follow the rules, maybe even committed a crime — drove too fast, drank underage, took something that wasn’t yours, snuck in somewhere without paying — and you skated. Didn’t even get caught. Or got caught and suffered very little in the way of consequences. Didn’t watch your life and your family torn into unrecognizable pieces.

We’ve all had moments, haven’t we, when someone’s grace, someone’s gut instinct, someone’s split-second decision, kept our lives chugging along when they could have unraveled?6

Those people, those moments, have been signs of God’s grace which is something all of us are searching desperately for.

I find it more than ironic that there is a sign in the window of the Red Hen restaurant - the same place that asked the Press Secretary and her party to leave - that reads: “Love is the only force that is capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”7
 
That is what Jesus was always doing.  He was always reaching out to touch people and let people touch him.
 
Maybe if all of us, from the leaders of our nation, to outcasts, and all of us in the middle our really followed Jesus’ example our lives, our neighbourhoods, and our country would be a better place. 
 
Who knows maybe all of us will be able to enjoy our dinner in peace and even be able to have our cake and eat it too?   Don’t you think?
 
Thanks for listening.

____________

1. Archdiocese of Chicago. "Statement by Cardinal Blaze J. Cupich, Archbishiop of Chicago, on the Administrations Family Seperation Policy." News release, June 21, 2018. Accessed June 26, 2018.

2. Will, George F. "Food for Thought." The Washington Post, December 3, 2017. Accessed June 26, 2018. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P4-1971162626.html?refid=easy_hf.

3. Varvel, Gary. "Bible Teaches Us How to Resist Anger, Be Civil." USA Today, June 26, 2018. Accessed June 26, 2018. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/nation-now/2018/06/26/bible-uncivil-anger-civility-column/733678002/

4. St.  Mark 5:23.  (MSG) (MSG=The Message)

5. St.  Mark 5:36.  (MSG) (MSG=The Message)

6. Stevens, Heidi. "Can You Imagins a World Without Grace." Chicago Tribune, June 26, 2018, Life Style sec.

7. Varvel. loc. cit.