18 September 2018

Sermon Mark 6:14-29 15 July 2018 Proper 10 Year B


         I’m always intrigued when people tell me the Bible is boring. Now I’ll admit that reading the Bible from beginning to end in the published order is not a good idea. Most people bog down somewhere in Leviticus or Deuteronomy. Some people get tired of all that high falutin’ spiritual jargon when they get to John’s Gospel. And some of those letter writers could have used a good editor.
         I’m fascinated by all the excuses, well; let’s call them “reasons” for not reading the Bible. I mean, if there is ever a collection full of drama, cheaters, liars, murderers, mysteries, nakedness, sex, and politics, it’s the Bible!
         Take this morning’s story of the beheading of John the Baptist. Here’s what you get, if you know the whole story:
·      John the Baptist: an unkempt loud mouth who runs around in camel skins, eats locust and honey trail mix, goes out of his way to offend almost everyone he meets, and calls out government officials for their personal and political sins.

·      Herod: a mixed up guy who can’t decide if he’s Jewish or not, marries his brother’s wife, and lets his daughter dance naked in front of a bunch of guys at a party.

·      A young girl: not old enough to make a decision on her own, dancing naked, or at best in sheer veils, leaving little to any man’s imagination except what they wanted to do if they could get closer to her.

·      A woman: Ticked off for being called out for her behavior, she demands a gruesome gift from her husband: the head of John the Baptist.

I could go on, but you heard the story. The whole story seems more like a television docudrama. The story is neither covered up to be less shocking or to make it prettier. No matter how you hear it, it’s nearly impossible to deny the impulsiveness, violence and self-centeredness of most of the characters in the story. IS this the good news of Jesus Christ?
         If you want the good news here, you have to work for it. You have to look farther than one snippet or one story. You have to look at the sweep of the story and how it relates to the whole story of the life of Christ.
         John the Baptist was one of the good guys. He preached repentance, baptized those who came to him, watched for the coming of the Messiah, and when the Messiah did come, John stepped aside. He said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”[1] But John made one fatal mistake, and it’s the one all the good guys (and gals) seem to make. They can’t keep their mouths shut. They just have to say the truth out loud, even when the truth is about the people in power. That’s where John made his mistake. He told the truth about what kind of guy Herod was, and by implication, so was Herodias. That was all it took. Herodias had a grudge against John. And Herod was foolish enough to give in to his impulses when he was delighted by a dance, and too ashamed of how he’d look to his colleagues if he went back on his word. And off went John’s head.
         Remember what happened to Jesus? He spent a lot of time critiquing the guys in power. He spoke against hunger, injustice and oppression. And he didn’t just speak; he acted. He looked at what was wrong and did something about it. Hunger? Take what you have – five loaves, two fish – and feed a few thousand. Injustice? Heal those who are the least of society: women who bleed, children who die, lepers, cast offs, and kids. Oppression? Get in the face of those doing the oppressing and tell it like it is and how it should be. And Jesus was crucified.
This is what happens to the good guys and gals, at least the ones willing to speak the truth to those in power.
         It’s fitting, I think, to talk about this particular scripture in terms of what will happen in the future at St Alban’s. Sometimes even people in a congregation tell us whatever it is we want to do its impossible. There are too many people who need a meal. Children aren’t important because the issue is greater than they are. There is no way we should try to talk back to power when we’re part of the system of power.
         Now here’s what I wonder. In a few short years, St Alban’s is coming up on 100 years. We have nearly a hundred years of stories here. Nearly a hundred years of worshiping and singing, learning and teaching, giving and receiving, eating and feeding, and maybe occasionally telling the truth to those in power and suffering for it.
We’ve had nearly one hundred years of doing our best to live out the life of Christ together, regardless of what happens to the good guys and gals. So what about the next hundred? What will people say about St Alban’s one hundred years from now?
         It’s pretty easy to keep worshiping and singing, learning and teaching, eating and feeding. Not quite as easy to think about giving so others will receive. Not quite so easy to think about telling the truth to people in power and being willing to stand firm for it, no matter what. These are the things we need to keep on doing if we want to honor our history and live into the future as the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement. If we want to continue as good guys and gals: worshiping and singing, learning and teaching, eating and feeding.
These are the things we’ll want to do more of: giving so others will receive both here at St Alban’s and outside these walls, and telling the truth to those in power and being willing to stand firm in that truth, no matter what.
Doing those things, my fellow and gal members of the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement, is how we’ll write the Gospel of St Alban’s for the future.
Scripture is the story of God working in people’s lives. The Bible is a living document, not a closed book. Who is to say we’re not writing scripture here?
Maybe one hundred years from now, someone, somewhere, will open a Bible and read “The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as it happened at St Alban’s.” And the sweep of that story and how it relates to the whole story of the life of Christ will be what they read. It will be the story of how we became the best God wants us to be, no matter how shocking and violent the world was around us, and no matter how many people said it couldn’t be done, and no matter how many times we spoke the truth to those in power and stood firm in the truth. AMEN.          

The Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2018


[1] John 3:30 (NRSV)

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