Stephen Sondheim wrote the great lyrical finale of
into the woods with these words…
How do you say to your child in the night?
Nothing's all black, but then nothing's all white
How do you say it will all be all right
When you know that it might not be true?
What do you do?
Careful the things you say
Children will listen
Careful the things you do
Children will see and learn
Children may not obey, but children will listen
Children will look to you for which way to turn
To learn what to be
Careful before you say "Listen to me”
For some odd reason those are the words that first
came to me as I walked with this gospel today. I cannot help but wonder what
this strange request did to this young girl.
I wonder if she even had a concept of what she asked for? We do not know for she is not mentioned again.
Now Herod on the other hand.
“Mark chose this opportunity, after Jesus sent out his
disciples on their first formal mission, to report the death of John the
Baptist. Mark hinted at this political
death earlier in the story when John was arrested (1:14) but saved the full
report until chapter 6. Interpreters who
choose to think that Jesus' life and mission were disconnected from the
socio-political affairs of his first century context must view this account
(John's death by Herod) as an aside.
Using intercalation (i.e., the "sandwich" technique) once
again, Mark placed this account between the commission and the return of the
disciples to intimate its significance for the expansion of Jesus' mission.”[1]
Mark is intentional of putting this message in between
the moment Jesus sends out his disciples two by two and before they return. Now
this translation is a little weak on just how much Herod enjoyed the company of
John.
In Nicholas Kings direct translation it says this
about Herod.
“and Herodias had it in for him and wanted to kill
him. And she couldn’t, for Herod was afraid of John, knowing him a just man and
a saint. And he protected him, and when he was listening to him he was greatly
puzzled. And he used to listen to him gladly.”[2]
It is a bit more of a gentler kinder image of Herod.
He actually enjoyed being puzzled by John’s teachings and he truly did want to
protect him as best he could.
Now Herodias Philips ex-wife and now wife to Herod
seems to be the point of contention she is the one who doesn’t like John’s
objections to the marriage and plots to be rid of him and sees an opportunity
with Herod’s Birthday party. So she gets her daughter to dance for Herod.
Her daughter has become famous for her dance what was
her name?... what was the dance??
Well actually we do not know her name is not mentioned
except for in some writings where it is the same as her mother’s name. What kind of dance did she do htat so pleased
the king? We do not know? It might have
been a simple little girl trying to impress her daddy. Over the centuries there
is more legend than anything substantial around this dance.
So “What was
Herod’s fear all about? He could not have been happy with John’s judgment
against his adultery. There is no evidence that Herod repented. Yet we are told
that Herod knew John to be righteous and a holy man, and Herod liked to listen
to him. Was he like we are sometimes, sensing a hard truth about our lives,
uneasy but not ready to accept it? Why risk offending God by harming John; he
could be a true prophet after all. Was that it? Or was it also fear, as the
ancient historian, Josephus, claimed, that the power of John’s message might
stir a rebellion….
Herod was not loved by all. His more zealous enemies
considered him a collaborator with Rome. Herod, a small-time ruler, not
actually a king, was beholden to Rome and vulnerable at home. As the drama
played out, he was vulnerable to his wife as well. Beguiled by his daughter’s …dancing
and its effect on his guests, Herod makes a rash promise. Herodias leverages
his need to appear resolute in front of his politically important guests to get
her wish; John is beheaded. Conflicted within himself about John’s message but
surrounded by manifold political and family pressures, Herod does what he knows
is terribly wrong. He is deeply grieved.”[3]
Herod is deeply grieved as are Johns followers and, I
would imagine, John’s family which is Jesus’ family. John "a voice of one calling in the
wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"
(Mark 1:1-3) It John we celebrate as this wild uncontrollable spirit that comes
out of the dangerous wild places proclaiming one baptism of repentance and a
forgiveness of sins.
John is the one who points past himself, a lesson for
all of us preachers and teachers, John proclaims; “The stronger one than me is
coming after me, of whom I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of
his sandals. ( Mark 1:8) Jesus is baptized the heavens open, the holy spirit as
a dove descends upon him, and a voice is heard saying this is my son in whom I
am well pleased. Then Jesus is hurled out into the desert. It is after John has
been handed over to Herod that Jesus returns and starts his ministry.
John starts the Jesus story whether it be at the
baptism or by a simple stirring in his mother’s womb we have no Jesus without
John…I mean we could have, Jesus might have still had a great ministry and
message without John and yet John is essential to our story…this is our sacred
story…this is our sacred text.
So yes, we grieve the loss of John, but we do not
celebrate how he died or even why for that is a bit confusing, but we celebrate
the life he lived. The wild man in the
desert telling us to make ready the way for our lord.
Just as much as Herod is part of our sacred text. In
the best of storytelling anytime we see or hear Herods name we want to boo or
hiss. Herod is a villain and yet in the
circumstances that play out is he a villain or is he trapped by his own
circumstances? Remember “Herod makes a rash promise. Herodias leverages his
need to appear resolute in front of his politically important guests to get her
wish”[4] so is he a patsy or is he
some political parable in the midst of all of this?
One commentator point sout that;
“It is tempting to see in Herod a parable that speaks
to leadership in government, economic and institutional life in our own time.
Persons in positions of power are subjected to powerful pressures that pose a
threat to their own security. Personal pride, greed for gain and prestige, and
the influence of ambitious intimates can also play a role. Under the sway of
these encroaching forces, the courage to serve truth and the common good can
flag. The results may not be as gruesome as John’s execution, but the damage
can be even more extensive. Even exemplary leaders who are devoted to the
welfare of those dependent upon them frequently find themselves mired in a
morass of conflicting forces that stymie their best efforts. Certainly there
are prophetic voices like John’s today also. Yet, the impact often seems
minimal. When wealthy interests can now influence the presidential election by
giving anonymously to non-profit “social welfare” organizations, citizens
without such economic power might wonder if their needs are being served.
Indeed, one could feel a bit like the Baptist’s disciples: nothing left to do
but bury the body.”[5]
But we are called to be more resolved and invested in
life. We are called as disciples of
christ to stand in the face of such opposition and call it out as what it
is..we are called to be the faces of hope beyond hope..
“So why does Mark tell this story: the longest of the
Gospel’s anecdotes and its only flashback? Aside from the Golgotha plot and
discovery of the empty tomb, this is the only tale in which Jesus never
appears. Its villains never reappear. It’s a strange story about John in which
the baptizer himself never appears. Even stranger: beneath this story of John
is the story of Jesus. The flashback is a flashforward. Mark tips us off in “King
Herod heard;for his name had become known. And he said. ‘John the baptizer has
risen from the dead, and that’s these reason these miracles are at work in him….
That fellow I decapitated, John-he has risen’”(Mark 6:13-15)[6]
In this turn of
events Herod foreshadows Pilate in the same way that John foretells of Just like
Herod, Pilate is amazed by circumstances surrounding an innocent prisoner,
swept up in events that fast spin out of his control and unable to back down
after being publicly outmaneuvered Like John, Jesus is passive in his final
hours and is executed by hideous capital punishment seemingly dying in order to
placate those he offends.
As I was wondering how I might tie this into today
what we see here is a governor who knows better but is trapped by the politics
and expectations around him.
I found one commentator that brought me to tears. I am going ot share just a part of commentary
as he reflects on this gospel and today…
“Connecting to present times
One such story from today’s headlines goes like this:
When he landed in Michigan in late May, all the weary
little boy carried was a trash bag stuffed with dirty clothes from his days
long trek across Mexico, and two small pieces of paper -- one a stick-figure
drawing of his family from Honduras, the other a sketch of his father, who had
been arrested and led away after they arrived at the United States border in El
Paso…
An American government escort handed over the
5-year-old child, identified on his travel documents as José, to the American
woman whose family was entrusted with caring for him. He refused to take her
hand. He did not cry. He was silent on the ride “home.” The first few nights,
he cried himself to sleep. Then it turned into “just moaning and moaning,” said
Janice, his foster mother…
He recently slept through the night for the first time,
though he still insists on tucking the family pictures under his pillow …
Since his arrival in Michigan, family members said, a
day has not gone by when the boy has failed to ask in Spanish, “When will I see
my papa?” They tell him the truth. They do not know. No one knows … José’s
father is in detention, and parent and child until this week had not spoken
since they were taken into the custody of United States authorities. He refused
to shed the clothes he had arrived in, an oversize yellow T-shirt, navy blue
sweatpants and a gray fleece pullover likely given to him by the authorities
who processed him in Texas.1
I, Cláudio, have a 6-year-old boy and I am an
immigrant citizen, foreign and citizen at the same time. I could not read this
biblical story of John the Baptist without thinking of stories like José and
the loss of his father. To have José separated from his father is like having
one’s head cut off. The story told in Mark 6 has no redemption. John the
Baptist had his head cut off. That is how hundreds of families are now living,
with their heads cut off, parents without children and children without
parents.
If John announced the coming of Jesus Christ, these
kids and parents announce the horrendous cruelty of the immigration policies of
this country. On behalf of these families, we must stand up like John the
Baptist, who told the governor of his day: “It is not lawful for you to have
your brother’s wife” (Mark 6:18). Just as Jesus came in the footsteps of John
the Baptist, we must show up as Jesus Christ to these families.”[7]
We must show up like Christ…Just as John started a
ministry and Jesus came in fulfillment and yet not completion for you see the
ministry goes on. The apostles stepped
up, the disciples stepped up and we a re called to step up as Christ to keep
the ministry going. We are called ot be Christ to our immigrant brothers and
sisters. We are called to be Christ to
our homeless brothers and sisters. We
are called to be Christ to those suffering from illness. We are called to be Christ to each other any
time and all the time. If not us than who?
We are the United Church of Christ a united and uniting church living to
maker this place heaven on earth for all. So I will leave this sermon as I
began…
How do you say to your child in the night?
Nothing's all black, but then nothing's all white
How do you say it will all be all right
When you know that it might not be true?
What do you do?
Careful the things you say
Children will listen
Careful the things you do
Children will see and learn
Amen!
[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1325
[2] King,
Nicholas. The Bible: A Study Bible. Buxhall, Stowmarket, Suffolk: Kevin Mayhew,
2013.
[3] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-james-m-childs-phd/mark-6-14-29-the-downfall-of-giving-into-fear_b_1663356.html
[4] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-james-m-childs-phd/mark-6-14-29-the-downfall-of-giving-into-fear_b_1663356.html
[5]
Ditto
[6] King,
Nicholas. The Bible: A Study Bible. Buxhall, Stowmarket, Suffolk: Kevin Mayhew,
2013.
[7] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3736
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