Category Archives: sermons

Blood Feast

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Mark 6:26-29 (NIV)
The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. [27] So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, [28] and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. [29] On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Brutal.

The terrible excess, the exploitive relations, the complete moral collapse in this story is so hard to face.

An innocent man is butchered like a pig.

And then the quiet grief–his followers come and retrieve his body.

Make no mistake beheading someone is a political act of tremendous violence. And the grief that follows is heart wrenching.

John’s disciples. Where did they go? To Jesus. Another man on his own path towards a brutal death.

Surely, these guys were losers?!

Not in the end,
In the end…
they were right.

More Herod…

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So a few more thoughts on Herod:

He views John as a curiosity but never allows his message to infiltrate or transform him.

He does not really have the authority to murder John. John should have had the same rights to a Roman trial as Jesus did (not that that ended well either).

He could have just manned up and said no, a man’s life is worth more than a lust-drunk promise.

Hubris. Herod is all hubris. And he remains a buffoon and a bully until his miserable end is recorded.

He knows the truth now. Too late.

Herod and John

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Mark 6:21-29 (NIV)
Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. [22] When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” [23] And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” [24] She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered. [25] At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” [26] The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. [27] So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, [28] and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. [29] On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Not only do I hate this story, it creeps me out that C loved this story.

After I found out that C abused my kids, I raked through the Bible, questioning God– why didn’t He address pedophiles directly? Then I realized: this is the story.

Herod had violated big ticket Mosaic rules when he poached Herodias from his brother.

Herodias is not a good mother. Salome performs an illicit and explicit dance for men. She is young and vulnerable and her mother is perpetuating the idea that her source of power is sexual. The end of this power is state-sponsored murder.

The tragedy is too much to bear. For Herodias to plot to murder the one man who wanted to raise and restore her value is so hard to face.

It is also hard knowing that Jesus, king of justice was in town, so close. Why didn’t he zap people? Free John?

But that is the point of the story: faith sees the rest of the story–thousands of us have mourned John the Baptist and faced this story as a reminder of real faith.

John’s life is secured to heaven. There is no chance for Herod. He is a man who made his own place secure in hell. He lived a wretched life and died a wretched death.

Fiction, of course

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Mark 6:10-13 (NIV)
Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. [11] And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.” [12] They went out and preached that people should repent. [13] They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Once there was a town. And in the town there were some kids. They were from another country. There was a family in the town who took the children to the beach, or to the park, the pool, or just to play at their house.

They loved the kids, but there were a lot of them. They filled the family’s van.

One night the family was stopped by a policeman. The police officer took a long time and decided to give a ticket for something fabricated.

The family fought the ticket, but the judge would not lift his head to make eye contact. He told them to talk to a fictitious character. A lawyer he dubbed, the municipal prosecutor.

The mama said, we have to go. I cannot take the children here or there if this is what happens when I am trying to follow the rules.

She misses the children. Worries about the paths they will traverse.

Wonders over how dust can cling to a body. Some testimony of love…

Disciples

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Mark 6:6-13 (NIV)
And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. [7] Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. [8] These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. [9] Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. [10] Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. [11] And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.” [12] They went out and preached that people should repent. [13] They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Ok! Today’s Bible study assignment is to do what Jesus commands.

Let’s review: you need a buddy. Who is going to be your discipleship buddy? I like the idea that the disciples went in pairs, but not all pairs are created equal. Imagine how it might have played out to be Judas Iscariot’s partner.

Why a staff? A staff is about support, authority, and protection. It was something one leaned on to walk through rough places, but it was also a weapon and a frequent aide in healing and other miraculous events–all those Mosaic miracles? Yep. A staff.

The staff was a symbol of God’s sovereign call. It conveyed power.

But then things just get tough and weird–no extra clothes? No snacks? No bag for your stuff? No stuff?!

Yep. No stuff. Jesus is promising provisions. No, this isn’t a traveling vacation–but when you need something pray, and you will get what you need.

And if the crowd is hostile and unwelcoming? Get out of there and take no souvenirs.

A parable for living…

The truth and the prophet

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Mark 6:17-18 (NIV)
For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. [18] For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

Sigh.

The Bible does not tell us how John felt about confronting Herod’s sin. He was a sold out guy–locusts and honey and desert not being the marks of a casual faith. But he must have know that criticizing Herod for incest might be dangerous.

For John, God’s law trumps Herod’s or Rome’s. And he is right.

It all depends on who is the king and for how long.

Revelation 11:15

Real Ghosts

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Mark 6:13-16 (NIV)
They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. [14] King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” [15] Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” [16] But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

These verses are about a ghost story. Herod is worried he has a ghost–John come back to haunt him.

It isn’t John, it is his cousin, but never mind that. Herod is spooked.

He deserves to be. He is a rat–adulterer, bully, pedophile. He is one of those tidy historical villains who leave little doubt of his destination.

A bad guy. But that is the irony–when he was alive he was haunted by the possibility his victim would return. When in truth he is the ghost.

John died for no good reason, but he went to heaven. Herod lived for no good reason.

And hell became his habitat.

What We Stand to Lose

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She has her back to me. She is telling the children a sort of fable–if fables started if instead of once upon a time.;. And if the princess were a royal pain in the….well, you get the idea.

So Princess is unravelling a story. What if we had no mom or dad, no one to tell us what to do… Her voice conveys the magic of this scenario. Thanks to public assistance she has now had a few years to live the dream, and I will not venture to comment on how that has worked out for her.

It is her life.

And I was once just a random woman willing to wipe her…oh, you, get the idea again.

You could look at the things she has lost playing out her orphaned-with-cash fantasy. But that does not matter as much to me as this—

This world is God’s house and we may presume he has just run to the store for grapes. But I would not be so foolish as to underestimate Him. He owns this house and will return to clean it.

You can live your whole life without a mother and somehow muddle through. But to stake your forever on the dream of autonomy is risky precisely because you may just get exactly what you wanted…

Forever.

Who is this guy?

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Mark 6:14-16 (NIV)
King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” [15] Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” [16] But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

Jesus was becoming a celebrity, but not by choice. He knew that his kind of renown led to crosses and blades, not black tie events.

People speculated about him. Who is this guy? Who raises the dead? Who heals our diseases? Who takes away my sin? God. Just Him.

Don’t forget it.

What Faith Can Do

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Mark 6:4-13 (NIV)
Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” [5] He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. [6] And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. [7] Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. [8] These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. [9] Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. [10] Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. [11] And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.” [12] They went out and preached that people should repent. [13] They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Jesus never forces us to believe him and he never pushes his gifts on us. If we want his eternal bounty, we get it, if we don’t…well sometimes he heals us anyway. Or gets us standby seats, or fixes our power outages.

Because he is love.

He lets us see him as an interloper or an imposition. But if we take a risk on Jesus, we find he is a Sure Thing.

He is that good.