Sunday Eucharist 8:30 a.m. - Spoken Word 10:00 a.m. - Music & Live Stream
Sunday Eucharist 8:30 a.m. - Spoken Word 10:00 a.m. - Music & Live Stream
Christ the King-Epiphany, Wilbraham
The Rev. Martha S. Sipe
July 14, 2024 / Eighth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 15B
Mark 6:14-29
I spent more time than usual in the car this week, with several long drives on the Mass Pike. When I’m alone in the car, as I was for each drive, I tend to listen to news. And most of the news – or at least what people are talking about in the news this week – is about the current state of the election drama playing out in this country. I confess that, by my last trip on the pike, I had to switch to listening to something else because, for me and I suspect for you, it all gets to be a little much: all the speculation and intrigue around who will do what next; all the time, energy, and money spent on the political process; the reports of less than ethical, or at least less than selfless behavior on the part of individuals at the highest levels of government; and then when the news is not political, it tends to be about violence and death. It made me really ready for Sunday, really ready to come to this place where we know that we can depend on hearing good news . . . and then, what we get this morning is this story from Mark. A story of political intrigue (with King Herod’s wife seeking revenge on John the Baptist for calling Herod out on marrying his sister-in-law) and lavish spending (on a birthday party to which the wealthy and powerful were invited) and cowardly behavior (with Herod not wanting to kill John the Baptist, but also not wanting to look bad in front of his invited guests by going back on his very foolish and very public promise) and violence and death (with John the Baptist not only beheaded, but more gruesomely, with his head presented on a serving dish for all the invited guests to see). Wow. This is probably not what you expected – or wanted or needed – to hear at church this morning. For crying out loud, Jesus isn’t even in this story! But if you look hard, you will see Jesus, and if you listen hard, you will hear good news. Let me try to help you find Jesus and grace in this truly awful story.
As background, let me remind you that Mark, the shortest of the four gospels, isn’t known for its in-depth stories. Remember – Mark doesn’t even have a Christmas story, and in the original end of his gospel, Jesus doesn’t even appear after the resurrection! Mark is not known for his narrative detail . . . usually. But this story is strangely (and terribly) detailed. Why? I wonder if Mark isn’t trying to get us to pay attention to all the particulars of this account because he is going to tell a variation of this story in the future – but with a better ending. Soon, he will tell the story in which Jesus, like John, an innocent and righteous man, will be executed on the orders of another weak ruler – this one named Pilate – who also knows that the one he is sentencing to death is innocent but, like Herod, is too cowardly to stand up for what is right against the voices that call for blood. John the Baptist’s story is important because in everything he did, he paved the way for Jesus. In the womb, he testified to the identity of Jesus by leaping in utero when his mother got close to Mary, who was carrying Jesus in her womb. In his ministry, John preached to ready the crowds for Jesus’ message and he pointed to Jesus, the Lamb of God. Even in his death, as described in this account, he foreshadowed the earthly fate of Jesus. Although the narration of John’s death is told as a flashback in the gospel – as something that happened previously because Herod, on hearing about the disciples, wondered whether John, had been raised from the dead – even though John’s beheading is told as a flashback, it also serves as a flashforward of what would happen to Jesus. This story may not be about Jesus, per se – but I suspect Mark really wanted us to notice the details of John’s death so that we would see how similar – and yet how different – Jesus’ death was. For Jesus’ death brings us life.
Mark also includes Jesus in this story by where he places it in the context of his whole story. Today’s lesson follows immediately after last week’s, which told how Jesus sent out the disciples to preach and heal in his name. That this horrible story of violence and injustice follows right after Jesus’ commissioning of the disciples is a reminder that serving in Jesus’ name isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s frequently quite difficult. There are people and powers at work in the world that resist Jesus’ message of healing and wholeness, of dignity and justice, for all people. But this is not the end of the story. If we were to keep reading in Mark’s gospel, we would come immediately to the beloved story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. It’s a story of another banquet – but one that is quite different from murderous King Herod’s birthday banquet. Herod’s meal had an exclusive guest list and was set in a palace; Jesus’ guest list was inclusive of the whole crowd of those who had followed him out into the wilderness. Herod’s banquet was to celebrate Herod; Jesus’ was to celebrate the mercy and provision of God for all people. Herod’s feast featured revenge and violence; Jesus’ feast is one of forgiveness and peace. Jesus’ absence at Herod’s table points us to his presence at ours. By highlighting what Jesus’ kingdom is not, Mark reminds us of what Jesus’ kingdom is: open to all, a celebration of God, a reign of peace.
Jesus may be absent from this story, but he is never absent from the story our lives. And while it’s a little hard to pick it out, there is good news in this story. The good news is that, while John’s death was senseless, the death that it foreshadows brings us life. Jesus’ death, while horrible, was not pointless, for his is the death that sets us free. The good news is also that, even though evil exists in the world, it cannot stop the forward movement of ministry. Before and after – and even during the telling of this dreadful story – the work of Jesus and his disciples continued on. The Herods and the Pilates of this world could not and cannot make the message of God’s grace and love stop. And perhaps the best news of all in this wretched story comes from keeping reading in Mark’s Gospel. Because what follows it reminds us that, although we struggle in this kingdom with scarcity and exclusivity and fear, in Jesus’ kingdom and at his banquet table, there is abundantly more than we need, an open invitation to all, and perfect love which casts out all fear.
In a world which can seem more like Herod’s kingdom than God’s, may your eyes and ears be able to find Jesus’ presence.
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