It's Not About Glory ... [Proper 10, Year B]

[Note: I managed to fall behind on posting these the last few weeks. In a clear sign that the world does go on anyway, I don't think anyone noticed!]

[Our lessons were Amos 7:7-15; Psalm 85:8-13; Ephesians 1:3-14; and Mark 6:14-29.]

Not too long ago, a Lutheran pastor of a small church was asked if her church would grow and become really big. Her reply was, “No, there’s just not a huge market for the message ‘Jesus bids you come and die.’ Instead, people want to hear, ‘Jesus wants to make you rich!’”

That’s the message we want to hear. At some level, we all want to be victorious, successful, and wealthy, so if someone says that Jesus wants that for us too, great!

Or, maybe not. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus keeps telling people not to tell anyone about his healings and miracles. That’s because Jesus knew how tempting it would be for people to jump on the Jesus Christ Superstar bandwagon (to borrow the title of a 1960’s era rock opera), not realizing that the miracles alone were not enough to show what Jesus was really about. Jesus knew that we would only see who he is when we see the cross. Unfortunately, we choose the healings and miracles as our focus every time. So, this week, we get a warning.

If you focus on the details in the story of the murder of John the Baptist—and there are enough colorful, gory details to make a good TV news story—you may miss its true meaning. The real theme of this story is not the drama of life and death that captures our imaginations so well; it is the confrontation between political power and religious faith.

If faith is to be true to itself, its prophets must be willing at need to speak truth to power, even when that comes with a cost that sometimes can be fatal. In his work The Prophets, Abraham Heschel says that a significant aspect of the office of prophet in Israel was to remind the king that “his sovereignty was not unlimited, that over the king’s mishpat [justice] stood the mishpat of the Lord.” This idea frequently clashes with what governments see as their needs. So, it is with Amos.

In 21st century terms, Amos was a threat to homeland security and he might well wind up on a “no-fly list” today. When he prophesies of the fall of Israel, Amaziah, the priest of Bethal says that Israel can not bear all of Amos’ words.

But they are not Amos’ words, they are God’s. The prophet is not guided by his own desires and conviction, but instead is under the compulsion of the Spirit to speak God’s words instead of his own. And in this case, Amos is speaking words of God’s anger against a society which stands on its religion while neglecting common humanity and which has reduced the meaning of sin to cultic, religious, and narrow moral scruples.

John the Baptist is in prison for his prophecy. He has told King Herod that his marriage to his sister-in-law Herodias was unlawful; words which Herod and certainly Herodias did not want to hear. So she works out a scheme which will silence this prophet forever.

This puts Herod in a difficult position. It is clear that he recognizes John’s holiness. But he also wants to please his wife and his daughter Salome and he now feels bound to his rash oath, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you.” We can understand something of what Herod is thinking. We sometimes have to make ethical decisions in our own lives when different pressures conflict within us. While our decisions may not have the impact of Herod’s, we are just as capable of making them for the same reasons Herod gave in and ordered John’s death—pride and security at the expense of the truth. Our challenge is to examine our own decisions as individuals and as a society and ask ourselves whether we are making the right choices to further the establishment of God’s Kingdom in the world.

It may seem that this story is oddly placed in Mark’s Gospel, dropped in after Jesus’ sending the disciples out into the world. But perhaps not. Jesus warned the disciples to do their work in poverty and expect rejection. Just in case, like the disciples, we haven’t gotten the idea that this isn’t about our own glorification, we hear about the end of John the Baptist. Just in case we think following Jesus in the way of the Cross is about glory and not the Cross, we hear John’s story.

It isn’t about wealth and power, glory and prizes. It’s about a crucified God who offers us life and salvation and who bids us come and die. Has the line to sign up started yet?