The beheading of John the Baptist. This is exactly why I prefer using “Amen. Amen.” As the response after a reading rather than “Thanks be to God,” or “Praise to you Lord Christ.” Sometimes the story in the text isn’t something worthy of either “Thanks” or “Praise.”
7 Pentecost
July 12, 2015
In the name of the God of all Creation,
The God alive in each of us as God was alive in Jesus,
And the power of God known in the Spirit.
Amen.
July 12, 2015
In the name of the God of all Creation,
The God alive in each of us as God was alive in Jesus,
And the power of God known in the Spirit.
Amen.
The beheading of John the Baptist. This is exactly why I prefer using “Amen. Amen.” As the response after a reading rather than “Thanks be to God,” or “Praise to you Lord Christ.” Sometimes the story in the text isn’t something worthy of either “Thanks” or “Praise.”
The story of the beheading of John the Baptist appears in all three of the Synoptic Gospels … Matthew, Mark … from which we just read … and Luke. Herod had put John the Baptist in prison because John had essentially scolded Herod. Herod had divorced his wife, and then taken his brother’s wife as his mistress, then married her. John the Baptist didn’t think this was kosher … and he said so. It got him thrown into prison for speaking truth to power. And Herod’s new wife, Herodias, despised John the Baptist for embarrassing her.
At a birthday party for Herod his new wife’s daughter, Salome, danced for the gathering. Herod, probably with a little much “Oh, be joyful” in him, applauded her performance and rewarded Salome with anything she desired … up to half his kingdom. Under pressure from her mother Herodias asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter … and she got it.
Not exactly the kind of story that should be praised … at least in my opinion. So, why is it even included in our readings? Couldn’t we have just skipped over this and read one of those stories that begins with, “After the death of John the Baptist”?
As most of you know, I am one of those who believes that Jesus was a human being who lived a profoundly spiritual life … his spiritual journey … in such a way that others saw God alive in him. That spiritual journey was one of living fully into all of life, facing decisions directly, reading the signs around him … and within him … and choosing what he believed to be was living in the fullest image of God. In spite of the stories in Matthew and Luke, I don’t think there was anything special about his birth … those stories were written retrospectively. And I don’t think Jesus one day suddenly had a vision from God that told him to leave his hometown and become the Christ.
Instead, I think Jesus grew up in Nazareth … having the experience of any small hometown kid. I think he probably worked for a while as a youth and young adult in Sepphoris, a Roman city less than four miles from Nazareth. Sepphoris was a cosmopolitan center of commerce and was at the intersection of two trade routes. Thus, Jesus would have been exposed to diverse cultures and thought.
I also think Jesus knew John the Baptist well, and may have been one of his disciples. Luke’s gospel would have us believe that the two were cousins. I don’t believe that was the case. But Galilee and the Jordan River valley was not that large a territory, and I think Jesus would have been curious … and attracted … to John’s message of an un-brokered relationship with the divine presence of God.
The first eight verses of the Gospel of Mark are about John the Baptist, not Jesus. Then the ninth verse says: “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” I don’t think this was a sudden decision. But I do think it was a major step in his spiritual journey. Obviously, Jesus’ baptism was a defining moment in his life and his relationship to God. It was there that he heard the words “You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
In Mark’s gospel we hear that Jesus was baptized, and then immediately “driven” into the wilderness by the same Spirit of God that been with him in his immersion in the water. In that wilderness experience Jesus obviously made some choices about who he was … and who he was not … and who about who he was to become.
Now, just to give you a point of reference, all this … leaving Nazareth, his baptism, and his journey in the wilderness … all this takes place in just the first thirteen verses of the first chapter of the gospel of Mark.
The author of Mark’s gospel then says, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.” The reference to John’s arrest was for the offense of scolding Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. And it is obvious that John’s arrest was the catalyst for Jesus to begin his public ministry. Like John before him Jesus gathered disciples around him. He talked of the Kingdom of God. He healed people of disease and infirmities. He taught in parables. Then, his mentor and friend, John the Baptist, was beheaded.
The reason we heard this horrible story this morning is because it was a turning point in Jesus’ spiritual journey. Jesus continued to teach about God’s kingdom. He continued to heal and exorcise demons. He continued to speak in parables. But now he was more willing to speak truth to the powers of the world around him … to the powers of the occupying Roman government … and the powers of the complicit Temple authorities who Jesus believed had corrupted his religion.
I still think “Amen. Amen.” is the proper response. However, in this context it becomes much more than just a response after a reading from the gospels. It is a statement of profound affirmation regarding that spiritual journey … both the spiritual journey of Jesus, and our own spiritual journey.
You have heard me say more than once that it is not whether this story is factual or not. The real question is, “How do I know this story to be true in my own life?” In this case … “What do I know about a spiritual journey? What do I know about living in a wilderness? What do I know about making choices about the deepest values that will order my life? Who has been a mentor to me and led me along the path of my spiritual journey? And when was it that I realized I needed to follow my own path … regardless of the cost?”
These are the questions this story evoke as I ask, “How do I know it to be true in my life?” You’ve heard me speak of my spiritual journey … of the wildernesses I’ve experienced … of finding my own path. But I believe this is just as true for each of you … and I don’t think you would be sitting in these pews today if it were not as true for you as it is for me … and as it was for Jesus.
That is what these stories … all of them … are about. They tell about individuals and communities as they struggled with what it means to live into the image of the divine. They are about spiritual journeys … in all the different paths that people have taken. Some paths are dead ends. Some paths lead in the wrong direction. Other paths wind around like a labyrinth. Some paths are barely visible. But they are the paths of the people and communities connected to the divine presence of God. And they are the same paths that we follow in our own lives.
The story of the beheading of John the Baptist. It is a horrible story. It is not just a fairytale that can be dismissed as hyperbole. When ISIS began beheading foreign journalist and aid workers it brought home just how horrible the act is. I think the best we can do is say “Amen. Amen.” However, the beheading of John the Baptist pales in comparison the crucifixion of Jesus, yet it was John’s beheading that was the turning point in Jesus’s spiritual journey that led him to speak truth to power, and eventually to the cross.
Again, this isn’t just about the story 2,000 years ago. It is about how we know this story to be true in our own lives. It is about our spiritual journeys as well. It is about following a path that lives into the image of the divine presence of God … no matter what the costs. Then the “Amen. Amen.” becomes the beginning of the rest of our spiritual journey, not just a response to the end of a reading.
Amen. Amen.
The story of the beheading of John the Baptist appears in all three of the Synoptic Gospels … Matthew, Mark … from which we just read … and Luke. Herod had put John the Baptist in prison because John had essentially scolded Herod. Herod had divorced his wife, and then taken his brother’s wife as his mistress, then married her. John the Baptist didn’t think this was kosher … and he said so. It got him thrown into prison for speaking truth to power. And Herod’s new wife, Herodias, despised John the Baptist for embarrassing her.
At a birthday party for Herod his new wife’s daughter, Salome, danced for the gathering. Herod, probably with a little much “Oh, be joyful” in him, applauded her performance and rewarded Salome with anything she desired … up to half his kingdom. Under pressure from her mother Herodias asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter … and she got it.
Not exactly the kind of story that should be praised … at least in my opinion. So, why is it even included in our readings? Couldn’t we have just skipped over this and read one of those stories that begins with, “After the death of John the Baptist”?
As most of you know, I am one of those who believes that Jesus was a human being who lived a profoundly spiritual life … his spiritual journey … in such a way that others saw God alive in him. That spiritual journey was one of living fully into all of life, facing decisions directly, reading the signs around him … and within him … and choosing what he believed to be was living in the fullest image of God. In spite of the stories in Matthew and Luke, I don’t think there was anything special about his birth … those stories were written retrospectively. And I don’t think Jesus one day suddenly had a vision from God that told him to leave his hometown and become the Christ.
Instead, I think Jesus grew up in Nazareth … having the experience of any small hometown kid. I think he probably worked for a while as a youth and young adult in Sepphoris, a Roman city less than four miles from Nazareth. Sepphoris was a cosmopolitan center of commerce and was at the intersection of two trade routes. Thus, Jesus would have been exposed to diverse cultures and thought.
I also think Jesus knew John the Baptist well, and may have been one of his disciples. Luke’s gospel would have us believe that the two were cousins. I don’t believe that was the case. But Galilee and the Jordan River valley was not that large a territory, and I think Jesus would have been curious … and attracted … to John’s message of an un-brokered relationship with the divine presence of God.
The first eight verses of the Gospel of Mark are about John the Baptist, not Jesus. Then the ninth verse says: “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” I don’t think this was a sudden decision. But I do think it was a major step in his spiritual journey. Obviously, Jesus’ baptism was a defining moment in his life and his relationship to God. It was there that he heard the words “You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
In Mark’s gospel we hear that Jesus was baptized, and then immediately “driven” into the wilderness by the same Spirit of God that been with him in his immersion in the water. In that wilderness experience Jesus obviously made some choices about who he was … and who he was not … and who about who he was to become.
Now, just to give you a point of reference, all this … leaving Nazareth, his baptism, and his journey in the wilderness … all this takes place in just the first thirteen verses of the first chapter of the gospel of Mark.
The author of Mark’s gospel then says, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.” The reference to John’s arrest was for the offense of scolding Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. And it is obvious that John’s arrest was the catalyst for Jesus to begin his public ministry. Like John before him Jesus gathered disciples around him. He talked of the Kingdom of God. He healed people of disease and infirmities. He taught in parables. Then, his mentor and friend, John the Baptist, was beheaded.
The reason we heard this horrible story this morning is because it was a turning point in Jesus’ spiritual journey. Jesus continued to teach about God’s kingdom. He continued to heal and exorcise demons. He continued to speak in parables. But now he was more willing to speak truth to the powers of the world around him … to the powers of the occupying Roman government … and the powers of the complicit Temple authorities who Jesus believed had corrupted his religion.
I still think “Amen. Amen.” is the proper response. However, in this context it becomes much more than just a response after a reading from the gospels. It is a statement of profound affirmation regarding that spiritual journey … both the spiritual journey of Jesus, and our own spiritual journey.
You have heard me say more than once that it is not whether this story is factual or not. The real question is, “How do I know this story to be true in my own life?” In this case … “What do I know about a spiritual journey? What do I know about living in a wilderness? What do I know about making choices about the deepest values that will order my life? Who has been a mentor to me and led me along the path of my spiritual journey? And when was it that I realized I needed to follow my own path … regardless of the cost?”
These are the questions this story evoke as I ask, “How do I know it to be true in my life?” You’ve heard me speak of my spiritual journey … of the wildernesses I’ve experienced … of finding my own path. But I believe this is just as true for each of you … and I don’t think you would be sitting in these pews today if it were not as true for you as it is for me … and as it was for Jesus.
That is what these stories … all of them … are about. They tell about individuals and communities as they struggled with what it means to live into the image of the divine. They are about spiritual journeys … in all the different paths that people have taken. Some paths are dead ends. Some paths lead in the wrong direction. Other paths wind around like a labyrinth. Some paths are barely visible. But they are the paths of the people and communities connected to the divine presence of God. And they are the same paths that we follow in our own lives.
The story of the beheading of John the Baptist. It is a horrible story. It is not just a fairytale that can be dismissed as hyperbole. When ISIS began beheading foreign journalist and aid workers it brought home just how horrible the act is. I think the best we can do is say “Amen. Amen.” However, the beheading of John the Baptist pales in comparison the crucifixion of Jesus, yet it was John’s beheading that was the turning point in Jesus’s spiritual journey that led him to speak truth to power, and eventually to the cross.
Again, this isn’t just about the story 2,000 years ago. It is about how we know this story to be true in our own lives. It is about our spiritual journeys as well. It is about following a path that lives into the image of the divine presence of God … no matter what the costs. Then the “Amen. Amen.” becomes the beginning of the rest of our spiritual journey, not just a response to the end of a reading.
Amen. Amen.
