Rev. Beth Anderson
Bermuda Hundred UMC
July 15, 2012
Friday, our family attended the James River District
Welcome Picnic in Yale, Virginia at Sharon UMC with the other pastors and their
families. It was a great opportunity to
begin meeting others on the district. A
few of us were talking about the texts for this Sunday and no one except for
myself and one other pastor were willing to preach on this text—John the
Baptist --- losing his head. J
We usually only hear about John the Baptist at the
beginning of the year – around January when we celebrate the Baptism of the
Lord.
We think of John the Baptist at Advent as we
remember Mary and Elizabeth pregnant at the same time.
We read passages in December proclaiming the
prophesies of John –remembering that he
is the one who will prepare the way for our Lord. [i]
We remember Zechariah unable to speak until John is
named after his birth.
John’s birth, life, and death—prepare the way for Jesus Christ our Savior.
We hear a lot about the John and Jesus before and at
the time of their births and then we do not hear much about them until they are
adults.
When we catch up to John– he now lives in the
desert, he wears clothing made of camel hair, and he eats locust and wild
honey.
John
is not
typical.
John doesn’t have a couple kids and spend his
evenings at the kitchen table worried about a mortgage.
He’s
living in a cave down by the Jordan River and dining on insects…
John doesn’t negotiate business deals, answer to
supervisors, or work with a team to build something or agree on a decision.
John
calls it like it is.
When all kinds of people came from Jerusalem to be
baptized and were repenting and confessing their sins
The Pharisees and Sadducees also came (a reflection of the wide of appeal of
John’s renewal movement…)
Yet when John saw them he said,
“You brood of vipers! Who warned
you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear
fruit worthy of repentance . Do not
presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor; for I tell you,
God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”[ii]
Yeah-
John is a prophet. Not a diplomat.
He doesn’t mince words—John wasn’t going to let them
be okay with simply saying, “Hey--we’re children of Abraham—so… we’re
good.”
He was going to speak up- when he had to …and even when he
didn’t have to.
He was going to talk about hard things—sin,
repentance, justice, compassion, holiness.
John would use his voice—he would cry out in the
wilderness.
He
would use his voice- even if it shook.
And
he was spirited.
He leapt in Elizabeth’s belly when Mary came to
visit and he has been lively ever since.
Lively
that is…. Until we slam into today’s text.
Mark’s Gospel is full of immediacy –and things kind of hit us with a shock—
That’s how we hear the news that the man who
baptized most of Jerusalem and Jesus himself is now--- dead.
We hear the news – at the beginning of the text----almost nonchalantly:
“King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become
known. Some were saying, “John the
baptizer has been raised
from the dead.”
The first time you read through it – you’ve got to
take a double take.
—Did Mark’s Gospel just say John the Baptist was dead?
When
did that happen? Did I miss something?
Then,
you get the fullness of the story as a flashback—you hear about Herod,
Herodias, and her daughter (Herod’s
step-daughter) also named Herodias… who danced.
If you’re not careful it’s easy to get lost in
what’s happening in this dangerous soap opera of a story…
We get more
backstory-- Herod wanted to marry his brother Philip’s wife—AND John spoke
out against it.
“John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for
you to have your brothers’ wife.”
Herodias (the wife) didn’t like hearing this—and she
had a grudge against John- in fact this wasn’t just a grudge- she wanted to kill him.
But Herod— feared John—Herod knew John was
“righteous and holy” and Herod protected him.
– (perhaps from Herodias…. )
Whenever Herod heard John—the Gospel tells us that
“he was greatly perplexed”…. “and
yet he
liked to listen to him.”
John was speaking the truth to him—it was probably hard to hear—yet
he was drawn to hear it—it perplexed
him.
There is something alluring about the truth.
When we hear it – it may sting, it may trouble us,
it may challenge us—but no matter what—we can’t shake it.
John the Baptist was serious about pointing people
to Jesus and to His Word—
As we keep reading through the Gospels we come Jesus
saying,
“
If you hold to my teaching, you are really
my disciples. Then you will know
the truth, and the truth will set you
free.” [iii]
Herod-
a
wealthy man- with a huge banquet- food, drink, power
—was not free.
He stayed chained doing what all others wanted of him—he
feared losing what seemed like real power—so for as long as
he could, he protected John the Baptist-
when
that seemed like the politically safe maneuver.
But when sitting in a crowded banquet room—all eyes
watching--- he feared Herodias and the
pressure of the guests all around—and stayed locked to the security of
earthly power.
Herod was consistently
inconsistent—going with whatever won him the most popularity at the time
Yet, John the Baptist never wavered.
He risked everything and it lost him everything.
He pointed to Jesus- the truth, the kingdom, our
Savior
He prepared the way for Jesus—
Both would lay down their lives for the Truth.
And Jesus, who
came baptizing with the power and fire of the Holy Spirit would die and
rise.
Jesus Christ came and prepared the way for all us
—to
have everlasting resurrection lives.
They risked
it all for us to have it all.
Risk
is scary. It’s
putting yourself on the line.
It’s
standing up and using your voice
—when
you don’t have to, but
you choose to.
My
mother taught me a lot about this.
She was a teacher in Prince Edward County Schools in
the mid 70’s through 80’s.
Prince Edward County when ordered on May 1, 1959 to
integrate its schools, chose instead to close the entire public school
system.
Private schools were created for white students as
a protest to integration and no provision was made for educating the county’s
black children. This system remained
until 1964, when the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed Virginia's tuition grants to
private education.[iv]
Yet, during
the time my mother worked there- she
was the only white female teacher in her school.
She encountered death
threats and slashed tires.
My sisters and I were called names.
Our
family was known.
We lived on a farm in Pamplin and attended Charlotte
County Schools.
We were the first to be picked up and the last to be
dropped up because the bus driver, my friend Kia’s father lived up the
hill from us.
Kia was my best friend.
I’ll never forget the day a bully on our bus---- I
don’t remember his name—
He was a really tall
big guy with flaming red hair.
He had slew of brothers
all with the same bright red hair.
Our bus had
Elementary, Middle, and High School kids all on the same bus.
I was in 1st grade and my sister Caroline
was in 6th.
He pushed my sister and knocked off her glasses. He was about to step on them laughing as he
pushed her back.
He
stood over her calling our family names.
I slid out of my seat and came between them.
My scrawny
but tall for my age 6 year old self said,
“HEY
– you can’t talk to my sister that way!
You
sit down and be quiet and you learn to be nice!”
I didn’t even
realize what I was doing! I just did it
because he was wrong!
Everyone became still.
He sat down.
Everyone
quieted.
I picked
up Care’s glasses and slid next to Kia
----and
then I started to shake.
She put her arm around me and we rode home in
silence.
I
knew to do that because of my Mom.
My Mom and I had lots of conversations about why things
were the way they were and why people acted the way they did.
Usually all she could say was – “there is not a
reason why –they’re just wrong and that’s not how we’re supposed to be. You be
different. Stand up and use your voice.”
Sometimes we’re taking risk and we don’t even know
we’re taking risk, until its over—and
we’re shaking….
Sometimes we’re taking a risk and our voice shakes, but we still must speak.
Risk
is
defined by the one taking the risk.
When
you’re wearing camel hair in the desert eating bugs—risk is telling a powerful king how wrong he is.
When
you’re the Son of God- risk is knowing that the world will hate you—and crucify
you.
When
you’re me and you…. risk very well may look differently than it did for
John the Baptist.
We’re not
called to be John the Baptist.
Isaiah didn’t say we would be the one to prepare the way for the Lord.
But
the Lord, our Savior Jesus
has
prepared the way for each of us.
Risk
looks different depending on your circumstances.
It was one thing to live in Detroit
-when we were young, just married, out of college
-and gangs burnt down our garage
-and drug deals happened a block away
-and we didn’t have any children.
Would
we do that now?
I
don’t really know – to be sure. I
really don’t.
I
only know that- that’s not where God has called us right now.
What
I do know is
that
I’m
right where God wants me.
I
know that – for
any of us… the risk taking
for our ministry is
to look at who we are and where we are and discern:
what
does God call NOW?
How
do you know what risks God is calling you to take?
You pray. And
pray. And pray.
You listen to God.
You read God’s word for the Truth—
--it
will hold you accountable and it will set you free.
And you remember the wisdom theologian Frederick
Buechner shares,
“There
are many different voices calling you
to
many different places.
The
place where God calls you is where your
deep
gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
So---Where-----
How is the world hungry for your gifts?
Go there- Do that--take Risks!
Amen.
