Proper 10 B
Dead Preacher – Good Ending
St. Mark 6:14-29
12 July 2015 – Redeemer
So how does the text end? The preacher is dead. Herod has kept his word and his cabinet members won’t see him as a weak king. Salome is set to appear on Dancing with the Stars. And Herodias has swatted that wasp of a preacher who kept landing on her marriage and stinging her with charges of adultery. Is this the Gospel of the Lord? Is this the good news for us today? Are these words meant to comfort, strengthen and encourage us to live as the baptized children of God?
Yes, indeed, for let me reveal what you do not see, the hidden truth that only faith can see. John the Baptist is finally safe and secure. That’s right – all his life on earth he was attacked and vilified, pelted with words and threatened with swords, but now he is safe. His body is in a tomb somewhere to this day, but John is with Jesus, awaiting the resurrection of his body. Herod cannot touch him. Herodias cannot conspire against him. John lives even though he died. He is no longer mocked, but commended by the Lord, “Well done, Thou good and faithful servant.”
And what’s the end of the story for Herod, Herodias, and Salome? They have rid themselves of a pesky preacher. Herod rules. Salome posts her dance on YouTube. And Herodias changes her Facebook status to “Married to Herod.” But what’s the real picture? Herod and Herodias are adulterers and together with Salome they have murdered the man of God who tried to save them. Where does their story end? Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6:9–10.
I have a confession to make this morning – I’m getting tired of preaching about sex. The year I was ordained a pastor in Canada (1988), the United Church of Canada voted to bless same sex marriages and ordain homosexuals into the ministry. I wasn’t a pastor but a month, when the first of many young couples living together asked me to marry them. It wasn’t long after that when I walked to church one morning to find a member waiting for me, because he returned from a business trip to find his wife had taken the children and left him. 27 years later and two weeks ago I alluded to the Supreme Court’s lawless decision on same-sex marriage. Last week I likened the relationship we have with God to the marriage of one man and one woman, and today we’ve got a preacher who is dead for preaching against adultery. Will it never stop? Well, probably not until I’m killed.
Now, let me clarify my confession. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m asking for your encouragement, your faithfulness, and your ears, because you have called me to preach God’s Word to you, because that Word alone will lead to your life and mine ending like John the Baptist – persecuted, slandered, and dead for our faith, but alive, safe, and with Jesus. The Word of God alone brings about that end through the hard preaching of repentance and the sweet preaching of forgiveness for sin in Jesus’ name.
Do you really think John the Baptist wanted to be imprisoned and beheaded? Do you think he wanted to confront the King (and I’m guessing he did it publicly since it was a public sin) about divorcing his wife and marrying his niece, who happened to be married to his brother? Do you think I enjoy talking to our young catechumens about pornography and homosexuality and living together before marriage? Have you talked to your children or grandchildren about God’s gift of sexuality and the gift of one man and one woman committing to one another for a lifetime before they have sex?
I’d rather not bring this up. Like Herod and Herodias, I prefer the peaceful life. I sometimes wish God’s pestering Word would go silent, and sadly sometimes I silence that Word myself – now that is a sin for which I do need forgiveness. I’m guessing you also face the same temptation – your brother is getting a divorce, your widowed mom is living with a man, your cousin showed up at the last reunion with her lesbian girlfriend, you don’t even want to ask about your college daughter’s relationships, and all friends on Facebook changed covered their profile pictures with rainbows in the last two weeks. And what do you want to do? Keep quiet, maintain peace, pretend the sexuality isn’t an issue in your family.
But where does that story end? If your seven year old son was riding his bicycle down a steep hill heading for a busy intersection, would you yell at him to stop? Would you even knock him over if that was the only way to prevent him from running into traffic? Would you hurt him to save him? What if he is 20 and the bicycle is not going to church? Or his laptop and smart phone are filled with pornography? Or he is sleeping over at his girlfriends? Would you hurt him to save him?
That’s what John the Baptist did with Herod and Herodias. It’s not what he wanted to do. It’s what God gave him to do and by faith John the Baptist loved doing it. John the Baptist loved Herod and Herodias in the same way that God loved him. God sent Jesus into this world to die for the sins of the world – for John, Herodias, Herod, and you. John was privileged to be there when Jesus was immersed in that filthy baptismal bath with all those other sinners at the Jordan River. The Son of God was covered with our flesh at His conception. He was covered with our sin at His baptism. Christ Jesus came into the world to die for sinners. John the Baptist qualified. Herod qualified. You and I qualify.
Only in Christ can a sinner inherit the Kingdom of heaven – for this reason only. Only Christ Jesus takes away your sins. His blood alone scours you clean. His flesh alone dies for your flesh. You cannot pay for your sins and live, but He did and it is with the blood of the Lamb of God that your names are penned into the Father’s will. In Christ Jesus God forgives you, favors you, and desires to give you life everlasting and the resurrection of your body and salvation from suffering and sin.
Knowing that’s the end of the story, believing that Christ has accomplished the forgiveness of our sins, do we have the courage to knock someone of his bike? Do we have the courage to preach “repent” to those caught up in willful disobedience to God’s Word, so that they might turn from their sin and live in Christ’s forgiveness.
Let this Word of God from Saint Mark be the good news that encourages us today. God loves you, all of you, and everyone you know. He spoke His Word made flesh, He spoke Jesus into this world so the story would end in the same place as John the Baptist – safe with Jesus, where Satan has no say, where sin has no sting, where death has no victory. That’s the same place He wanted Herod, Herodias, and Salome.
As you leave the Lord’s house today and go into the world, remember the end of the story. To the eyes John is dead and Herod is alive. But faith sees that John is alive and Herod is on his way to hell. The difference is not their sin or their station, but Jesus. He died for your sins, rose to declare you righteous before your Father, guaranteed your place in the will. Believing that, your story ends with life, the resurrection and salvation. May that be your courage in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
11 July 2015 anno Domini