Costly Discipleship

Sermon delivered on Trinity 6B, Sunday, July 12, 2015, at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, Westerville, OH.

If you prefer to listen to the audio podcast of this sermon, usually somewhat different from the text below, click here.

Lectionary texts: 2 Samuel 6.1-5, 12b-19; Psalm 24.1-10; Ephesians 1.3-14; Mark 6.14-29.

In the name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Have you ever been confronted by an issue or event in your life that either caused you to walk away from your faith or seriously question it? Have you ever been afraid to speak about your faith to others or apply it to public affairs for fear of how others might react toward you? In our gospel lesson we see that biblical faithfulness can be terribly costly and this is what I want us to look at this morning. What can we learn from the sad story of John the Baptizer’s death?

Mark spends more time describing this event than any other gospel writer, and so we need to ask why that is. What does Mark want us to learn from this unseemly story? It has all the needed elements to grab our attention: royalty, sex, booze, and religion. Mark tells us that Herod Antipas had John arrested after he called Herod out about his extramarital affair with his brother’s wife, Herodias, whom Herod would ultimately marry. People who commit adultery often rationalize away their behavior and the inevitable consequences that result from it, and Herod doesn’t seem to be an exception. But even Herod’s toadies knew better than to call him on his behavior. Doing so would have probably landed them in prison or worse. But that didn’t stop John, the fiery preacher who called people to repentance and who had announced the coming of the promised Messiah.

For Herod and Herodias, this was more than just a moral embarrassment. John’s denunciation of their illicit marriage had political ramifications as well. Herod, who had  aspirations to be Israel’s new king and deliverer, could not really have someone like the Baptizer calling him out on his adultery. After all, how could Israel’s promised Messiah be involved with illicit sex? That certainly wouldn’t play well with the general population and so Herod moved to silence his famous critic, and here we see Mark inviting us to compare Jesus with Herod. Which of the two had better credentials and cred with the people? In one corner we have Herod, who rules because he happened to be born into the right family and who had just married his own brother’s wife. Not much Messiah-like character there. In the other corner, Mark invites us to look at Jesus in this “sandwich” story of the Baptizer’s death. Mark has just reported mighty acts of power demonstrated by Jesus and his disciples. People were healed of all kinds of diseases, a dead girl was brought back to life, and evil spirits were cast out of folks. And immediately following today’s story, Mark will report Jesus feeding the five thousand, walking on water, and performing even more healings. All of these mighty acts of power were tangible signs that the kingdom of God was indeed powerfully present in Jesus and his followers, and this is why Mark reports on all these events. He wants us to see Jesus is the real deal while Herod is not.

But Mark wants us to see something else in this story, and it is precisely that biblical faithfulness can cost a person his or her life. John was probably aware of the political ramifications that accompanied his denunciation of Herod’s marriage to Herodias. But there was clearly a moral concern underlying John’s calling out Herod. We know this because John told Herod it was not lawful for him to marry his brother’s wife. The law to which John is referring is of course the Law of Moses, which derived part of its authority from the creation narratives (Genesis 1.27-28, 2.18-24; cf. Mark 10.2-12; Matthew 19.3-9). That’s why the Lord commanded us to honor our father and mother (male and female in an exclusive, life-long relationship) and to stay away from adultery (Exodus 20.12,14,17). John was being faithful to God’s original creative intention for men and women and Mark wants us to see that doing so can literally cost us our lives. Evil does not like to be confronted by God’s goodness. No wonder Jesus would tell his followers to stop and count the cost before deciding to follow him (Luke 14.25-33)!

Herod, like many of us, apparently had a love-hate relationship with the prophet and his God. In a wonderfully realistic story, Mark reports that while Herod imprisoned John, Herod liked to hear John speak, even though John perplexed him, and that Herod protected John, even when his wife wanted to see him dead. Was there something in John’s message of repentance that struck a chord with Herod? Did he know in his heart of hearts that John was right and that God should not be mocked nor should we try to deceive him? We aren’t told. What we are told is how Herod’s lack of character led to the Baptizer’s death. In a moment of apparent drunken titillation over the dancing of Herodias’ daughter, Herod promised the girl virtually anything she wanted, and at her mother’s prompting she told him she wanted John’s head. To save John’s life, Herod would have had to display moral character and courage that he simply did not possess. So Herod took the easy way out. He gave Herodias what she wanted. Like his cousin Jesus, who would also later die for his faithfulness, John met an unseemly end, all because he remained faithful to God’s word in the midst of a sin-sick world. But as we will see in a moment, it is to the glory of God that along with you and me, Jesus came to rescue even bad guys like Herod, Herodias, and Pilate, as well as all the bad guys who live in our world today.

Now before we look at some possible applications in our lives from this story, let us not get all uppity about Herod and pat ourselves smugly on the back, saying that we would never have acted like that. Because the fact is, we all act without integrity on occasion, even if a life isn’t literally at stake. Now is not the time for self-righteousness, but self-examination. And let us also resist the temptation to say that the bad guy wins again and gets away scot-free. Indeed, the bad guy won in this instance. John paid for his faithfulness with his life and his disciples showed remarkable courage and faithfulness in coming to take John’s body away for burial. They could have ended up just like their master! But there is more to this story than Mark reports. We know from extra-biblical sources that within a decade after this incident, Herod would find himself defeated militarily by his enemies and exiled to Gaul (France) by the Roman Emperor Claudius Caligula where he and Herodias would spend the rest of their lives as political outcasts. It seems that God will indeed not be mocked and we need to remember this the next time we hear about a bad guy apparently getting away with murder.

So what can we learn from this sad story? Where’s the good news? As with the entire narrative of Scripture (and that’s why we must read the entire narrative!), we have to see the story in its proper context and look to see how the bigger story of God’s rescue of his sin-sick and unjust world plays itself out. Since we are still living out the story of God’s rescue plan in Jesus Christ, the first lesson we can learn is a hard one to hear. God’s call to us and his claim on our lives can be quite costly. While none of us is in immediate danger of being killed for our faith, we are living in an age where things can get quite uncomfortable for us. For example, if we want to remain faithful to the biblical teaching about marriage as opposed to the redefinition of marriage as a result of judicial fiat, we can expect to be looked at increasingly as freaks and there are folks out there who will be delighted to tell us that. I know. I experienced that kind of abuse when I was taking a class at Bexley Hall Seminary of all places, and I can tell you it is not much fun to be mocked and ridiculed in front of people. But if we hold to the biblical notion that marriage is the God-given vehicle by which our species is propagated, our society is ordered, and God’s good creation is ruled, as opposed to a human right, we had better be prepared to face our share of scorn and hatred. But why would any of us subject ourselves to this kind of abuse over the faith once delivered to the saints that we hold?

The answer comes from Paul in our epistle lesson. This passage is so rich in content that it should be one of our regular go-to passages whenever we are walking through the dark valleys of our lives. Are we tempted to believe in a deist god who basically functions as an absentee landlord who really doesn’t care all that much about his creation and us? No such thing, counters Paul! We worship a God who has called us from before the world was created and who is actively involved in our lives. About this time I suspect Fr. Bowser is starting to squirm nervously in his seat, wondering if I am going to get all Calvin on him and the rest of you. Relax Father. God’s election is for a different sermon. We’ve got bigger fish to fry here.

The point Paul is making is all about God’s sovereignty over his world and involvement in our lives. It is God who initiates, who became a human to bear our sins and die for us so that we might live. It is God who loves us first and invites us to respond to his great love by turning from ourselves back to him so that he can heal and transform us bit by bit, inch by inch, day by day. It is God who has a plan to heal and transform his entire creation and who invites us to be an integral part of that work. This is what our passage today is all about and this truly is Good News. It reminds us that contrary to what the world wants us to think, God is not absent or uncaring. To be sure, God’s ways can be quite mysterious and vexing to us. But we are not to lose heart because he has given us himself in Jesus so that evil, sin, and death are overthrown if not yet fully vanquished, and new creation is launched. We are therefore invited to live as people who have that hope. Evil may win some battles, but it has lost the war. Jesus is alive and rules over his cosmos, and we are invited to his eternal party. This all happened because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and we are given God’s very Spirit, the Holy Spirit, as a guarantee of this promise. The word Paul uses to describe this guarantee is a technical term equivalent to earnest money we put down when we decide to buy a property.

Why is this important? Because this is our guaranteed future and hope, and this hope is what sustains us when we walk through the dark valleys that test our faithfulness. It also informs us how we are to live in ways that are consistent with God’s will for us, and that will produce the greatest good and happiness for us and those around us. As resurrection people, we should never be without hope or fundamentally pessimistic. In Christ, God has overcome the world and all that is hostile to God, and we are invited to be part of that victory, starting right now.

So how does that work? Returning to the issue of marriage, as Christians who believe Scripture is God’s true word to us as played out in the story of creation, fall, and redemption, what is our response to be to the recent SCOTUS ruling? First, while we can rightly lament the decision, we are not to lose hope or heart. As Herod and Herodias found out, God will not be mocked and since we believe God is intimately involved in his world and our lives, we should not fall into despair. When we are mocked and considered freaks and haters and [fill in your favorite insult], we are to remember we are Jesus’ people and so we are to return their curses with blessings and forgiveness, precisely because Jesus is Lord and the victory is won.

Second, since we are called to be part of God’s eternal party in Jesus, we are to carefully examine our own lives to see where our faith serves as Christ’s beacon of light and where it falls short. We are to repent of the latter and continue to practice the former because as Paul reminds us today, this will result in the praise of God’s glory. This might not always be self-evident to us, but we need to relax because we are not God and God really is in charge as Paul proclaims. Accordingly, we are to take up our cross daily and follow our Lord faithfully, trusting in God’s faithfulness to us, even in death, as manifested most powerfully in Jesus,.

Third, and related to this last point, if we are married, we are to work hard at making our marriages a shining example for the world to see and celebrate. If we view marriage as basically a disposable commodity to be discarded when our needs are no longer being met, we are being as unfaithful to God’s intention for marriage as any SCOTUS justice, and the light of Christ shining through our marriage is extinguished. I speak sadly from experience about this. Being twice divorced, I am still dealing with the fallout and carnage of my own sinful behavior that essentially pushed God and his intentions for family aside to meet my own perceived needs. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t deal in some way with the consequences of my misguided thinking about marriage and divorce, and I suspect I am not the only one who suffers from this. To be sure, I am forgiven and God has blessed me with a wonderful wife with whom I am passionately in love, and who loves me likewise. But the consequences remain. One of the reasons I behaved as I did is because no one ever took the time to really impress on me the sanctity of marriage and the devastating consequences of trying to play by my own rules rather than God’s when it comes to marriage and family. I get it now. Back then, not so much.

The good news for St. Augie’s is that I see a good and wholesome witness to the God-given blessing of faithful marriage. Think, for example, of the Bowsers and Falors who are approaching 50 years of marriage, or how Tim remained faithful to his wife during her long battle with Alzheimer’s, or how Monroe cares for Judy during this difficult time. Think too how we’ve rallied around these folks to let them know we love them and remind them that they are not walking through the valley alone. Here is the power of Christ’s light shining in the midst of darkness! Contrast those examples with spouses who abandon their spouse when the going gets tough or exploit them for their own selfish gain. Not much to celebrate there.

We can also celebrate the sanctity of God-given marriage by publicly renewing our vows during worship because Christian marriage is always lived out within the life of the Church. I know I want to do that with Dondra next year on our 15th anniversary (unless I’ve killed her first, then maybe not). Simply tell us you would like to do this and we will roll out the red carpet for you and celebrate your love publicly and with joy for all the world to see. Never underestimate how God can and does use these small acts of faithfulness to help bring in the kingdom.

Last, behind every issue like marriage is a human being with real needs, fears, hopes, desires, and dreams. We must always remember to embody Christ’s love for all, even when we have to call some to repentance. Here we can learn from our gospel lesson. If you are like me, when we hear folks like John denouncing adultery, we sometimes think this means that John called Herod a miserable rotten sinner who was going straight to hell. But the text does not warrant that interpretation. Mark simply reports that John told Herod what he was doing was wrong. Like Jesus, John rarely made it personal, except to the egregiously self-righteous. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Herod still wanted to hear John after he arrested him.

The point is this. The sexual revolution will continue to produce new casualties and we as Christians must be prepared to minister to them so they too have a safe haven. Most of us are not called to be prophets, although we all can speak prophetically at times. This means that we cannot and should not focus on denouncing things and people. Instead, we are to take our cue from Jesus, who called sinners to repentance by meeting them where they were and inviting them to follow him. We can’t fix folks and their problems. What we can do is to introduce them to the Guy who can, but that won’t likely happen if we are busy telling people they are dirty rotten people who are going to hell, etc. That’s simply not our job. Our job is to embody the love of Christ for all folks, to live our lives in a manner that will offer a compelling and positive reason why folks would want to get to know Jesus. Certainly, we cannot bless what God does not bless. But this does not give us license to reject folks out of hand.

Yet despite the Bible’s clear-cut teaching about marriage and sex, being faithful to God’s word continues to perplex us in the current climate, in part because of our fuzzy thinking about what constitutes love. Jesus and John understood that real love always acts in the best interest of the beloved, even when their love was rejected, and they acted accordingly. When someone can tell us how supporting something that contradicts God’s original design for men and women is a loving thing to do for people instead of being harmful to them, we too should hop on the sexual revolution bandwagon. But of course that case cannot be made so we won’t.

Instead, if we love folks, we are called to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and show them God’s good intentions for his human creatures by the lives we live, muddled and sloppy as that can be at times, and then to walk with them if they are willing to commit them-selves to really knowing and loving Jesus in ways that are consistent with the historic under-standing and consensus of the Church. When the Church starts doing that, I promise the world will take notice. Some will consequently want to destroy us as Herodias wanted to destroy John when he called her on her sin, and this is where our faithfulness will be severely tested. But others will join us by God’s grace because they see a better way of living, and it is the latter group we must attend to and support, while standing firm against the former.

I do not pretend this is going to be easy work or even straightforward. It will be extremely hard and complex work that will tax us and our faith. But if we are going to be Jesus’ followers who deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him so that he can use us to help build on his foundational kingdom work, it is work we must be willing to do. If we can remember the great praise and promises of God contained in today’s epistle lesson so that we remember we are resurrection people whom God uses despite our warts to manifest his great love for his world, if we remember that God has invited us to be part of his great eternal party that consists of new life and new creation, if we remember God is present with us always, even when we are too blind to see, we can do this work and remain faithful to his word because we know we have Good News, now and for all eternity. To him be honor, praise, and glory forever and ever.

In the name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.