Sermon for July 28th 10th Sunday after Pentecost

Sermon for  July 28, 2024                                                10th Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 6 The Beheading of John the Baptist

I am going to preach a political sermon. Are you ready? (groans…) Ok, here we go, political sermon… Take care of the poor. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Set the bound free. Now, I know y’all get upset when I preach a political sermon, ‘cause you tell me. So I apologize if that made you uncomfortable. But I promise, I’ll wait a long time before I tell you to feed the hungry again. J (Wait, pastor, I think that’s sarcasm.)

Whenever folks complain they thought a sermon was too “political” I try and explain the difference between partisan and political. Partisan means of a particular party, telling you which party or which candidate to support or vote for. And Lord knows there are some churches out their guilty of that. But the word political comes from the greek word polis meaning “of the people or community.” So, while politics is often confused with partisanship, politics is simply the negotiating of life together in society, like, how shall we care for the poor or the elderly or the sick or the oppressed. In that regard, the gospel of Jesus Christ makes great political demands on those who strive to live by it. So was Jesus political? Did Jesus preach political sermons? You bet he did. And what about John the Baptist? Was he political? He he. In today’s gospel text John the Baptist literally preaches a sermon against a local political leader, right? And I can hear Herod’s wife complaining, “I don’t like John’s preaching; it is too political.” And she was right! Even today political sermons aren’t very popular. And I think the proof is in the pudding that both John and Jesus will pay with their lives for preaching against those in power and protesting the status quo.

John got into some hot water when he began preaching against the marriage of King Herod. Now this isn’t the King Herod from Jesus’ birth story who killed all the boys under two in and around Bethlehem. That was his father, Herod the Great. Herod the Great had four sons, all named Herod. This Herod is Herod Antipas, the same Herod who will have Jesus before him on trial later in the passion story. Herod Antipas had a brother Herod Philip who married his niece, Herodias. Herod Antipas convinced his niece, Herodias, to leave his brother Herod Philip and marry him instead. It’s like they say, incest is a game the whole family can play. So there is John the Baptist, preaching against the sin of this ruling family and the illegality of their marriage. Now everyone knows women love to be scorned. Especially shamed in regards to their relationship choices, right? And so Herodias is holding on to this grudge, biding her time. Herod has John arrested, but he keeps John alive because he believes John is a prophet, righteous and holy, and he even likes to listen to John preach. But, when the opportunity came when Herod had his birthday party, Herodias sent her daughter out to dance for the King. Her dancing so pleased the king (her step-father/great-uncle…ewww!) Herod offered her anything she asked for. She consulted with her mother who said, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.” And this dear, sweet girl then added her own embellishment… “on a platter.”

Now, in Herod’s defense, at least he kept his word, right?  I mean, he had to keep his honor in front of all his party guests. He’d made a promise to his step-daughter, at least he kept it. And it did say he thought John was righteous and holy and liked to hear him preach. I mean, if anything, Herod is the good guy in this story, right? And here’s the crux of the matter, here’s the point I want to make this morning. John was not killed by brigands or rogues. He was not killed by some depraved rabble. John was killed by the very best. By the Honorable King, keeping his word. Poor Herod couldn’t possibly lose face in front of his guests, even though he found John to be righteous and holy. And so John was killed in order to keep the honor of King Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee.

It is often pointed out that the death of John the Baptist foreshadows or mirrors the death of Christ. Both men are regarded as prophets, righteous and holy. Both men are arrested unfairly and both men are executed by the state even though they were innocent. We see in the story of John’s death what is to come in the passion of Christ. For this reason I share one of my favorite quotes this week, in regards to John being killed by Herod, the “honorable” king. The quote says something like that Jesus was not killed by the worst humanity had to offer, but Jesus was killed by the best of humanity. That is, Jesus was not killed by some mindless rabble or thieving ruffians, but by the careful deliberations of respected religious rulers who justified their actions by the highest standards of morality and God’s law. The Jewish Temple system was religious authority at its absolute best. And likewise Jesus was not killed by lawless scoundrels, but by the Roman jurisprudence system, with official warrants, tried and executed by the Governor himself. The point being, Jesus (and by connection this morning, John) was not killed by the worst that humanity has to offer, but humanity at its absolute best.

And this, I think, is why “political” sermons are so offensive. Not because we might disagree on a particular topic, but because the preached word of Jesus Christ still challenges the status quo especially where those in power oppress the poor and vulnerable still today. This is the Gospel! Just as John mirrored Christ’s own ministry and his death foreshadows that of Christ, so too we are ambassadors of God’s kingdom today, speaking the truth of God’s word to powers that oppress despite all consequences. That means for the church there is no left or right or political party, and it makes no difference if it is Kamala or Joe running or who we support if the power of Empire continues to bring injustice and suffering to the poor and needy. I love Bishop William Barber, former director of the Poor People’s Campaign, and an amazing preacher if you ever want to google him. He says that preachers don’t get to opt out of politics; that we can either be chaplains of the Empire, or prophets of God. But we can’t be both. We can either be chaplains of Empire, or prophets of God. Notice this same definition of “politics” as not a particular party or candidate, but having to do with how we negotiate life together in society, particularly when it comes to taking care of the poor and disadvantaged. Is the church in America an extension of Empire, protecting and guarding the status quo and those in power? Or are churches an extension of the Kingdom of God, revealed in John the Baptist and finally in Christ Jesus?

There is a warning here, obviously. I could tell you, like John, not to lose your head, but there is a cost for standing up to power. Both John and Jesus paid with their lives. Every one of Jesus’ disciples, except for John the Gospel Writer, died brutal martyr deaths. Paul beheaded. Peter crucified upside down. Stephen stoned to death. On the one hand, you should all be fleeing for the exits. But on the other hand, this is and remains true, that Jesus Christ came to enact the Kingdom of God. That in the beatitudes the Kingdom is revealed as Jesus came blessing the poor, filling those who are hungry, supporting those who are weak and giving justice to the oppressed and setting free all who are in any kind of bondage. This challenges me and exposes me because I see all the ways I benefit from the status quo. How I directly gain. Which makes me complicit. I am the one guilty of killing that trouble-maker Jesus. But on the other hand, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not neutral, it is still active and disrupting the world and the powers-that-be today. We am disrupted. We are put to death. But we are also renewed and called into service. And the church is put on the front lines where we too have the opportunity to participate in the amazing kingdom work of blessing the poor, filling those who are hungry, supporting those who are weak, giving justice to the oppressed, and setting free all who are bound. That makes us as workers of God’s kingdom deeply political. Amen.