Lectionary 15 (B) — Mark 6:14–29
In today’s Gospel reading, we have the story of a person who dedicated his life to proclaiming God’s word. It got him into a lot of trouble. The things he had to say didn’t please the powers of his time, and he ended up arrested, in prison, waiting for judgment. The powerful, political leader kept him in custody for a while, because there was no real, legitimate reason to condemn him. But there never was a real trial. The political pressure became too great, and so his disciples laid him in a tomb, after he was condemned to a grisly, painful, senseless death.
Senseless, but perhaps we can understand. John the Baptist’s proclamation was powerful. People were called out into the wilderness, to be baptized by this crazy-looking guy who ate insects and wore dirty, uncomfortable clothing. It makes me wonder what exactly he had to say. Most people who look and act like that in our world get ignored. He got crowds.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of information about what he did have to say. The record is brief. A few angry words directed toward the religious authorities, demanding to know how they learned to flee from the wrath to come. Perhaps that’s part of what drew people in; he wasn’t afraid to speak to the powers of his time.
And the powers of his time were oppressive. The Romans ruled their empire through the power of fear. It’s an effective motivator. They made life miserable for everyone in their society, and promised to make life a lot more miserable if people didn’t do what they said. No one dared to speak against them.
Except, there was John, insisting that the world was full of evil. He demanded that sin be recognized, that evil be named for what it is. And in that, no one was exempt. The poorest child and the richest emperor are both called to repent.
That was incredibly hopeful to most people. A public reminder that although the top end of society claimed to be divine, they were really no different from the rest. There was only one who was different: Israel’s God. That’s who really was in power, and God condemns injustice.
Part of John’s message, though, also give people a way out. He didn’t just condemn. He proclaimed repentance, the idea that if you’ve turned away from God, God can also turn you back toward him. And he proclaimed Baptism, a clear, powerful action by which God draws us back to him. In his proclamation, John doesn’t just name evil for what it is. He names good for what IT is, and insists that good has the upper hand. We are not trapped in our sin. God gives us freedom.
All this landed him in prison. When Herod, the king of Israel, divorced his first wife so that he could marry his sister-in-law, John called his behavior criminal. Divorce itself isn’t against God’s Law, but for such a frivolous reason, the leader of the nation showed himself to be unfaithful to everyone. And the choice of Herodias as his new wife was a violation of the relationship they already had. It was abusive, to each other, to the nation, and to God, and John could not keep silent.
Herod Antipas had to arrest him to protect his political power, but even so, he recognized the truth in his words. Even he couldn’t bring himself to finish the injustice he began. Until finally, his own infidelity caught up with him, and the sword came down not just on John’s neck, but metaphorically on Herod’s own.
We often have difficulty talking about our faith today. There are lots of good reasons, but the main one is that we’re usually caught up in some well-founded fear. We don’t want to offend people, because we know how offensive it can be when other people try to evangelize or proselytize to us. We don’t want strangers, let alone friends, to perceive us that way. We don’t want to be pushy. We’re afraid of our relationships.
I’d like to just say, sweepingly, that “Well, John the Baptist wasn’t afraid, and neither should we be.” But he did end up in prison after all. And while I suppose God does call some people to that kind of sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel, most of us aren’t it. Thank God for that.
And yet, our faith would be worth that sacrifice, if we were asked for it. After all, it’s what has carried us through the most difficult moments of our lives. The last few weeks, I’ve talked about how bad things do happen to good people. How God’s response is to walk with us–sometimes even carry us–through our sorrows. I’ve seen so many people nodding their heads to that. You know, you know well, how valuable it is that the creator of the universe suffers alongside you. And ultimately, through that suffering, brings healing and life. Trusting that promise really changes things for you.
Is that really something you want to keep to yourself? How many people in your life could benefit from that? We all have pain and sorrow in our lives, but you have the most wonderful tool to help people in it. You can help them discover the powers in their life that are keeping them held in place, and name that evil for what it is. You can be public, yourself, with your own suffering, and with what has helped you through it. You can give others that way out, the knowledge that the Eternal One is not a cruel judge but a loving partner, who can lift them up to new heights.
So, in the Gospel, we have the story of a person who dedicated his life to proclaiming God’s word. It got him into a lot of trouble. The things he had to say didn’t please the powers of his time, and he ended up arrested, in prison, waiting for judgment. The powerful, political leader kept him in custody for a while, because there was no real, legitimate reason to condemn him. But there never was a real trial. The political pressure became too great, and so his disciples laid him in a tomb, after he was condemned to a grisly, painful, senseless death.
And three days later, God raised him again from the dead. No, not John. Jesus. Their story is similar. But for John to give people hope in his words, he needed some hope of his own. And that hope came from his cousin Jesus. For where John spoke out unafraid against the powers, Jesus himself is the only power that will not spurn our weakness. And where John’s preaching had a public following, Jesus’ message went beyond even that, from east to west, from the depths of the past to the end of the age to be. And where John promised people a way out, to be free of all oppression, Jesus destroyed the oppressors, tearing every tyrant from his throne, delivering us from the conquering grasp of even death.
You might not be a prophet like John. But you have been given the gift of hope, to release people from oppressive powers, to set them free. What God has done for you? Isn’t speaking it worth the risk?