now what

 

What came to mind for me first on being asked to preach on July 14th was Bastille Day. Then I looked up the readings and noticed the infelicitous phrase “head on a platter” - one that I will not use blithely around in-laws whose ancestors escaped France in the face of the Terror - or didn’t.

In the gospel reading the beheading of Saint John the Baptist is not an enforcer’s work, unless you count heedless teenagers. Even the Lord’s Resistance Army in the east African jungle had to groom and train children to be soldiers. Here the queen’s daughter just seeks to please her.

What a ghastly family. But that is hardly the point. How less ghastly are the people who shout, crucify! or the governor who washes his hands of the whole business. or the people who make money off it, or jeer, or gape blankly, as the man with the cross, John’s cousin, is led to death.

Amos in the first reading delivers the unwelcome news that there will not be a second Passover, no exemption for the people of Israel this time, as God passes judgment on the unholy of the world. That is what “I will never again pass them by'' means. No more passing over. Just as the spiritual, recalling the flood of Noah, warned, No more water; the fire next time. (2 Peter 3:7)

“God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water but the fire next time.” https://blog.adw.org/2018/06/fire-next-time-meditation-second-letter-peter/

“But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.” (2 Peter 3:7, NRSV)

What Amos does is prophesy, and forewarn of the coming exile of the people of Israel, –the northern kingdom,– soon to be overrun by then-powerful Assyria, a neighbor to the north.

All this cleansing is in response to sin. Pretty harsh punitive measure, or pretty clear warning of consequences. The point is - though ignored by the hearers of John the Baptist - REPENT!

“Turn back O man forswear thy foolish ways,” as they sing in Godspell. 

But the invitation is more positive and joyful than these words and worries would suggest. 

Look at the psalm we sing or say in response to Amos:

Psalm 85:8-13  Benedixisti, Domine

8 I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, *
for he is speaking peace to his faithful people
and to those who turn their hearts to him.
9 Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, *
that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together; *
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth shall spring up from the earth, *
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 The Lord will indeed grant prosperity, *
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him, *
and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

It is a call not to despair but to repentance. However carbon soaked the atmosphere, however dire the current situation, God is still extending a hand to humankind, stirring life and hope.

The composer Armand Russell, my fellow bass in the choir at St Patrick’s, Kenwood, set the psalm to music, on the occasion when - one of the occasions when - the United States was about to go to war in the Middle East.

Were we doing the right thing? (The president, a Methodist son of an Episcopalian father, certainly sounded confident that we were.)  Were we listening? What is the Lord God saying?

Not to them, anymore, but to us. What shall we do in our current situation? What shall we do, facing eternity? 

The Russians of the 19th Century, in their great literature, asked the question, how are we to live? In a more awkward form, the 20th Century American Evangelical speaker Frances Schaeffer IV lectured and wrote on the topic, How should we then live? : the rise and decline of western thought and culture. I can tell you it was quite a ride. All my cohort of Christian friends were there hanging on his words, and I wrote them down feverishly, and then forgot them.

But the question of the Russians remains: how are we to live? It is not so different from the question people asked Peter, when he had baptized them: what do we do now?

There’s an old Robert Redford movie, The Candidate, where he plays a young idealist running against an old political pro, mostly to speak up for what he believes, and when he is unexpectedly elected, he turns to his campaign svengali and asks, now what?

Now what? is where we are now, where we always are, after the beheading of the Baptist, after the crucifixion of Jesus, after his resurrection and ascension, before the fullness of the kingdom of heaven is revealed in all its joyous power. Now what? 

How are we to live - now? Or as people asked Peter, what must we do?

Simple words, simple actions, in the telling of the gospels. Don’t cheat, don’t lie, don’t steal, give right weight and proper measure, share, look after the needy. Wait, but not just sitting around. Prepare by being ready, by getting into the habit, by living into the kingdom that is not yet - but whose citizens we already are.

Above and beyond and always questioning our earthly loyalties, to tribe or even family, is that divine calling, that allegiance un-pledged, un-bought, un-voted for, but ultimately demanding: the welcome undertow of the holy word, the joyous laughter of the Lord of mirth, the happy ending beyond all sorrow, that comes when we come to the Lord, and lay ourselves at his feet.

In our words and in our actions, together as a congregation, individually in our daily lives, and as citizens and people of common humanity, we are making positive steps toward inhabiting the kingdom of heaven that is coming into being.

This includes collective action as citizens and as assembled people of God.

This spring, United Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Episcopalians each gathered to discuss their future, enact resolutions, and elect leaders for a new era.

Arizona voters began to make their choices; St Matthew’s is again a voting center.

And the kingdom of heaven came ever closer and even showed itself in places. May it become ever more visible in our lives and the lives we touch. Amen.

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

For the Episcopal Church of Saint Matthew, Tucson.

14 July 2024

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Proper 10

Amos 7:7-15

Psalm 85:8-13

Ephesians 1:3-14

Mark 6:14-29

http://edgeofenclosure.org/proper10b.html

two households

 Two households, not alike in dignity,

 In far Tiberias, where we lay our scene,

 From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

 Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

(Romeo and Juliet, Ii, 1-4, alt.)

A birthday party. A banquet. A feast. Everybody there you want to impress: sophisticated, urbane, and powerful. Prominent citizens of Galilee, military heroes, court officials: they’re all there. And the evening is going well…

It’s a bit of a bacchanalia, it seems; at least a symposium (Greco-Roman drinking party). An evening of worldly entertainment. And wine. And women! The queen’s daughter herself comes in dancing. (Who sent her in?)

But the light of the party turns dark…

“Give me the head on a platter of John the Baptist.”

And, so: he does.

And so doing he eliminates a dangerous enemy, a fascinating threat.

Only to face in Jesus the equivalent of John come back alive. For his message is not dead. And the repentance, and forgiveness, and righteousness, and the kingdom, that he proclaimed, seems more sure than ever to come.

Word has spread. Jesus – John’s cousin – and his disciples are going about the towns, preaching repentance, healing the sick – casting out demons!

Turn from your sins, O people of God. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

(Herod remembers. John said: Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; (Matthew 3:10/Luke 3:9) Perhaps he was right!)

The signs are there. And it is not Herod’s kingdom that will come in.

Ten years later in exile in Gaul, how will Herod be doing? Will it have been worth it? The wife – the daughter – the head??

In opposition to the kingdom and family of Herod is another family, another king.

Not another king like Caesar; the king of heaven. Not just any family; the family of God.

And so the opposite forces gather.

Two kingdoms. Two families. Not alike.

This is not the first betrayal of a prophet, of a messenger bearing the word of God. Amos went to the disobedient king Jeroboam of Israel, as Elijah would have done; he gave his message and was chastised for it.

Go earn your bread in Judah, go away from this king, he was told.

But he replied. I am no professional, no bearer of the words that kings want to hear; I was an arborist and a shepherd.

The Lord chose me, showed me a vision, and sent me.

This message I have given – this vision – will come to pass.

Not popular words. Not shaped to be popular.

And so Amos delivered the message, as John would, as Jesus would, as his disciples do. The judgment is coming.

The true king is on his way. He is sending out his messengers. Though the powers of the world may oppose them, as they did before – as they opposed Amos, Elijah, John, Jesus, and all the holy martyrs – God promises his people that the Word of the Lord effects what it promises.

And that’s what they are afraid of… that is what the kings like Herod and Jeroboam fear: that the word of the Lord will come true.

The kingdom of the times is powerful, even attractive.

But we belong to another family, another kingdom.

Our brothers and sisters, all over the world, are those whom God has chosen, blessed, destined, redeemed, enlightened, inspired, made heirs, sealed as his own.

The letter to the Ephesians tells us: We are the people of God’s own choosing, not ours; of his calling, his blessing, his redeeming, his inspiring; of his legacy.

There is much to rejoice in – in Christ. We are blessed.

This is the day the Lord has made – has made us his own.

You are in his family, his kingdom; you are his people forever. Have a blessed day.

Almighty God,

send down upon your Church

the riches of your Spirit,

and kindle in all who bear the good news

your countless gifts of grace;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(A collect for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity, Common Worship, Church of England.

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/)

BProper10, Amos 7:7-15, Psalm 85:8-13, Ephesians 1:3-14, Mark 6:14-29,

Dancing before the Lord

David dances before the Lord. The whole people of God dance with all their might.

He is leaping and dancing before the Lord,
as he brings the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem,
to the tent he had pitched for it there.

He gives thanks, blesses the people, and distributes food among all of them.

The ark, the symbol of the presence of God,
has a new dwelling-place, on the holy hill,
in the midst of the people.

There is a king in Israel, and he rejoices at the presence of the glory of God.

Centuries later, another king appears, a son of David, the Messiah. Christ.

As we pick up the story this week, in the good news according to Mark,

Jesus has gone out among the villages teaching and preaching that the kingdom of God is at hand.

And then we have this disturbing interlude, told as something that had already happened.

News of this new teacher, Jesus, came to Herod Antipas, the Rome-appointed ruler of Galilee. And he feared that it was his old nemesis, John the Baptist, come back to life.

John had denounced Herod for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife. And Herod had imprisoned John, but kept him alive, and listened to him, and found it amusing. Then, a change came – an opening for those who wanted to see the prophet silenced, permanently.

On Herod’s birthday all the movers and shakers of Galilee were gathered in his palace, and the daughter of Herodias danced before them. With the horrific result we have heard. Herod, wanting to reward her for her charming performance, said “ask me for anything.”

He thought to offer her half his kingdom, as much as that, making her (as Ryan Marsh has pointed out) her mother’s equal, and yet she and her mother working together tied him in a knot. The mother coached and the girl made the request: bring me John’s head on a platter.

Herod was dismayed, but the show must go on. He had given his word, right? No matter that he was a client of Rome, which always insisted on at least the pretence of a trial.

He went ahead, and John was beheaded. Herod sacrificed the life of the prophet to keep his grasp on his position, to keep up the façade of power in front of these watching guests, the power brokers of Galilee.

John’s disciples heard the news of his death, and they came, took his body away, and placed it in a tomb.

(This whole episode foreshadows the fate of the Messiah, an event that has yet to come.)

The forerunner, John the Baptist, had run his course. John was the last and greatest of the old prophets – for he was the one to go before, to prepare the way of the coming King, the Messiah. Now he is gone.

The old way is over. Someone greater than any prophet has come into the world.

(As Herbert O’Driscoll has pointed out, this is a sea-change.)

The new has come: the son of David, the promised child, the Messiah.

Jesus, Messiah.

And now the Lord dwells among his people, not in a tent, not in a temple, but as a human being, as one of them.

Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:5c-11)

This is the one who has come to the world. And he will take bread, this son of David, and after giving thanks break it and distribute it to the people. They will eat and be filled.

And he himself will be the bread, bread from heaven, bread for the world.

And he calls us to be his body in the world, so that we too become bread for the world.

So rejoice in the Lord, live in hope, and act to bring God’s good news to the world.

As Marty Haugen sings, in his new song, "Bread for the World" –

Rejoice, give thanks for abundant grace, food on our tables and peace within this place. How rich, how wide is our God's embrace! And thru' this great sustaining love

We are bread for the world, bread for the world, bread for a hungry world. May we be bread for the world, bread for the world, bread for a hungry world.

Hope burns anew, thru' the world's despair, when eyes are opened and hearts are moved to care, when we can listen and learn to share, then we might fin'lly turn and see

We are bread for the world, bread for the world, bread for a hungry world. May we be bread for the world, bread for the world, bread for a hungry world.

Act strong in faith, for God's Reign is near; stand up with courage, speak out and do not fear! Now is the time that the world must hear the tasks that God has called us to;

We are bread for the world, bread for the world, bread for a hungry world. May we be bread for the world, bread for the world, bread for a hungry world.

Almighty God,
send down upon your Church
the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who bear the good news
your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.



SOURCES

Ryan Marsh, Church of the Beloved (www.belovedschurch.org) conversation.

Herbert O’Driscoll, The Word Today: Reflections on the Readings of the Revised Common Lectionary, Year B, Volume 3 (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre, 2001) 54.

(“Bread for the World” - lyrics and music: Marty Haugen. From http://www.breadblog.org/ July 11, 2009.)

(Adapted from a collect for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity, Common Worship, Church of England. http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/)

Readings for Year B, Proper 10, Revised Common Lectionary:
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19, Psalm 24, Ephesians 1:3-14, Mark 6:14-29.

8 o’clock in the morning
July 12, 2009

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