July 15th, 2012 “A Terrible
Wonderful Faith” Rev. Heather Jepsen
2 Samuel 6 and Mark 6:14-29
Boy, what a lot of mess and drama we
find in our readings this week. After
last Sunday’s quiet discussion of service and the role of the deacon, this
week’s readings seem to come out of left field.
From the sudden death of Uzzah, to the revealing dance moves of king
David, to the gruesome scene of John the Baptist’s head on a platter this
Sunday’s readings are quite shocking. I
wouldn’t be surprised if someone argued that subjects like we find in this
week’s lectionary readings aren’t appropriate to discuss in church.
We will start with the Old Testament
reading. David is ready to consolidate
power in Jerusalem, the city of David, and an important part of that ceremony
is bringing in the ark. The ark is
placed on a cart, proper attire and ceremony are followed, and before long it’s
on its way. That is of course until it
crosses a threshing floor. The oxen
stumble, the ark rattles and begins to fall, and like any caring Israelite,
Uzzah automatically reaches out his hand to steady the ark.
Zap!
He is dead on the spot. Talk
about a party pooper. Everyone is in
shock and David is angry and afraid.
He’s not so sure he wants this ark around after all if accidents like
that can happen. So David changes his
mind about the ark. He leaves it in the
home of a foreigner, Obed-edom the Gittite and heads back to Jerusalem without
the great presence of God. For three
months David takes a break and considers just how close he wants to be to God.
Of course, where God is there is
blessing, and it doesn’t take long for the house of Obed-edom to show it. “Wait a minute,” David thinks, “that blessing
should be mine!” So the ark is once
again on the move. This time David
rejoices with great abandon, dancing about in a linen ephod with such
exuberance that he inadvertently flashes folks.
Well, that won’t go over well with the wife back home.
David’s wife Michal is none too
pleased with any of this. She is the
daughter of Saul so perhaps she harbors a grudge against David for taking the
place that once belonged to her father.
Perhaps she is jealous of the way David is able to rejoice so freely
before God. Perhaps she is simply
embarrassed to be married to someone who has flashed most of the city. Either way, after the ceremony the two get
into a fight. And it is a fight that
appears unresolved as we are told Michal and David never had a child together.
As if that wasn’t enough drama and
scandal for one Sunday, our reading is paired with an equally scandalous
reading from Mark. Mark is writing about
folks wondering who Jesus is, perhaps Elijah or John the Baptist back from the
dead, when he seems to remember that he has yet to tell us how John the Baptist
died. Mark then goes into a very
detailed account of the death of John the Baptist. For the shortest gospel, Mark provides the
longest account of the death of John the Baptist. His is a story clearly honed over many
retellings around the camp fire.
According to Mark, Herod is the one
who finally arrested John the prophet and troublemaker. The story gets messy right away when we find
out that Herod had married his brother’s wife Herodias. The historian Josephus tells us that Herod
began the affair when visiting his brother’s house. John of course speaks out against such a
union. Herod may not be a practicing Jew
but he is a Jew nonetheless and though he may love Herodias, a marriage to her
is not appropriate.
Herod can’t have John out and about
speaking against his rule and so he has him arrested and put in prison. But Herod is drawn to John, John interests
him, and Mark tells us that Herod was perplexed by John but liked to listen to
him preach. I can just imagine Herod
sneaking away during the days to visit with John in prison.
But this cozy arrangement won’t last
long. Herodias is most definitely not
enamored with John and not interested at all in his teaching. Mark tells us that she had a grudge against John
and wanted him dead. Have no doubt; she
will strike at the first opportunity given.
Herod throws a party for friends and officers,
basically the mucky mucks of Galilee, and entertainment is provided by
Herodias’ daughter, Herod’s niece and step-daughter. Mark calls her Herodias as well but she is
known in other sources as Salome. Like
David, Salome dances her heart out, but unlike David her goal is not the glory
of God. In art and story, Salome’s dance
is often sexualized, a dance of the seven veils if you will.
Herod and his guests are impressed by
Salome’s beauty and talent for seduction; and in a grand show Herod offers her
anything she may request. Herod clearly
is thinking of gifts of wealth as he offers her half his kingdom. Salome looks to her mother for advice and now
Herodias sees her moment to strike. What
better gift for the daughter of Herodias then the head of John the Baptist?
Herod is now in a bind. He has the option of standing up for what he
knows is right and protecting the life of one he has grown fond of. But that choice comes at a cost, namely his
pride as he would have to go back on his word in front of all those at his
party. The choice to save John would
probably also cost him his marriage.
Herod goes with what is easy, not with what is right and consents with
the request. John is killed and as
artists throughout the centuries have depicted Salome returns to the dinner
party presenting his head on a platter. This
is definitely not a bedtime story.
What is a preacher to say on these
texts? What can one say about such
stories of broken hearts, violence, loss, and injustice? Well, that’s life I suppose.
Both of these stories serve to remind
us that the Biblical narrative is as messy as our own lives are, if not messier. Humans were created full of passion and
drama. It’s always been that way. We have strong feelings about things and we
live our lives in grand gestures of love as well as hate. Our lives are dramas; they are stories,
sometimes with happy endings, sometimes not.
The constant throughout the Biblical
narrative and in our own lives today is the presence of God. It is a presence that I think we are simultaneously
drawn to and repelled by. In the story
of David, we find David drawn to and pushed away from the presence of God. David wants the ark in his presence and yet
he fears its power; for good reason to, as he doesn’t want to end up like poor
Uzzah. David’s motives are varied. Possession of the ark is possession of power,
clearly a goal of David’s. And yet the
ark’s power is one that cannot be controlled, a power to be feared. Although the ark brings blessing, it also
brings conflict, for its arrival in Jerusalem signals the end of David’s
marriage to Michal.
Like David, Herod is drawn to and
repelled by the presence of God. John
the Baptist is clearly one on whom the spirit of the Lord has descended. Herod is drawn to John, his power and his
preaching. Herod finds him to be an
interesting companion and likes having him near, kept in the confines of his prison. And yet Herod is at times repelled by John
and the message he brings. No one wants
to have their sins called out in the open, and John certainly isn’t helping
Herod’s marriage any. Herod is both
attracted to and put off by the spirit of the Lord that is in John. This ambiguity will lead to Herod’s
willingness to put John to death.
I believe that like David and Herod we
are simultaneously attracted to and afraid of a relationship with God. The presence of God will bring us power and
blessing, it will bring us knowledge and strength, and it will bring us comfort
and peace. The presence of God will also
unsettle and disturb us, it will cost us dearly, and it will put us at
risk. Like David, we want to have God’s
promise of blessing in our life, but we don’t really want to acknowledge how
powerful and scary and absolute God can be.
Like Herod, we are drawn to the words of God’s grace and truth, but we
don’t really want to hear about our sins and their consequences.
Deep in our hearts we are torn when it
comes to God. Just how much will those
blessings cost me, we want to know. Our
fears are not comforted when we read the Biblical narrative, for those who give
their all to God, like John the Baptist, and Jesus the Messiah, will lose
everything, including their lives.
Although they are scary, and contain
inappropriate material, these stories of David and Herod do have a place in the
church. They remind us of the mess and
drama of every life. Though the
characters are different, your own messy life is not that different from your
neighbors or even from mine. We are all
in this mess together. And in the middle
of our mess we are both drawn to and afraid of God. Such is the nature of the journey of
faith. Sometimes we draw close,
sometimes we turn away, but always we are in relationship. The word of comfort in these stories is that
God does not change. Though we may come
and go, God is always constant: waiting, loving, looking for us. Such is the nature of grace; such is the life
of faith. Thanks be to God for this
terrible, wonderful journey. Amen.
(This sermon is a bit of a dark place to go and so was purposely paired with the hymn "You are Mine" as a message from God to the believer in fear. The chorus reads, Do not be afraid, I am with you. I have called you each by name, Come and follow me, I will bring you home; I love you and you are mine.")
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