Mark 6:14-29<\/strong> Revised Standard Version<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 14 <\/sup>King Herod heard of the disciples\u2019 preaching<\/em>; for Jesus\u2019 name had become known. Some said, \u201cJohn the baptizer has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him.\u201d 15 <\/sup>But others said, \u201cIt is Elijah.\u201d And others said, \u201cIt is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.\u201d 16 <\/sup>But when Herod heard of it he said, \u201cJohn, whom I beheaded, has been raised.\u201d 17 <\/sup>For Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip\u2019s wife; because he had married her. 18 <\/sup>For John said to Herod, \u201cIt is not lawful for you to have your brother\u2019s wife.\u201d 19 <\/sup>And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 <\/sup>for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly. 21 <\/sup>But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee. 22 <\/sup>For when Herodias\u2019 daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, \u201cAsk me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it.\u201d 23 <\/sup>And he vowed to her, \u201cWhatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.\u201d 24 <\/sup>And she went out, and said to her mother, \u201cWhat shall I ask?\u201d And she said, \u201cThe head of John the baptizer.\u201d 25 <\/sup>And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, \u201cI want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.\u201d 26 <\/sup>And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 <\/sup>And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 <\/sup>and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 <\/sup>When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.<\/p>\n also<\/strong><\/p>\n Amos 7:7-15<\/strong><\/p>\n Psalm 85:8-13<\/strong><\/p>\n Ephesians 1:3-14<\/strong><\/p>\n JOHN, HEROD, AND OUR INHERITANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n Grace, peace, and much joy to you, people of God.<\/p>\n Those who bring God\u2019s Word to his people will face more rejection than acceptance, but, to those who will listen to what the Lord God is saying, he is speaking peace to his faithful people, and promising an inheritance beyond our imagining.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s gospel juxtaposes John the Baptist and Herod the Tetrarch. (This Herod, the son of Herod the Great, had pretensions about being a king, but he governed at the sufferance of Rome.) John brought God\u2019s unwelcome word to Herod and his second wife Herodias, that their union was unlawful. Herodias was insulted by such talk and so Herod threw John into prison.<\/p>\n This happened before the beginning of Jesus\u2019 Galilean ministry, but St. Mark tells the story now as a flashback because, as we heard last week, Jesus has sent the Twelve out on a preaching mission, and Herod has heard of it. When John was alive, he feared him even when he was in prison, for Herod realized that he was a righteous and holy man, whose message perplexed him, though he heard him gladly. Now, having executed him, Herod fears John even more.<\/p>\n He wonders whether this righteous and holy man has been raised from the dead and now, known as Jesus, he has the powers over sickness, demonic powers, the forces of nature, and even death itself, of which Herod has heard\u2014and so have we, in the last few weeks\u2019 Gospels. It is in light of Herod\u2019s answer to the recurring question of St. Mark\u2019s Gospel, \u201cWho then is this?\u201d, that the story of John\u2019s demise is told.<\/p>\n It is in light of the prophet Amos\u2019 unwelcome word to King Jeroboam II of Israel, uttered at the ancient shrine at Bethel, that the story of his banishment by the priest Amaziah is told. The prophetic image of the plumb line, a way of determining whether what you\u2019re building is straight and true, is at the center of Amos\u2019 prophecy of disaster for the house and kingdom of Jeroboam. Amaziah was insulted by such talk and told Amos to go and prophesy elsewhere.<\/p>\n God\u2019s Word is rejected in both cases. Amaziah\u2019s concern for the king\u2019s sanctuary, a temple of the kingdom, cannot bear the prophecy of desolation and exile. Herod\u2019s concern for his improvident oath to give \u201ceven half of his kingdom\u201d\u2014though he has no kingdom to give\u2014to his dancing stepdaughter plays into Herodias\u2019 grudge against the Baptist and leads to the grisly request for his head on a platter.<\/p>\n Jesus did say, after all, that \u201cthe cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word\u201d (4:19); the word is rejected, in which case it yields nothing. St. Mark\u2019s placement of the story here foreshadows the final rejection of Jesus, leading to the cross. The disciples\u2019 successful mission of preaching, casting out demons, and healing, is set in stark relief against this story of the whimsy of evil. A world in which a righteous and holy man can be so wantonly destroyed is clearly a world glutted with evil.<\/p>\n How, then, can Psalm 85 assure us that God\u2019s salvation is very near to those who fear him? It is the great opening of the Letter to the Ephesians that places the people chosen by God into his all-encompassing plan of salvation. We are urged by this word, in short, to look at the big picture: What we are and what we shall be has been set out from eternity, from before the foundation of the world. We exist as people already fitted into a predestined comprehensive design encompassing Christ\u2019s incarnation, the Father\u2019s loving grace, and the Holy Spirit\u2019s seal.<\/p>\n We need not fear that this talk of predestination takes away our cherished freedom. We still have every freedom to reject our place in God\u2019s grace, offered to all. But is confidence that God has destined us to be made a part of his eternal household that strengthens us to refuse, like John the Baptist, to compromise with evil even in the highest places in the land, political and religious. The One who has promised to gather up all things in Christ grants us, like Amos, to see what the plumb line of his word reveals about our human constructs.<\/p>\n I do not possess the personal holiness and integrity of either John the Baptist or the prophet Amos. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Church, to live in response to God\u2019s initiative. God\u2019s intention in the incarnation is our adoption as his children, our union with the Father through the Son\u2019s union with our human nature. Becoming a Christian is not so much inviting Christ into your life as getting yourself into Christ\u2019s life.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a life that may involve more rejection than acceptance, but it is a life redeemed\u2014set free in the deepest way\u2014through the grace that flows from<\/em> the mystery that is Christ\u2019s life, cross, and rising to<\/em> the restoration of all things in him. Welcoming this constellation of promises, we can live to the praise of his glory. We trust the promise of our inheritance with all the saints in the light of Christ.<\/p>\n In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n The Rev. Dr. Paul Bieber, STS<\/p>\n