A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. John D. Painter at Centenary United Methodist Church Metuchen, New Jersey July 12, 2009

Text: Mark 6:14-29
King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.”

Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb. —Mark 6:14-29, NRSV

Today’s Gospel reading may be one of the best known birthday party stories ever told. But the occasion of Herod Antipas’ birthday celebration is also the setting for the story of a tragic event that happens very early in Jesus’ ministry. And it has caused some to wonder why here, in the middle of July, the Lectionary reading takes us to a birthday and a beheading?

Well, it is an important story in large part because John the Baptist was a significant fig-ure in the Gospel stories. All four of the New Testament Gospels begin their narratives with John the Baptist—the forerunner of Jesus; the prophetic figure who preaches in the wilderness, prepar-ing the way for the advent of the Messiah. John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, and with that baptism Jesus’ ministry was inaugurated. John and Jesus must have been very close.

And yet, early on, Jesus hears the news of the brutal death of John the Baptist at the hands of Herod Antipas.

John’s was a powerful voice. From the wilderness he preached strong, fierce messages proclaiming the coming judgment of God. And now that voice has been silenced by a more po-litically powerful voice. The voice of Herod seems to be more powerful than the voice of John the Baptist. In fact, it wasn’t even the voice of Herod that led to John’s execution—it was the whim of a dancing girl and her mother.

Herod Antipas had an adulterous affair with his brother Philip’s wife, his sister-in-law Herodias, whom he eventually married…while Philip was still alive. And John the Baptist called Antipas to account for this behavior. It took a lot of guts for a little preacher to stand up and call this adulterous politician to task. How much fortitude it took we have learned from Mark: It cost John the Baptist his head.

John the Baptist, a man driven by the power of the word of God, is silenced by Herod Antipas, a man who wields the power of the sovereign Roman State…at least in Galilee. Was it not Lord Acton who famously said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely corrupts”? How clearly we can see that in the absolute, autocratic power wielded by Herod Antipas.

Once again, government-induced violence triumphs. The king silences the prophet. Once again, a good person is annihilated by the evil power of the State. You don’t have to come to church and listen to the Bible to hear stories like this. You don’t need Scripture to tell you about politically powerful people engaged in sexual intrigue. Probably the names Ensign, Vitters, San-ford, Spitzer and McGreevy are far better known to you than Herod Antipas. You don’t need me to pass on to you the rather conventional observation that, when it comes to power, the one with the largest guns or the biggest bomb or the sharpest stick still wins. You could have stayed at home this morning and watched CNN and discovered that. You can read about the perils of go-vernmental power in any newspaper or newsmagazine. You certainly don’t need me to provide this reality to you in a sermon. And yet, if we read a bit deeper, we may discover a more interest-ing message in this Gospel story and its aftermath. The message may not be simply that the pow-erless suffer because of the powerful, but the message also might be that there are different forms of power.

Back in the mid-twentieth century, Mahatma Gandhi taught India that the power of truth was stronger than the power of falsehood. The British Empire was telling a lie when it said that India was better off under British rule than if it were free and independent and democratic. Gan-dhi sought to tell the truth, like John the Baptist. But Gandhi was able to do more. He also en-acted the truth, because Gandhi firmly believed that non-violent power was stronger than the power of violence. Thus Gandhi called his autobiography Gandhi an Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth. The liberation of India from the British Empire was a painful, often violent process in which truth and non-violence finally prevailed.

Gandhi not only talked about the injustice of British rule, but through the non-violence of thousands of his followers, he also exposed the evil behind the often benevolent face of the Em-pire through his experiment with the truth. The British had claimed they were in India for be-nevolent reasons, but as the world watched British soldiers massacre unarmed Indian civilians, the world came to a different verdict—and so, ultimately, did the British people.

Herod Antipas is powerful enough to simply speak and a prophet’s head is served up on a silver platter. That’s power! But through suffering and dying, John the Baptist reveals the weak-ness that lurks in Herod’s brand of power. Here is a king who has not only besmirched his sover-eignty by having an affair with his brother’s wife, but also a king who has stooped to killing the prophet John the Baptist, on the word of a young girl who has pleased him in her dance for him. This is power?
There is a great irony behind this violent story of the abuses of power. Herod executed John the Baptist in order to shut him up. But here we are today, still talking about John the Bap-tist, still remembering his prophetic words, still admiring his courage. We wouldn’t be talking about Herod Antipas (who among you have ever heard of him until I mentioned him in this ser-mon!) except that he plays a walk-on part in the drama of our salvation in Jesus Christ. He couldn’t shut up the gospel just by executing some of its preachers. The Word goes on. This story is being told. New contemporary disciples are being instructed and encouraged by this story. It’s enough to make you ask, “Who has real power? Where does true power come from, power that doesn’t end when a ruler goes out of office, but power that continues to subvert the old world and bring forth a new world?”
A concluding note: The story of John the Baptist closes, not with what Herod Antipas has done or what the executioner has enacted, but with an account of John’s disciples—the students who had followed him throughout his life. In Jewish tradition, the sons of the father were ex-pected to give an honorable burial to their father. John must have left no family because his dis-ciples stepped up and provided a burial tomb for him. Can you imagine what courage that act of devotion required? It took courage to ask for the body of someone who had been publicly exe-cuted by the government. The government officials did not look kindly on people who came to collect the body of an enemy of the state.

I remind you that when Jesus was crucified, his disciples did not gather and demand his body to be given an honorable burial after a dishonorable execution. There was nobody to give Jesus a decent burial but Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the politically-powerful and relig-iously-elite Sanhedrin.

So if you thought courage died with John the Baptist, think again. John’s disciples show John’s courage in their stepping up to give John the Baptist a respectful entombment. See what Mark is doing with this story? The seemingly small details are revelatory. The courage contin-ues. Herod thought that he had once and for all put an end to the nuisance of this troublesome, outspoken prophet. But Herod is powerless to shut John up. The preaching continues. The gospel continues. The courage continues.

Right here in this congregation, the courage continues. Looking out on you this morning, I don’t see many people that the world would regard as important, powerful people and yet, it is a promise of the gospel that Jesus is busy subverting the old world and creating a new world through you. Every time you speak up for love in the face of hate, every time you tell the truth about injustice and reach out and attempt to subvert the injustice, you are showing power, true power, the power of God in Jesus Christ. The grand promise that sustains and emboldens us, in these weeks after Easter, is that nothing—no power on earth—will be able to defeat you!
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PRAYER
Dear Jesus, give us the strength not only to love you but to follow you, to walk behind you wherever you lead us. And if it be your will that we should walk with you into the valley of death, through a time of suffering, to find ourselves rebuked and scorned by the world, then stand by us and fill us with your peaceful power, that we may be the brave disciples that you de-serve. Amen.
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