+ 7th Sunday after Pentecost – July 11, 2021 +
Series B: Amos 7:7-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It didn’t happen often, but occasionally, while watching a movie with my parents, they would tell my sister and I to close our eyes, or they’d fast forward the movie until certain kinds of scenes were over.
After hearing today’s Gospel reading from Mark 6 you might find yourself feeling that way too. It’s the kind of Bible story you hear and think to yourself, “Ooh, that’s in the Bible?” Or, “Hey, kids, close your eyes…earmuffs!” Mark’s account of Herod’s beheading of John the Baptist sounds more like a preview of HBO’s latest miniseries than it does a Sunday School bible story. Sex, adultery, dancing, drinking, sinful desires, and murder – it’s all there.
Hardly seems appropriate for polite conversation. But that’s just it. Stories like this remind us that the world we live in is fallen, broken, and full of impolite things. Stories like this are a reminder that the Kingdom of God is not built on polite conversation but on the reality of God’s work for fallen sinners in a fallen world. It’s a reminder of just how messy life can be. And how our Lord Jesus came to join us in this messy, broken, fallen world to bring redemption out of our utter ruin.
God came to save people from sin, real sin. And real sin is often not the stuff of polite conversation. Which is why it is so good to have a story like this read in a church like this on Sunday morning. It awakens us to God’s work.
Still, we wonder, “What is this story doing in our Sunday readings? What is Jesus revealing about himself and his work in this story?”
To be sure, it’s part of the story of John the Baptist, detailing his death in all its brutality and tragedy. In that way, it’s a preview of the brutality that Jesus will also undergo on the cross.
But there’s also something bigger than John going on here. You can tell that by the way Mark arranges chapter 6. At first it seems a bit odd. Right before the death of John the Baptist is recorded Jesus sends out the 12 with his authority to preach, teach, heal, and cast out demons in Jesus’ name. Hearing this is what prompts Herod to remember, and Mark to recount, John’s death.
Then, immediately after this story, Mark records Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000. So, the tragic account of John’s death is bookended by these two marvelous stories of the rule and reign of Jesus, his kingdom of grace and mercy coming among the people.
Why does Mark take time to tell us this sordid tale in the middle of the mission work of the kingdom of God?
There are, perhaps, many reasons. But I think at least 3 are important for our faith and life today.
First, Mark wants us to know and hear that first part of the preaching of the Kingdom of God. The preaching of repentance. Wherever God’s prophets preach God’s Word – like John did, or Amos in the OT reading – God’s Word will come first to reveal and expose the real sin in the lives of real people. Herod. You. Me. All of us. It’s easy to hear this story and be disgusted and grieved by Herod’s actions without reflecting on our own sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. It’s tempting to hear this story and think, “Well, at least I’m not as bad as Herod.”
To be sure, Herod’s tale is sordid. But so is mine and so is yours. Apart from Christ there is no end to the evil we would do. Even in Christ, we have all had times when we have struggled and fallen. True Christianity, a faith that is more than a matter of knowledge, experiences the sorrow for sin and the blessed grace of forgiveness at the hand of Jesus who comes to save sinful people like us.
And therein lies the second thing I think Mark is getting after in arranging things this way. That the work of the Kingdom of God is quite often messy, even downright bloody at times. John is beheaded. Peter was likely crucified upside down. The rest of the 12, except John the apostle and evangelist, likewise died brutal deaths as martyrs.
What happened to John, his death for proclaiming God’s Word, foreshadows what will happen to Jesus. And what happened to Jesus is a picture of what will happen to the disciples too, as they take up their cross and follow Him (8:34). But God works in the midst of this mess.
And that’s perhaps the greatest reason this story is written and given to us.
God works in the midst of the mess of this fallen, broken, tragic, sordid world. And he does so for you. Even when John the Baptist is beheaded. Even when the Lord himself is hanging dead on a tree. Even in the mess of our fallen, broken, sinful lives, Jesus is there working in the midst of the mess to save you.
And that, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, is good news. For the Kingdom of God that we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer – “Thy Kingdom Come” – is not a kingdom of might, power, or politics but of the Spirit of God. It comes wherever God’s word is preached. His Word of repentance, yes, but that only paves the way for his greatest work of declaring the Gospel to us. The good news that Jesus has taken our struggles, failures, sins, and tragic lives unto himself. And in exchange, he gives us his perfect life, his perfect death, his glorious life and resurrection. That he takes our impurity, uncleanness, and unholiness and gives us his purity, righteousness, and holiness. Or, as Paul put it, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
God’s kingdom is not a reign over nations but over hearts and minds. God’s kingdom comes and is given to you by faith alone in Christ alone.
Earthly kingdoms are about power. God’s kingdom is about the mercy of a King who dies for the people.
So the next time you come across a bible story that’s difficult to hear, don’t cover your eyes or ears, fix your eyes on Jesus your Savior, Redeemer and merciful King. He’ll be right where he promises to be. In the midst of the mess for you.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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