Year C Lent 3 WED 2022 Tending our Siblings

 Year C Lent 3 WEDNESDAY, 23 March 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Tending our Siblings”

Collect: Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.

Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘no idol in the world really exists’, and that ‘there is no God but one.’ Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ‘Food will not bring us close to God.’* We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling-block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed.* But when you thus sin against members of your family,* and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling,* I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them* to fall.

Mark 6:13-29

They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. 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.

Good morning. Today we are going to go back to Sunday School, or maybe Kindergarten. I am hopefully “preaching to the choir.” I think I am. But the situation of using lectionary readings is that sometimes you are asked to speak to things you would not necessarily pick. And then you have to filter it through your own prayer life, the world around you, the water you swim in, and try to give a word to God’s people that has them look to Jesus and then out to the world to be “little Jesuses” in their own way.

Easy, right?

This morning St. Paul looked at freedom, and what to do with it. You have heard me say it before and I will say it again, “Freedom is to do what we should, not what we want.” Paul could eat anything. The best meat, the choicest and freshest cuts, were served in the pagan temple’s refectories (for lack of a better word). He knew he could eat there, no problem. The gods worshiped in those places were not real, and he could in his freedom eat whatever, wherever. Period.

But he also knew from a story as old as Cain and Abel that he was his brother’s (and sister’s and sibling’s) keeper. Their welfare is his bounden duty. They could not, in their spiritual growth, capture the nuance of eating at these places where food sacrificed to idols was served. He knew it was better to grab a vegetarian falafel than to have the finest prime rib when he ate out FOR HIS SIBLING’S SAKE!

Herod cared for John the Baptizer, and he enjoyed hearing him preach. He could handle being denounced. Herodias, his brother’s and now his wife, could not. She wanted him gone. Period.

And when Herod made a drunken promise in front of all his friends, Herodias took the opportunity. Be careful what promises you make and to whom. Herod was responsible for the promises made, and all the implications no matter how catastrophic. Sounds a lot like NATO these days and the horrors of what is happening in Ukraine. Damned if we do and damned if we don’t. Thanks be to God.

Caring for the “Least of These” is one of the first filters I put myself through when I decide a course of action. Protocol is another. On Sunday, Becky+ and I were repeatedly questioned about when do we “get to take off the masks?” Admittedly, this breaks my heart. There are folks who cannot come to church safely when we take that step. And out of respect for them, I have stayed on this course. Freedom is about doing what we should, and yes, there is a price for that. Also, Vestry revisits all our COVID policy monthly, and the new guidelines came out the day after our last Vestry meeting. And this month is delayed for our Vestry retreat till this Saturday. It is not that we are ignoring where the world is going, it is just that for us to follow protocol, and we will, we just have not been able to do so yet. Again, damned if we do and damned if we don’t. Thanks be to God.

Friends, as we weave the course of this life today, keep these Scriptures in mind. Freedom is not about doing what you want, but what you should. And when we have power, use to care for the powerless, the “least of these.” We are our Siblings’ keeper, and how we tend for them shows what we truly value and love. How can we say we love God when we cannot love our neighbor? That’s I John 4:20, by the way. Amen.