Year B Proper 10 2024 Listen Closely & Speak Boldly

Year B Proper 10, 14 July 2024
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Listen Closely & Speak Boldly”

Collect: O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Gospel Mark 6:14-29
King Herod heard of Jesus and his disciples, 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. I need to start with the events that happened last evening, and denounce violence in all its forms. We will pray today for former President Trump and his family, those killed and injured, and for our country. With so much rage and divisiveness, a solid, loving, Grace-filled witness is needed all the more. I wrote during this week and finished this sermon yesterday morning. The events of last night made it all the more relevant.

We have a harsh scene, nagging guilt, saving face, and righteous indignation. Herod was guilty of beheading an innocent man to save face in front of his guests, and he hears of someone very similar and his lackeys are hinting that it is John the Baptizer resurrected. Guilt has him thinking it might be true.

John had confronted the King for marrying his brother’s wife Herodius. And at a birthday party, probably a little under the influence, he made promises he had to keep.

Human nature has not changed much in 2000 years.

We still have big egos promising more than they can deliver. We still have crooked politicians. We still have personal squabbles affecting culture at large. Arrgh!

One thing I find fascinating is that the word going around is that Jesus was a reincarnated John the Baptizer. How was his ministry similar enough to draw that comparison? He was a popular preacher gathering throngs of hungry listeners, but Herod’s conscience was tender enough to worry. He was human enough to have it affect him. He said as much, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

We get caught up in the way that we live our lives. If we live open and honest, we tend to see the world that way. If we are lying, sneaking crooks, we tend to see the world that way, too. As Jesus had said, “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword.” Whatever game you play is the rules you will expect.

So even though this is the game on the field, it does not mean we have to play it. Last week I spoke on Freedom of Conscience. It is that dangerous gift that God gave us from the beginning. We are not robots or automatons. We have a chance to make a choice, and we have the opportunity to go against the flow, small or huge, and do what is right and good and true.

In the moment, it can be hard to know what is the right path to choose. It can be confusing. An offhand comment can make a huge difference (good or bad) to someone who hears it. We need to be careful what we say.

This morning in our collect we prayed for God’s help, those of us who pray and are trying to do God’s work in this world. We asked “grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them.”

As James reminds us, “Faith, without works, is dead.” (2:17)

So where do we go with that?

Friends, we have the ability to make a difference in this world, and most of it begins with making a difference in ourselves. If you want to have more friends, you have to be friendly. If you want the world to be a better place, you have to get up and do good. We create around us the world we wish to see, and we make choices that echo. Think of it like dropping a stone in a pond. It may seem like a small splash when it goes in, but the ring of waves that begins goes on and on and on. Good stones equal good waves. Bad stones create bad waves. The lives we live are much like that. We make waves, good or bad. What we do echoes into the void, and we may never see the effects, but that does not mean that they are not there. As Jesus taught, we reap what we sow.

These may seem trite, but it does not make them any less true. You may be the only Bible someone may ever read, and you may be the only Jesus someone may ever meet. These brief encounters may give someone a glimpse of a different moment, which may lead to a different day, which may lead to a different life, which may lead to a different eternity. These “little things” may seem so small and insignificant, but they are everything.

As Gandalf told Bilbo in The Hobbit, “Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” Or if Mother Teresa is more your speed, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

I think that is what made John, and Jesus, so popular and attractive. They loved the people that were around them, day in and day out. Even when he was denouncing Herod, John was doing it with love at the base. He wanted what was best for him. Even when he was jailed, Herod brought him in to preach to him. As it said in today’s Gospel:

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.

Even when we perplex and frustrate people, they sense the way we feel about them. It seeps through the cracks whether we intend it to or not.

As my mother reminded me when I was a snotty teen, “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice!” People know our hearts.

Jesus’ ministry had that feel, as did John’s. And what of ours? What do our actions and choices say about our hearts, individually and collectively?

Do we dare take stands against grievous public wrongs? Do we dare let our voice be heard when we know it could cost us?

We live in a time when people are using our Lord and Savior as a weapon for hurting and not a scalpel for healing. We live in a time when the name of Jesus is being used in vain repeatedly and loudly instead of a blessing. We live in a time when the word Christian has become a slur because of its association with hate and not love. Never did I think I would live in such a time as this. But we are put in this time and in this place for such a time as this. John, while having to pay a price, the ultimate price, made a difference in his preaching and his actions.

It is not easy to stand up for what is right when everyone seems to be going the opposite direction. For me the litmus test is Grace. Does it promote health and healing and growth, or does it focus on the interests of a few at the cost of everyone. Is there a preferential bias for those with the least (the metaphorical widow and orphan) or the empowerment and privilege of the few? Does it lift up all of God’s Children or a few claiming God’s love as their own possession?

You probably have heard me say that the greatest need of a follower of Jesus these days is discernment, a testing of the spirit of the times, especially in times like these. It is often hard to know what to do. When there are fires blazing all around us, which one do we put out first? That is discernment. There are different hills on which all of us might choose to die. That is part of our discernment.

John chose Herod’s immoral relationship for himself. And I trust that the Holy Spirit led him to that choice.

When we are facing hard choices, know that we are promised that same gift.

Luke 12:11-12
“When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you will answer or what you are to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Holy Spirit can and does work with you in different ways.

The Holy Spirit is with you as you read and “inwardly digest” Scripture. It helps you know what God’s word says about today by taking the principles of the ancient narratives and putting God’s way into our day and time.

The Holy Spirit helps us determine the source of words and actions. Where is this coming from? Is there the serenity and calmness of God’s authority here, or is it coming from a swirling place of self-interest and lust for power?

The Holy Spirit invites us to be co-laboring with the Spirit, and with each other, to be at work in this world. God’s people will know each other by their trademark of love and grace, and like-minded and like-spirited folks will be at work together building the kingdom and opposing the power-mad empires of our world.

Friends, today’s Gospel is not a light one. Guilt, shame, and death, a swirling confusion. And when I lead people in discernment I remind them that God is not a God of confusion. Listen. Listen hard for that still, small voice. It is not in the fires, or the earthquakes, or the windstorms. It is in that quiet, intimate space where God finds you and you find God.

Go there, listen closely, and fear not. Amen.