An Honourable Way to Die - The Life and Times of John the Baptist
15th Sunday
in Ordinary Time
15 July 2012
Readings:
Hebrew Scripture: 2 Samuel 6: 1-5, 12b-19
Psalm: 24
Epistle: Ephesians
1: 3-14
Gospel: Mark
6: 14-29
What I want to say:
remember
and celebrate John
explore
the role he plays as link – last first Testament prophet
explore
story his death and honour that
ask, what
does God invite us to in this story of John?
gave everything in response to
God’s love
bold and courageous
perceptive – recognised Jesus as
“the one”
willing to get out of the way
Recite the Benedictus (Song of Zechariah) in response
What I want to
happen:
I
want us to think about how we are John the Baptist in our time and place.
The Sermon
1. Introduction:
Today remember and celebrate John the Baptist
not his day:
June 24 – or
August 29 – Beheading
of St. John the Baptist
? what do we know about John?
·
like David was – whole
hearted
·
little crazy
·
very popular –
Josephus far more popular than Jesus
o
Jesus only begin
ministry once John arrested
§
no room him until
that point
·
baptised Jesus –
which Mark and others very careful how tell story
both
honours John,
claims John
clear
Jesus not need this for repentance
nor
that less John
2.
Forerunner
last of OT prophets
– Mark 1 preached repentance
– personal sin
-no such thing just personal sin
sin always
includes communal and social sin
about how
whole society functions
who did
he attract?
preached in
wilderness
-> symbolic
withdrawn existing social system
People
came – Judea rural poor
-
Jerusalem poor,
artisans, those risk lives and shame travelling
3.
Honour shame society
one important things need
understand as read gospels
is that
society is one based on honour and shame
then and now
place society established by honour
family
life
spent maintaining that honour
accumulating
honour
and avoiding
shame
graphically
saw this week execution woman in Afghanistan
establish
your honour through genealogy / whakapapa
how
live lives as family
4.
Imprisonment and Beheaded by Herod
o
honour and shame what
is behind Johns imprisonment and death
o
called out Herod
Antipas and Herodias - sought to shame
them
§
marriage wrong
all kinds of levels
·
Herod son Herod Great,
·
Herodias grand
daughter
o
Herod’s niece
o
(Herod Great had
10 wives and 15 children, came from different maternal lines)
·
both married when first met, Herod visited
brother (also really called Herod)
o
he divorced his
wife – daughter Arab king – Herod’s later defeat by Aretas seen God’s
punishment
o
Herodias also
divorces husband
o
marriage wrong
§
brought huge loss
honour and buckets shame
o
But no-one seems
to be saying anything
§
massive failure
social religious system
o
calling out Herod
and Herodias
o
calling out
social elite who accepted shameful set events
o
calling out
religious leaders remained silent – although clear breach of law
·
John taking on
ruling elite
o
super popular
o
no-one knows
where this will end
o
decided that he
should end
o
today’s gospel
5.
The creepy story
creepy story of creepy couple
no
way that step daughter, whatever age should be dancing like this deemed public
arena
reserved
family only
should
bring shame
wonder
what Herod and Herodias thinking – allowing or encouraging this to happen
not bring
honour house
drunken
enthusiasm
maybe to cover
up shamefulness of event
– Promises anything wants – even
half kingdom –
kingdom
not his to give
only
has it by permission Rome
loose later
nephew, Herodias’ brother Agrippa
Herodias
sees chance rid herself and family pesky prophet heaps so much shame on them
asks for his head
clearly
influence continued from prison
Herod is pictured as being
reluctant in his ordering of the execution
given his word
not do so invite not only shame
raise
doubts supporters minds how trustworthy he is
6.
John and us
then what more can we say about
John
courageous
confronted
forces worked against God’s justice and
peace
worked
against kind of society pictured by prophets
let nothing stand in his way
willing to pay the price
7.
Song of Zechariah
Mark not talk about childhood of
anyone
Luke records early story John
and includes song
of thanksgiving father Zechariah gave at
circumcision
Song Zechariah – recited
Christians in morning office at least last 1500 years.
we going recite it in moment instead
creed
two parts
first affirms
the messianic hope – God’s rule restored
deliverance is near at hand
second
outlines Johns role in that as the forerunner,
"go
before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways" (v. 76) was of course an
allusion to the well-known words of Isaiah 40:3
Interesting
thing about that is places us in place John
we
become forerunner
we
ones prepare way Lord
in
our time
in
our community
courageous
confront
forces work against God’s justice and
peace
work
kind of society pictured by prophets
let nothing stand in our way
as we recite this canticle
invite us
consider what does that mean for us?
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