Lectionary 17B

Juan 6:1-21

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below.

Oremos…Que las palabras de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestros corazones sean aceptables a tu vista, Señor, nuestra fuerza y nuestro Redentor. Amén.

Érase una vez, un hombre escribió una carta al editor del periódico, pidiéndole a la ciudad que traslade una señal de "cruce de ciervos" a un área con menos tráfico porque muchos de los animales están siendo golpeados por automóviles en su ubicación actual.

No podemos saber si el escritor de cartas era serio o no, pero la historia ilustra útilmente que las señales apuntan a otra cosa.

En el Evangelio de Juan, somos testigos de signos de ese punto más allá del evento del momento, a quién es Jesús, al poder y la presencia de Dios en Él. ⁱ Hay siete juntos; El primero sucedió en la boda en Cana cuando Jesús convirtió el agua en vino; El segundo y el tercero fueron la curación del hijo del funcionario real y la curación del hombre paralizado en el grupo de Bethesda; Y hoy escuchamos sobre el cuarto.

Nuestra lectura del Evangelio recoge la historia que el Leccionario se saltó en el Evangelio de Mark: la alimentación de los 5,000. Es la única historia milagrosa que los cuatro escritores del evangelio incluyen en sus relatos del ministerio de Jesús.

Viajando por Judea y Samaria, Jesús y los discípulos han atraído a grandes multitudes y ahora están en una ladera de la montaña en la costa norte del Mar de Galilea cuando Jesús les pregunta a sus discípulos cómo alimentarán a las personas que se han reunido allí para verlo. Enfermo y escúchalo enseñar.

Los oyentes de John habrían escuchado un eco de la historia de Moisés, durante el desierto deambulando por los israelitas, cuando le preguntó a Dios: "¿Dónde debo que la carne diera a todas esta gente? Porque vienen llorando a mí y dicen: "¡Danos carne para comer!" (Números 11:13 NRS)

Pero donde Moisés estaba realmente perdido, Jesús sabía lo que sucedería. Su pregunta fue retórica. Juan llega a decir que Jesús estaba probando a sus discípulos.

Y los discípulos, los mismos que han estado viajando con él y presenciaron esos signos anteriores, responden ansiosamente, centrados solo en la escasez de lo que está a la vista y lo que pueden sostener en sus manos. No hay nada en sus palabras o acciones que sean testigos de lo que han visto hacer a Jesús o quién creen que es Jesús.

Me pregunto si podemos relacionarnos con los discípulos que estaban abrumados por la necesidad que vieron.

La semana pasada, escuché una entrevista con un pastor de Atlanta que trabajaba hace cuarenta años para abordar las necesidades de los desanimados entonces, y optimista había pensado que resolverían el problema en unos pocos años. Ella lamentó cuánto peor es la situación hoy.

Probablemente, cada uno de nosotros puede nombrar un problema social que solo se ha vuelto más complejo y más desafiante en nuestras vidas, o una región del mundo que parece haberse hundido más profundamente en la desesperación. No sería sorprendente si nos rindiéramos, sacudimos la cabeza y se encogió de hombros, sin esperanza e indefenso.

Pero a veces tenemos la oportunidad de conocer a una persona y escuchar su historia, y ahora tenemos una cara y un nombre. Y cualquiera que sea el problema, ya no es un problema distante, impersonal o abstracto; Es parte de la historia de otro ser humano, a quien conocemos, y amamos, y aún más importante, a quien Dios ve, y conoce y ama, como aquellas personas que se encuentran con Jesús y los discípulos en la ladera de la montaña.

E, incluso entonces, como los discípulos, a menudo miramos los recursos que tenemos en la mano, y nos burlamos rápidamente de identificar por qué algo es imposible, por qué no puede funcionar y por qué no tiene sentido intentarlo.

Tal vez incluso descartamos la noción de milagros como obsoletos porque no hemos presenciado uno nosotros mismos. Traemos nuestro escepticismo y nuestro conocimiento del mundo y sus hechos y números a la mesa. Y al igual que los discípulos, descartamos lo que sabemos sobre quién es Dios y qué promete Dios.

El fallecido Harry Emerson Fosdick, una vez que el pastor de la Iglesia de Riverside en la ciudad de Nueva York, escribió: “La impresión común es que son los ininteligentes quienes creen en los milagros, pero el hecho es que son las grandes mentes las que creen más fervientemente en la falta de fusión posibilidades”.

Nos recuerda que Dios es un dios de los milagros. Dios es un Dios de lo imposible.

Y, afortunadamente, Dios trabaja de maneras inexplicables, entonces y ahora. Jesús instruyó a los discípulos para que la gente se sentara y él tomó los cinco panes de cebada y los dos pescan a la multitud y los alimentó.

Jesús sabía lo que los discípulos no: el conocimiento es verdad, pero el conocimiento es más que una acumulación de datos. En el evangelio de Juan, especialmente, el conocimiento se trata de la relación.

Relación con un dios que ve el hambre que existe en este mundo: el hambre de pan real para llenar las barrigas vacías y el hambre de esperanza y curación para llenar corazones devastados.

Y este Dios es el mismo que nos conoce en esos lugares superpoblados donde la necesidad es abrumadora y satisface nuestro hambre.

De hecho, el texto dice que la multitud tenía todo lo que querían y estaban satisfechos, y cuando los discípulos reunieron las sobras, llenaron doce cestas. El amor se multiplica. ⁱⁱ Y se recrea y se renueva en lugares de sufrimiento y necesidad, pero no sucede por magia. Cada uno de nosotros está llamado a seguir a Jesús al mundo y vivir entre el pueblo de Dios, compartiendo las buenas noticias de lo que Dios hace posible.

Mirando la inmensa necesidad que existe en el mundo, no nos desesperamos, pero reclamamos la esperanza que tenemos en el poder de Dios y el amor reconciliador, recordando el poder victorioso de Jesús que superó la muerte y la tumba para traer nueva vida a cada uno de nosotros. .

Algunos de ustedes han oído hablar de la vivienda en Winston-Salem. Nuestros jóvenes han viajado allí dos veranos seguidos, y tenemos estudiantes universitarios que sirven allí en este momento. Su principal pastor Emily Harkins pudo contar una historia de su comunidad desde el escenario principal de la reunión en Nueva Orleans. Ella contó la historia de trabajar con un hombre desanimado, conocido como "el alcalde no oficial" en la vivienda.

Las personas no vistas enfrentan muchos obstáculos. Sin identificación o una dirección permanente, puede ser imposible solicitar empleos o asistencia pública. Como dijo el pastor Emily en la reunión: "Y para obtener una identificación, debes tener una identificación, algo oficial que confirme al mundo quién eres".ⁱⁱⁱ

Pero durante varias semanas, ella y "El alcalde" habían trabajado para obtener los documentos que necesitaba, y un día, entró en el DMV y salió con una identificación con su nombre. Lamentablemente, unos meses después, murió tratando de cruzar un río para llegar a su tienda.

Pero cuando lo encontraron, él tenía su identificación sobre él. No era desconocido. No estaba no identificado. No estaba sin nombre. Tenía un nombre y un lugar donde pertenecía, y donde era amado.

La vivienda es un lugar donde ocurren los milagros.

Pero hay milagros que suceden todos los días. Que siempre miremos y escuchemos a ver dónde Dios ha venido a encontrarnos, recordando que, a menudo, son las ideas aparentemente tontas, las probabilidades absurdas e incluso los recursos inadecuados, lo que conducen a milagros.^iv

Oremos…^v

Amando a Dios,

Gracias por el sorprendente regalo de su hijo en el que habita su amor y presencia.

Nutrir y fortalecer a todos los que te miran.

Que nos ofrezcamos al mundo para que todos puedan conocer su abundante misericordia.

Oramos en el nombre de Jesús.

Amén.

John 6:1-21

Let us pray…May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

Once upon a time, a man wrote a letter to the newspaper editor, asking the city to move a “deer crossing” sign to an area with less traffic because too many of the animals were being struck by automobiles at its current location.

We can’t know whether the letter writer was serious or not, but the story helpfully illustrates that signs point to something else.

In John’s gospel, we witness signs that point beyond the event of the moment, to who Jesus is, to the power and presence of God in Him.[i] There are seven all together; the first happened at the wedding at Cana when Jesus turned water into wine; the second and third were the healing of the royal official’s son and the healing of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda; and today we hear about the fourth.

Our gospel reading picks up with the story that the lectionary skipped in Mark’s gospel – the feeding of the 5,000. It is the only miracle story that all four gospel writers include in their accounts of Jesus’ ministry.

Traveling across Judea and Samaria, Jesus and the disciples have drawn large crowds and now they are on a mountainside on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee when Jesus asks his disciples how they will feed the people who have gathered there to watch him heal the sick and listen to him teach.

John’s listeners would have heard an echo of the story of Moses, during the wilderness wandering with the Israelites, when he asked God, “Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, 'Give us meat to eat!' (Numbers 11:13 NRS)

But where Moses was truly at a loss, Jesus knew what would happen. His question was rhetorical. John goes as far as to say Jesus was testing his disciples.

And the disciples — the very same ones who have been traveling with him and witnessed those earlier signs — respond anxiously, focused only on the scarcity of what is in plain sight and what they can hold in their hands. There is nothing in their words or actions that witnesses to what they have seen Jesus do or who they believe Jesus is.

I wonder if we can relate to the disciples who were overwhelmed by the need they saw.

Last week, I heard an interview with a pastor from Atlanta who was working forty years ago to address the needs of the unhoused then, and optimistically had thought they would solve the problem within a few years. She lamented how much worse the situation is today.

Each of us can probably name a societal issue that has only gotten more complex and more challenging in our lifetimes, or a region of the world that seems to have sunk deeper into despair. It would not be surprising if we gave up, shook our heads and shrugged our shoulders, hopeless and helpless.

But sometimes we have a chance to meet a person and hear their story, and now we have a face and a name. And whatever the issue is, it’s no longer a distant, impersonal or abstract problem; it is part of the story of another human being, whom we know, and love, and even more importantly, whom God sees, and knows and loves, like those people standing with Jesus and the disciples on the mountainside.

And, even then, like the disciples, we often look at the resources we have in hand, and we scoff, quick to identify why something is impossible, why it can’t work and why it’s pointless to try. Maybe we even dismiss the notion of miracles as obsolete because we haven’t witnessed one ourselves. We bring our skepticism and our knowledge of the world and its facts and numbers to the table. And like the disciples, we discount what we know about who God is and what God promises.

The late Harry Emerson Fosdick, once the pastor of Riverside Church in New York City, wrote, “The common impression is that it is the unintelligent who believe in miracles, but the fact is that it is the great minds who believe most fervently in unforeseen possibilities.”

He reminds us that God is a God of miracles. God is a God of the impossible.

And, thankfully, God works in unexplained ways, then and now. Jesus instructed the disciples to have the people sit down and he took the five barley loaves and the two fish out into the crowd and he fed them.

Jesus knew what the disciples didn’t: knowledge is truth, but knowledge is more than an accumulation of data. In John’s gospel, especially, knowledge is about relationship.

Relationship with a God who sees the hunger that exists in this world: hunger for real bread to fill empty tummies, and hunger for hope and healing to fill ravaged hearts.

And this God is the same one who meets us in those overcrowded places where the need is overwhelming and satisfies our hunger.

Indeed, the text says the crowds had as much as they wanted and were satisfied, and when the disciples gathered up the leftovers, they filled twelve baskets. Love multiplies. [ii] And it recreates and renews in places of suffering and need, but it doesn’t happen by magic. Each of us is called to follow Jesus out into the world and live among God’s people, sharing the Good News of what God makes possible.

Looking at the immense need that exists in the world, we do not despair, but claim the hope that we have in God’s power and reconciling love, remembering the victorious power of Jesus who overcame death and the grave to bring new life to each of us. 

Some of you have heard about the Dwelling in Winston-Salem. Our youth have traveled there two summers in a row, and we have college students serving there right now. Their lead Pastor Emily Harkins got to tell a story from their community from the main stage at the Gathering in New Orleans. She told the story of working with an unhoused man, who was known as “the unofficial mayor” at The Dwelling.

Unhoused people face a lot of obstacles. Without identification or a permanent address, it can be impossible to apply for jobs or for public assistance. As Pastor Emily said at the Gathering, “And to get an ID, you have to have an ID – something official that confirms to the world who you are.”[iii] But over several weeks, she and “the mayor” had worked to get the documents he needed, and one day, he went into the DMV and walked out with an ID with his name on it. Sadly, a few months later, he died trying to cross a river to get to his tent. But when they found him, he had his ID on him. He was not unknown. He was not unidentified. He was not unnamed. He had a name and a place where he belonged, and where he was loved.

The Dwelling is one place where miracles happen.

But there are miracles that happen every day. May we always look and listen to see where God has come to meet us, remembering that, often, it is the seemingly foolish ideas, absurd odds, and even inadequate resources, that lead to miracles.[iv]

Let us pray…[v]

Loving God,

Thank you for the surprising gift of Your Son in whom Your love and presence dwells.

Nurture and strengthen all who look to You.

May we offer ourselves to the world that all may know Your abundant mercy.

We pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

---

[i] Craig Koester. “Theological Themes in John.” Enter the Bible. Luther Seminary. https://enterthebible.org/courses/john/lessons/theological-themes-in-john, accessed 7/26/24.

[ii] Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 3: Pentecost and Season after Pentecost 1 (Propers 3-16) (Feasting on the Word: Year B volume) (Kindle Locations 10248-10249). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

[iii] Pastor Emily Harkins. ELCA Youth Gathering, New Orleans.

[iv] Pulpit Fiction, Tenth Sunday after Pentecost.

[v] Adapted from Laughing Bird Liturgical Resources, http://laughingbird.net/

Lectionary 16B

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

For most of the last week, I’ve been fighting a summer cold, 
armed with hot tea and honey.

So, perhaps that’s why, as I listened to this week’s gospel, what caught my attention was how the crowds chased after Jesus and the disciples, reaching the shores ahead of them to be in their presence, clamoring to be heard and scrambling to touch even the fringe of Jesus’ cloak, so that they would be healed.

And I remembered that in Greek, the word translated here as “healed”, as in “all who touched it were healed” is the same word as “saved”. All those who touched the fringe of his cloak were saved.

I thought about all the different reasons we search for healing. Just within the gospel text, we see different examples.

Many of the people coming to Jesus were physically ailing, but some may have also been suffering mental illness. And the disciples themselves were trying to retreat for renewal after their ministry work had left them with no time for rest, or even a meal.

Sometimes we look for healing because like the crowds chasing Jesus and the disciples, we’re physically hurt or we’re sick: with cancer, with chronic pain, with addiction.

Sometimes we seek healing because we’ve experienced trauma, abuse or neglect, or, like the disciples, we are exhausted or burnt-out.

And sometimes we seek healing because we are grieving broken or difficult relationships.

And as I thought about all the reasons why we seek healing, I thought about all the places where we look for healing.

Maybe, we’re lucky and we find our way to a twelve-step meeting in a church basement, or maybe we find peace in the sanctuary of a professional therapist’s office. Unfortunately, too often, when people are desperate to find healing, they try to find a faster way or a shortcut and fall victim to schemes.

When Luther went to Rome he was disgusted by priests like Johann Tetzel, who reportedly “preached to the faithful that the purchase of a letter of indulgence entailed the forgiveness of sins.”[i] People who were afraid of being cast out of God’s love and mercy would pay money to buy a so-called assurance of their salvation.

And the practice didn’t end with the Reformation.

There are modern accounts by the Lutheran World Federation of “people pay[ing] the pastor for praying for them to be cured from illness” in India, and just a few years ago, “People apparently paid 100,000 Namibian dollars to sit next to [a preacher called “the prophet of Namibia”], because they hoped to be healed.[ii] 

Certainly, as with any scam, education reduces the risk that vulnerable people will be harmed by people who would exploit them. But why are they so desperate that they are compelled to look for healing there in the first place?

There’s an old saying, sometimes attributed to Bishop Desmond Tutu, that says,

There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.

The hope we have from today’s gospel is that hurting people will find Christ’s healing presence in our congregations and faith communities   ̶

that God’s people will communicate the good news of God’s healing grace to everyone who walks through our doors;

that we would see their pain or sadness,

and we would have compassion for them.

But the conviction I have from today’s gospel is that too often,

they don’t.

And too often, we don’t.

Ouch. Believe me, I’m right there, wanting to say, “not my church.” “not my congregation.” But I know I need to check myself when I get defensive, because I also know I can name times when my first response wasn’t compassion, it wasn’t what Jesus models.

Too often, the vulnerable show up in our churches and find judgment and suspicion, and even rejection and hostility. And instead of being told they are children of God who are loved and saved by God’s grace, they hear that they don’t belong or aren’t welcome.

That’s not Jesus.

Jesus sees the crowd and has compassion for them.

He is moved, by their presence, by their suffering and by their need, to be with them where they are.

He stretches out his hands to them and gathers them in, teaching and healing them.

He offers them belonging first.

God loves us, and God’s mercy is new every day, so today we can repent for the times when we have failed to show compassion, and the times when we have not welcomed the stranger or loved our neighbor as God loves them. It is never too late to start.

May we stretch ourselves to reach for those who are reaching for Jesus’ healing grace and gather them into God’s family.

Amen.

---

[i] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther/The-indulgences-controversy , accessed 7/20/2024

[ii] https://2017.lwfassembly.org/en/news/regional-stories/false-promises-salvation, accessed 7/20/24.

Lectionary 15B

Marcos 6:14-19

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below.

Oremos…

Que las palabras de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestros corazones sean aceptables a tu vista, Seño, nuestra fuerza y nuestro redentor. Amén.

Nuestro evangelio de hoy es la mitad de lo que se conoce en los estudios bíblicos como un "sándwich de Marcos". Se llama así porque Marcos pone una historia no relacionada entre dos mitades de otra historia, como la carne entre dos piezas de pan.

Inmediatamente antes del evangelio de hoy, Jesús envió a los discípulos a expulsar a los demonios y sanar a los enfermos. E inmediatamente después de estos versículos, los discípulos regresarán y le dirán a Jesús todo lo que han hecho.

Mientras tanto, Marcos nos dice que Herodes ha escuchado lo que Jesús y sus seguidores están haciendo, y que cuando Herodes escuchó sobre Jesús, pensó que Juan [el bautista] a quien había decapitado había sido resucitado de entre los muertos.

En las Escrituras tenemos historias que han sido etiquetadas como "Textos de terror".

Algunos de estos aparecen en nuestras lecturas leccionarias, mientras que otros no. Hace cuarenta años, la teóloga y autora Phyllis Trible escribió sobre cuatro de estas historias que se centraron en la violencia contra las mujeres. En términos más generales, la categoría incluye aquellas como nuestro Evangelio de hoy, historias de abuso y explotación, historias donde los poderosos y con poder oprimen la justicia. Las historias nos recuerdan humildemente que el reino de Dios es ahora y aún no. Reflexionando sobre estos textos, un autor escribió,

[Historias tristes] nos obligan a luchar con el mundo como es el mundo, con Dios como es Dios, y con la Biblia como es la Biblia, no como deseamos que fueran.ⁱ

Después de que Marcos nos dice que Herodes cree que Juan el Bautista ha sido resucitado de entre los muertos, escuchamos cómo murió Juan.

Juan se metió en problemas con Herodes porque llamó a una cosa lo que era. La esposa de Herodes estaba enojada con Juan porque había criticado a Herodes por casarse con ella cuando ella era la esposa de su hermano.

Un predicador bromeó que Juan debe haber sido luterano; En su disputa de Heidelberg, Martin Luther escribió: “Una teología de la gloria llama al mal bien y al bien mal. Una teología de la cruz llama a la cosa lo que realmente es ". Cuando seguimos a Jesús, no podemos equivocarnos cuando nos enfrentamos al bien y al mal; [Debemos] llamar a la cosa lo que es. ⁱⁱ

Para apaciguar a su esposa, Herodes había arrestado a Juan, pero Herodes se negó a matarlo. Marcos dice que "Herodes temía a Juan, sabiendo que era un hombre justo y santo". (6:20)

Pero lamentablemente, la justicia y la santidad de Juan no lo mantuvieron vivo.

Lo que quizás no reconocemos, pero seguramente los oyentes de Marcos sabían, es que estas son las mismas palabras que escuchamos al rey decir a Ester en su historia. (Esther 5: 3)

El Libro de Ester no aparece a menudo en el Leccionario; Solo hay un domingo cada tres años cuando escuchamos su historia, por lo que puede no ser familiar, pero hay similitudes con la historia de Herodes y Juan. En la historia de Ester, el rey tenía un banquete, y Ester se unió a las otras mujeres jóvenes en el palacio mientras el rey buscaba a una nueva esposa. Cuando el rey conoció a Ester, él estaba contento, y ella se convirtió en la nueva reina. Más tarde, uno de sus oficiales, sin saber que Ester era judía, conspiro para matar a todo el pueblo judío.

Pronto Ester tuvo la oportunidad de aparecer ante el rey y fue entonces cuando el rey le dijo a Ester: “¿Qué pasa, reina Ester? ¿Cuál es tu solicitud? Se te dará, incluso la mitad de mi reino ". (Esther 5: 3)

Pero las similitudes terminan ahí.

La reina Esther hizo una súplica compasiva por la seguridad de su gente; en contraste, la hija de Herodes fue a su madre para averiguar qué debía pedir, y decidieron que pediría la cabeza de Juan el Bautista.

Y Marcos nos dice: “El rey estaba profundamente afligido; Sin embargo, por respeto a sus juramentos y por los invitados, no quería rechazarla”. (6:26)

Entonces, Herodes mata a Juan y entrega su cabeza sobre un plato a su hija.

Me pregunto si podemos relacionarnos con la lucha que enfrentó Herodes. Sabemos que todos pecamos y tomamos decisiones que nos alejan de Dios.

Herodes quería cumplir su promesa, tan imprudente como era. Tenía miedo de parecer débil frente a las personas sobre las que disfrutaba tener poder. Tenía miedo de decepcionar a su hija y su esposa. Y así, sacrificó a un ser humano, incluso cuando sabía que Juan era justo y santo s y las acciones de Herodes le causaron dolor.

Me pregunto

lo que sacrificamos para mantener las apariencias;

Me pregunto

cuando tomamos una decisión sabiendo que alguien más pagara  el costo, y no nosotros;

Me pregunto

qué acciones hemos tomado que lamentamos.

Un ejemplo en el que pienso es en nuestro cuidado por la creación. Está lleno de opciones que se hacen más fáciles porque probablemente no viviremos para ver las consecuencias:

regando césped en el calor del verano en lugar de dejar que se vuelvan cafés;

utilizando plásticos de un solo uso por conveniencia, incluso cuando estamos aprendiendo más sobre los micro plásticos en nuestros océanos y vías fluviales;

rociando pesticidas y herbicidas que matan a las plantas polinizandas y amenazan las abejas.

Hay muchas maneras de elegir de manera diferente para mantener la buena creación de Dios, pero a menudo no lo hacemos. O al menos no lo hago.

La buena noticia es que en la familia de Dios, se nos dan alternativas a lo que ofrece el mundo.

Creemos que "[Dios] me defiende contra todo el peligro y los guardias y me protege de todo mal". Y que el Espíritu Santo nos santifica y nos hace santos, "iluminados con los dones de Dios". ⁱⁱⁱ Pero debemos detenernos y escuchar la guía de Dios antes de actuar.
Cuando contrastamos el reino de Herodes con el reino de Dios, podemos ver que Herodes vivió en un reino romano basado en quid pro quo, donde hago algo por ti, y luego haces algo por mí, pero el reino de Dios se basa en Gracia solamente.

Por la gracia de Dios, el favor que no merecemos  de Dios, dado libremente a nosotros y para nosotros, somos adoptados en la familia de Dios y hechos hijos de Dios. Ninguna otra relación o identidad es más importante que esa.

Y, como dijo otro predicador, "[en gracia] lo que nos entregó no es la cabeza de Juan en un plato, sino el propio cuerpo y sangre de Cristo", dada y derramada por nosotros, para que pudiéramos tener vida eterna.

En Cristo, tenemos la libertad de elegir vivir primero para el reino de Dios y no por nuestras propias prioridades, y estar motivados por el amor y no por el miedo mientras vivimos nuestra fe en el mundo.

Gracias a Dios.

Amén.

Mark 6:14-29

Our gospel today is the middle of what’s known in biblical studies as a “Markan sandwich”. It’s called that because Mark puts one unrelated story between two halves of another story, like meat between two pieces of bread.

Immediately before today’s gospel, Jesus sent the disciples out to cast out demons and heal the sick. And immediately after these verses, the disciples will return and tell Jesus all that they have done.

Meanwhile, Mark tells us that Herod has heard what Jesus and his followers are doing, and that when Herod heard about Jesus, he thought that John [ the Baptist] whom he had beheaded had been raised from the dead.

In Scripture we have stories that have been labeled “texts of terror”.

Some of these show up in our lectionary readings, while others don’t. Forty years ago, theologian and author Phyllis Trible wrote about four of these stories that were all centered on violence against women. More broadly, the category includes ones like our gospel today, stories of abuse and exploitation, stories where the mighty and powerful oppress justice. The stories humbly remind us that God’s kingdom is both now and not yet. Reflecting on these texts, one author wrote,

[Sad stories] force us to wrestle with the world as the world is, with God as God is, and with the Bible as the Bible is – not as we wish those things would be.[i]

After Mark tells us that Herod thinks John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, we hear how John died.

John got in trouble with Herod because he called a thing what it was. Herod’s wife was angry with John because he had criticized Herod for marrying her when she was his brother’s wife.

One preacher joked that John must have been Lutheran; in his Heidelberg Disputation, Martin Luther wrote, “A theology of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theology of the cross calls the thing what it actually is.” When we follow Jesus, [we] cannot equivocate when faced with good and evil; [we] must call a thing what it is.[ii]

To appease his wife, Herod had arrested John, but Herod refused to kill him. Mark says that “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man.” (6:20)

But sadly, John’s righteousness and holiness did not keep him alive.

There was a party, a banquet, for Herod’s birthday, and Mark tells us his daughter came and danced for Herod and the political and religious leaders who were there. And Herod was so pleased that he said to the girl,

“Whatever you ask of me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” (6:23)

What we might not recognize, but surely Mark’s listeners would have known, is that these are the same words that we hear the king say to Esther in her story. (Esther 5:3)

The book of Esther doesn’t appear often in the lectionary; there’s only one Sunday every three years when we hear her story, so it may not be familiar, but there are similarities with the story of Herod and John. In Esther’s story, the king had a banquet, and Esther joined the other young women at the palace while the king searched a for a new wife. When the king met Esther, he was pleased, and she became the new queen. Later, one of his officers, not knowing that Esther was Jewish, plotted to kill all the Jewish people.

Soon Esther had an opportunity to appear before the king and it was then that the king said to Esther, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” (Esther 5:3)

But the similarities end there.

Queen Esther made a compassionate plea for the safety of her people; in contrast, Herod’s daughter went to her mother to find out what she should ask for, and they decided she would ask for the head of John the Baptist.

And Mark tells us, “The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her.” (6:26)

So, Herod kills John and delivers his head on a platter to his daughter.

I wonder if we can relate to the struggle that Herod faced. We know that we all sin and make decisions that turn us away from God.

Herod wanted to follow through on his promise, as reckless as it was. He was afraid of appearing weak in front of the people over whom he enjoyed having power. He was afraid of disappointing his daughter and his wife. And so, he sacrificed a human being, even when he knew John was righteous and holy and Herod’s actions caused him grief.

I wonder

what we sacrifice to keep up appearances;

I wonder

when we make a choice knowing that someone else will bear the cost, and not us;

I wonder

what actions we’ve taken that we grieve.

One example I think about is our care for creation. It’s full of choices that are made easier because we likely won’t live to see the consequences:

watering grass lawns in the summer heat instead of letting them turn brown;

using single-use plastics for the convenience even as we are learning more about microplastics in our oceans and waterways;

spraying pesticides and herbicides that kill off pollinating plants and threaten the honeybees.

There are so many ways we could choose differently to uphold God’s good creation, but often we don’t. Or at least I don’t.

The good news is that in the family of God, we are given alternatives to what the world offers.

We believe “[God] defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.” And that the Holy Spirit sanctifies us and makes us holy, “enlightened with God’s gifts”.[iii] But we must stop and listen for God’s guiding before we act.

When we contrast the kingdom of Herod with the kingdom of God, we can see that Herod lived in a Roman kingdom based in quid pro quo – where I do something for you, and then you do something for me – but God’s kingdom is based on grace alone.

By God’s grace - God’s unmerited favor, freely given to us and for us - we are adopted into God’s family and made children of God. No other relationship or identity is more important than that one.

And, as another preacher said, “[in grace] what’s handed to us is not John’s head on a platter, but Christ’s own body and blood”, given and poured out for us, that we might have eternal life.

In Christ, we have the freedom to choose to live first for God’s kingdom and not our own priorities, and to be motivated by love and not by fear as we live out our faith in the world. 

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

---

[i] Paul Anthony. “A Brief Review: Texts of Terror  by Phyllis Trible”. https://disorientedtheology.wordpress.com/2018/09/05/a-brief-review-texts-of-terror-by-phyllis-trible/ , accessed 7/13/2024

[ii] Cameron Howard. “Calling a Thing What It Actually Is.” https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/calling-a-thing-what-it-actually-is , accessed 7/13/2024

[iii] Luther’s Small Catechism

Lectionary 14B

Mark 6:1-13

Merry Christmas!

While I know some people begin a countdown to Christmas six months ahead on June 25, we are only celebrating Christmas in July on this one Sunday. Celebrations like ours have been around since at least the 1940s and every one of them is unique. Today, at Grace, we are celebrating through our music, using this long, green church season of Ordinary Time to connect with Christmas, a day and a season that often feels crowded with family gatherings, parties and gift-giving. Santa Claus isn’t here, but hospitality is providing Christmas cookies for the coffee and fellowship time after worship.

Our readings are not the Christmas readings, but we do hear about Jesus’ mother Mary and her husband Joseph the carpenter, as well as his brothers. We don’t hear about the donkey Mary rode to Bethlehem or the baby Jesus whom we celebrate at the Nativity, but we do meet a grown-up Jesus back in his hometown and we hear about the new life the disciples will have as they are sent out into the world.

And that’s where my focus is for us today.

Just like many folks go home for the holidays, Jesus and his disciples have returned “home.” But instead of being warmly welcomed and encouraged, the people there, including Jesus’ own family, are skeptical and question what he is doing. You can almost hear them sneering and asking, “Just who does he think he is?”

Mark even says Jesus’ own power was limited by their unbelief.

This verse has been used in harmful ways to tell people to “have more faith” and to “believe more” when they are experiencing challenges, trials and tribulations.  But faith and God’s works aren’t an “if/then” proposition.  They are always a “because/therefore” statement. Witnessing God’s works in our lives is never a question of “IF you believe, THEN God will act.” It is always “BECAUSE God loves you, THEREFORE God acts.” And yet, faith is important; faith is how we know God, live for God, and show others what God is doing in our lives.

Thankfully, when faced with unbelief and hostility, Jesus doesn’t falter. He knows who he is, and that his power and authority come from God. So, he takes his disciples to other villages, and he teaches there.

And then Mark tells us that Jesus chooses the first twelve apostles or “messengers” to carry the Gospel to others. They have already witnessed Jesus’ rejection by his family and neighbors. And they have witnessed his determination to persist in teaching about God’s abundant, boundless love despite the disappointment and hurt caused by those who dismissed him.

So, he sends them out, in pairs, and gives them authority over the devil and all the forces that defy God and the powers of this world that rebel against God, and he gives them instructions, warning them that they too will face rejection. It’s just part of following Jesus – not everyone will have ears to hear the Word that God loves them; not everyone will receive messengers of God’s love with kindness. And, before they go out, he tells them how to respond.

Does he tell them to holler at those who won’t listen? Does he say to mock them or curse them? No! As Eugene Peterson says in his paraphrase The Message, “Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.” (Mark 6:11)

Whenever I remember these words, I remember that God knows more than I do.

I remember the Sower of the seeds that we meet earlier in Mark’s gospel (Mark 4). The Sower’s job is to sow; it is not to measure the results, and it is entirely possible the Sower will never see the fruit borne. All we can do as we follow Jesus is share the Good News of Jesus Christ that we know and experience. The rest is up to God.

And I remember that God is with me when I face rejection, when following Jesus is scary or hard, or I cannot see the fruits of my work and discipleship. And I feel less alone.

On a Sunday when we are celebrating a new child of God with the baptism of Luca Carlos, our Gospel reminds us that the baptismal journey that begins at the font is a lifelong journey - one that is filled with ups and downs, and one on which God always accompanies us.

Let us pray.

Good and Gracious God,

We give you thanks for your Son Jesus,

who calls us and sends us out to share your good news.

We give you thanks that at the font, you call us your children, and our life with you is everlasting.

Give us faith that we will remember you are always working in the world and help us see your presence in and around us.

We pray in Jesus’ name.

Amen.