Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I apologize. I am so sorry we did not send out a mass email or post a notice in the This Week bulletin insert last week telling you that our gospel text for this morning was rated PG-13, if not R. Explicit sexual and violent content–it’s all in here. In fact, it seemed odd to respond “Praise to you O Christ” after this gospel text. I almost wanted to end the gospel acclamation with a questioning inflection: “Praise to you O Christ?” Our text tells about a strange scene, it has a strange placement in the gospel of Mark, and it uses the unusual literary device of a flashback.

How many of you think back to an event in your past with a sense of guilt or embarrassment? Perhaps you said something you wish you hadn’t. Perhaps you had too much to drink and you did something foolish? Or perhaps you were with a crowd that encouraged you to do something you would not have done on your own. Perhaps you have reminders of that foolishness--like a tattoo or scar you look at everyday. Or perhaps there is a tremendous amount of shame you carry with you day in and day out.

King Herod had a pretty bad memory he carried with him day in and day out. In our text we hear how he is plagued by guilt and superstition. When word spreads about Jesus’ ministry, Herod immediately thinks that John the Baptist has come back to torment him. His thoughts turn to the events that took place at one of his birthday parties. He had enjoyed watching his step-daughter dancing just a little too much and then promised to grant her whatever she asked of him–even part of his kingdom. He never imagined she would ask for the head of John the Baptist...not him. Although Herod had put him in prison, he knew his words rang with truth. He had indeed married his brother’s wife, Herodias, and John had pointed out the moral wrongs of that (along with some others things–I bet). John spoke the truth, so Herod and his wife put him in jail to try and hide their shame.

Even though Herod knew John the baptizer was a righteous, holy man, he reluctantly agreed to the request of his stepdaughter (who was also his niece). This request had been suggested and encouraged by his own wife. So suddenly, in front of all his guests, Herod had to make the choice between John the Baptist losing his head or him losing face. He decides to save face.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to us. Our world continues to have leaders who would prefer to save face than to save lives, especially the lives of truth tellers. Several of these leaders have been in the news recently. In Zimbabwe, President Mugabe continues to deny there is an AIDS epidemic raging around him–calling it a disease of “the homosexual.” In China, leaders were reluctant to give information about the spread of the SARS virus until many had already died. And in the U.S. this week, top officials are scrambling for damage control on false intelligence reports related to weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. All are trying to save face instead of save lives.

Earlier in chapter six of the gospel of Mark we hear about the many ways that the disciples are saving lives. We read about Jesus sending out the disciples and giving them authority. We might wonder why Herod’s flashback is placed at this point in the gospel. This kind of literary device is not used much and this seems like a strange time to recount his death. The disciples are having so much success. They are preaching, healing and forgiving sins. The disciples are spreading the word about the power of Jesus and his mighty deeds. Many were being healed in Jesus’ name and many had come to know who Jesus was. But Herod provides a contrast to those being healed and the death of John the Baptist foreshadows events to come. In the midst of all the casting out of demons, Herod is one who is not healed and who does not realize the power of Jesus. He does not see the healing power of repentance and forgiveness. Herod’s guilt and shame block out and get in the way of him knowing Christ.

Throughout the gospels and Acts we hear how others are forgiven, how they repent, and how they are freed. The blind Bartimaeus, the woman caught in adultery, the tax collector, and Saul who became Paul are just a few. With Herod there is no freedom. He remains stuck and fearful. Richard Jensen, a biblical scholar, says that Herod is an example of a seed sown among the thorns from the Parable of the Sower. He says, “Herod was in a tough spot. He was deeply perplexed. But he sold out. He had made an oath. His guests had heard it. He must keep his word. And so it was that the cares of the world choked out the word he had heard. The seed that John had sown yielded nothing!” It wasn’t enough that Herod admired John and Jesus, he truly needed to know who Jesus was and believe in his power to forgive.

Herod’s flashback also foreshadows what will happen to Jesus and the disciples. Their initial preaching successes will come into conflict with the cares of the world and they will undergo much suffering. The prophetic life-giving words they speak will begin to clash with those in political and religious power. Later in chapter 8, Jesus will speak to Peter and all the disciples saying:

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

Jesus came not only to lose face, but to lose his life so that all might be saved.

Bishop Oscar Romero spoke about justice for all people, about equality under the law, about opportunities and land reforms in El Salvador. The world heard and admired his courage–he, too was a truth-teller. But at some point someone chose to save face instead of save lives. In Romero’s last sermon he said, “One must not love oneself so much as to avoid getting involved in the risks of life that history demands of us...the experiences of a new earth must not weaken but rather stimulate our concern for this old earth..May we give ourselves like Christ. Not for self, but to give justice and peace..”After this sermon, a gang of men burst into his church and shot him. The cares of the world—of power, repression, wealth, and passions–had lured someone to choose power, prestige and wealth. At the same time, it had forced Romero to take up a cross instead of earthly successes. John, Paul, and Romero all chose to lose their life for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ and by doing so their lives were saved.

As modern day disciples we are called to take up our crosses when they come as well. The first cross to bear is to hear the words of forgiveness, to repent, and to be freed. In his book Freedom for Ministry, Richard Neuhaus says, “along the way the Christian is sure to go through times of feeling worse. Repentance, after all, involves a painful loss of self, an abandonment of false securities, and the travail of a new birth..” We are continually freed from the mistakes and sins of our past so that we might live the new life promised to us through Jesus Christ. This new life is part of the promised, coming Reign of God. The second cross we must bear is to proclaim the peace, love and forgiveness of Christ. Surprisingly this may lead us into conflict with the cares and powers of this world. Speaking truth and love to unjust, unrepentant power often opens the flood gates of violence to cover shame.

Let us pray:

Your kingdom come, O God. And may your will be done. On earth today. Forgive us our sins as you help us forgive others–even our worst enemies. Save us from all the trials we will encounter as disciples. Deliver us from the temptation to willingly sacrifice others so that we might maintain honor, prestige, and power. Deliver us from constantly trying to save face, O God, and by doing this, save our very lives. Amen.