Good dance, bad dance

David danced before the Lord in the procession of the Ark of the Covenant.  It was free, and joyful and certainly not kingly.  But it was worship because above all else, it honored God.

Herodias danced before Herod and a crowd of (probably) inebriated cronies (read that as: drunk, powerful men).  From Herod's reaction, it was beautiful, seductive and in the end, deadly.  As a reward for her performance, Herodias received John the Baptist's head on a platter.  It was gruesome, it was egotistical and prideful and it honored no one.

Good dance, bad dance.

What kind of dance are you dancing?  One that honors God or one that honors the powerful?  Good dance or bad dance?

Be assured I ask this question from the perspective of an awkward and occasionally rhythmically challenged dancer.  But of course, how we look on the dance floor at a wedding is not the point at all.

The point is:  how do you look on the dance floor of life?  Are you dancing a life that honors God?  Do you work at love, compassion, generosity, forgiveness, humility?  

Or are you dancing the dance of the powerful?  Are your choices grounded in self-preservation, protecting what's yours, keeping the needy at bay, giving no thought to the oppressed?

Who is playing the flute for you?  Who is calling the shots?  Who commands your respect?  For whom will you sacrifice?

To whom do you give glory?

Many thanks to Fr. Peter Williams, Grace and Holy Spirit Church, Cortland, NY for this dancing perspective on the lessons for Sunday, July 15th.  This is his sermon in a capsule although it doesn't include an awesome rendition of the Chicken Dance from the congregation.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5sIspLfmXM  for a good version.

Feasting on power

In the end, Mark's story is about Jesus.  A good author could probably explain the reason this story about John the Baptist is so effective in unveiling Jesus' real identity, however it is good to remember that in the end, this is a story about Jesus.

And power.

Even with all his great power, Herod couldn’t silence the preacher named John who was not afraid to speak out against wrong. Herod knew that John was right, and he feared him as a holy and righteous man, but John was a problem.  First, Herod had him imprisoned.  Next, Herod served John up on a platter. In the end, Herod's own (infrequently used) conscience told him he was wrong, on all counts.  Herod's feast led to him feasting on his own evil and ego.

That is how power deals with uncomfortable or inconvenient truth.  It squashes the opposition, jails the journalists, martyrs the activists, and insists on its own (alternate) reality.  Or it grounds the teenager, turns a deaf ear to the spouse, fires the employee, labels the woman, shoots the black man.

Meanwhile, Jesus was feeding people on bread and the Word of God.  There was no power to equal the power of Jesus, the man teaching and healing in the streets and breaking bread on the hillside.  In a short time, Jesus would be on the top of another hillside feeding the world on his own body and blood.

Herod was feasting on power.  Herod would never be satisfied.  

Jesus feasted on love and had twelve baskets of leftovers.   That's who Jesus is.

Mark 6.14-29

Fear and Power

Fear and Power.

The story told in the 6th chapter of Mark begins with the dilemma of who Jesus really and truly was. People just didn't know what to do with all the stories they had heard, and possibly even the healings and miraculous feedings they had observed. Who is this man of Nazareth called Jesus?    'Some say Elijah or one of the prophets of old,' we are told.  

But Herod was sure it was John the Baptist, raised from the dead.  And Herod was afraid.  The big guy was afraid.  So much power, so much fear.

You see, for a man with so much power, Herod spent a great deal of energy being afraid.  He was afraid that one of his sons would gain too much power and overthrow him (so he had them killed).  He was afraid that Rome would throw him out of office.  He was afraid that John the Baptist was preaching the truth about his marriage/morality and folks would listen to him, a rebellion would break out and undermine his power. He was afraid that John the Baptist was, in fact, a prophet (for Herod recognized him as a holy and righteous man) and there might be cosmic consequences for his actions. I believe in some corner of Herod's heart (a corner he apparently assiduously ignored) Herod was afraid of God.

It all started at a lavish banquet complete with a dancing girl where Herod was afraid of looking weak in front of his rich acquaintances at his birthday feast. I imagine a large quantity of alcohol in an atmosphere of seduction led to his foolish promise, but now, Herod is haunted by that night.  'I will give you whatever you ask even to half of my kingdom" he promised.  She wanted John's head.  On a platter.

This is a young girl who will soon be married off to whomever pleases her parents.  In most situations, she is counted among the powerless.  But not that night.  That night she had Herod right where she (or probably more accurately, her mother) wanted him.  She was powerful because Herod was afraid.

Fear and Power.  Power and fear.  Did I mention they go together like hand in glove?

Mark 6.14-29

Power and fear

Seems they go together like hand in glove.  Power generates fear; fear gives space for power.

I mention this because the story of Jesus of Nazareth should never be read in a vacuum.  Jesus, like his cousin John before him, lived, worked, taught, preached in an atmosphere of fear thanks to the power of the ruling Roman Empire.  Remember always to read those sweet Sunday School Bible stories with a fully armed and underpaid Roman Soldier standing at your shoulder.

(As an aside, consider the long list of potential sources of power:  political, economic, gender, race, military, public reputation, sexual, even, my friends, religious.  There are many empires with power over our comings and goings.)

I mention this because this week John the Baptist loses his head.  Actually it had happened in a previous episode and we are getting a flashback from Herod, but this is the point in the gospel story according to Mark that we actually learn about it.

Some will say that John lost his head even before that terrible moment in the castle dungeon.  He insisted on calling Herod out on his ill-advised marriage to his brother's (I assume she is now his ex) wife.  Herod prided himself on his Jewish connections and the Torah is clear about this particular situation; you can not marry your brother's wife.  Simple as that.

John kept pointing this out.  Publicly. Embarrassing?  Annoying for sure.  Particularly since Herod recognized John as a holy and righteous man, and thought a conversation with John might do him some good.  So he arrested him which accomplished two things:  no more public pronouncements about Herod's morality and Herod could always find John for a quiet conversation any time of day or night

When you think about it, it's a pretty strange situation.  On the face of it, John had no power over Herod at all and yet Herod hesitated to silence John because he feared ......what?  Public backlash? His own conscience?  God?

This powerful and brutal man hesitated because of a still, small voice?

Hmmm.  Power and fear lead us to do curious things.


Mark 6.14-29

And it's still Christmas

Who can measure the energy unleased by children tearing through wrapping paper on Christmas morn?  After that it gets harder, navigating a special meal and sometimes too difficult relatives. It either goes by quickly or not quickly enough.

And yet it is still Christmas.

In Syria, folks are very busy killing one another.  In war zones, children suffer the most because they have the least power to improve their situation or protect themselves.  They cannot persuade government officials to open borders for them so they can seek refuge.  Their young bodies cannot withstand the physical abuse that comes with war.  One 3 year old Syrian boy was reported to have said, just before he died,  'When I see God I'm going to tell him about this.'

And yet it is still Christmas.

Terrorism has come to Russia as a train station and a trolley car are targeted and lives are lost.  In our major cities young men are targeting each other for purposes unknown.  The long term unemployed are about to lose their benefits and food stamp recipients receive less food.

And yet it is still Christmas.

In the gospel of Matthew, just verses after the birth of the Christ child, King Herod is so terrified of the coming king (Jesus), so jealous and protective of his own power, so frightened of a world where he was not the Top Dog, that he ordered all the boys under the age of 2 in the town of Bethlehem killed.  The church calls this event The Slaughter (or Martyrdom) of the Innocents.   It probably didn't actually happen that way (although Herod was ruthless enough to have ordered it)....it probably isn't fact....but we all know that it is true.

And yet it is still Christmas.

Jesus did not come to toss some glitter on a broken and wounded world.  Jesus came to stand in the midst of the war and hunger and pain and dysfunctional families to shine a light on a better way of being with and for one another.  Jesus came to heal, to bind up, and to make whole.  He makes possible the impossible: that we would lives of grace and mercy. and he did that through forgiveness.  Jesus is the gift of Christmas, the one who rules with mercy and grace.

It is not easy to tackle the conundrum of a world torn apart with violence and crushed with poverty and the soft glow of our Christmas remembrances, but that is exactly what Jesus calls us to do.  The gift of the Christ child only has meaning when it has meaning in the harsh light of the world in which we live.

Home by another way

Those Wise Men spent some time on the road, made an unfortunate detour to Herod's palace, showed up with 3 gifts (which is why we think there were 3 wise men), and went home by another way.

It seems when you encounter the fullness of God in person of Jesus, your life just simply doesn't follow along its old path.  Your path to home takes a new route.  Your life shifts.  You are changed.

It is good to remember that when 'following the star' is scary and uncertain.  Step out; trust God.  Who knows where it will all lead?

If Momma ain't happy

If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

 

Do you know this old saying? I think it is always good to remember.  Some folks' unhappiness has a way of being spread around.

So it was with Herod - King Herod - in Jerusalem.  Herod came from a line of rulers who were known for their ruthlessness.  Making Herod unhappy (any of the Herods) was dangerous business.

So what were the Wise Men thinking?  This faux pas alone raises a question as to how wise they really were.  They stepped right into Herod's palace and inquired about the birth of the King of the Jews.  No wonder  "When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him"  Matthew 2.3

I expect that King Herod thought there was a new king in the making - one who would grow in power until he competed with Herod, power to power, winner take all.  The fact that this newborn was to be King of the Jews only shifted Herod's concern from the rise of a Roman competitor to a possible leader of a revolution....and, might I paraphrase, When Herod wasn't happy, no one was happy.  Lots of young boys paid the price for Herod's fear, a fear that would grip another Herod 30 years later when confronted with the grown Jesus. 

In the end, both Herods were sure they had won this confrontation with an erstwhile 'King'.  Neither understood the kind of power Jesus held - the power of love which knows no bounds, which is willing to lay down its life for the sake of the other.

Herod might have had control of the palace.  Jesus reigns eternally from a greater throne.  Herod had good reason to be nervous; his time was indeed running out.