Sermon at Dietz Memorial in Omaha

Find a quiet moment or a divine intervention will

Mark 6: 14-29
Death of John the Baptist
“King Herod heard of it, 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.”

Some may be wondering why I chose to read this scripture and not Psalm 24. Why choose to preach about the death of a holy man and not the carrying of the ark as a celebration of Jesus? I have a connection to John the Baptist that dates back to the start of my freshman year of high school. I was playing John the Baptist/Judas and my brother was playing Jesus. A very non-traditional cast and an experience I will never forget. At the beginning of the show the music from John Lennon’s “Imagine” came over the sound system. As my feet slowly led me to the spotlight centerstage I could hear the words “Imagine there is no heaven , Imagine there is no hell…imagine all the people living for today”. I was wearing a mask and in a jekyl and hyde fashion I had to remove my mask, as a symbol for removing the world, removing material things. The chorus came out and there was this girl who stood out from the rest of the chorus. An extremely talented actress caught in the cross fire of being an extremely driven performer and a teenager fighting her hard lived past. She was on the cusp of letting go of the girl she truly was. Every night I would go over to her and take off her mask (after John the Baptist had taken off his own) and stare into her eyes as the mask came off her face. As I tore off her mask you could truly see the person that was screaming to get out, if only she could close the ideas and thoughts of the world and her past. The audience would remember the death of Jesus at the hands of Judas but they always recalled that moment to me after the show.
I know that the death of John the Baptist is an important point of discussion but I am more interested in how John the Baptist found himself in a position where he was killed for his work for others. How a king could betray a holy man in order to fulfill his worldly debts and orders. First it is important to understand some of the context and intention for the story.
We must recognize that John the Baptist was a man who stood up for everyone and died at the hands of a man who stood up for no one. Herod was a man attached to the things of this world. Mark also tells the death of John the Baptist in a very non idealistic and abstract way. It is apart of a historical tradition, an important one but what we get out of the scripture is not as inspiring as many others, to say the least. We do see that John the Baptist represents the work of Jesus, as John the Baptist dies at the hands of a secular ruler and is killed for his life and dies a martyr’s death. I believe that why we still listen to this story today is because it is a warning for all of us in a way. Herod is in a tug of war with Herodias and John. Herodias has a lot to lose for a woman in this time period. If she loses her appointment as his wife then she loses everything, all her rights and most likely will be shunned after leaving the enclosed community. John is working to get Herod to repent and see how he can use his power for good. While it is easy to dismiss Herod as a weak human being, it is important to see Herod in each of us. How each of us is swayed towards important rulers, a woman’s dance, etc. How do we move from our attachments to this world, from ego to soul; from love of self to love of others. Where do we even start? How do we live a life more like John the Baptist did?
I have a secret to share, in my car I am a rapper. I think I can rap a song with a very convincing swagger and tone but if I were ever to grace the stage with my skills I would most likely be shunned. However, Lauryn Hill a singer/songwriter/rapper got me to thinking seriously about what would move me from love of self to love for others. How I could become more like John the Baptist. Her song is “Everything is Everything”, in it she says,
“Sometimes it seems we’ll touch that dream/But things come slow or not at all/ And the ones on top/ Wont make it stop/ So convinced that they might fall/Let’s love ourselves so we can’t fail to make a better situation/ Tomorrow our seeds will grow/ All we need is dedication.”
“Let’s love ourselves then we can’t fail”. Without even noticing it, I had forgotten how to do that, to take that first step: to love ourselves so that we cannot fail, against the work that we set out to do.
How did John the Baptist overcome his thoughts and his opposition against his own doubts to find himself? How did he finally believe in God’s call for his own life?
I believe he found a quiet moment when he went into the woods to hear God’s voice. He became intentional about hearing God’s voice. After all, if we really want to be intentional about hearing God’s voice we must take the time, or a period of time to hear it. I finally heard and understood what God wanted me to do first before I could live a life of opposition that social justice leads.
My quiet moment didn’t come until I found myself an ocean away from home, in Italy, away from everything I knew or lived. There is an Italian saying, “Vivi e lascia vivere”. It means “Live your life and let others live theirs”. Basically mind your own business. Up until that point, my life had become something of a funhouse. Everyone holding up a bunch of mirrors telling me who I was and I was becoming something of an act myself. It wasn’t until I hit a wall, literally, that I finally found a moment to hear God’s voice.
Now what I am about to share is like most coming of age stories, embarrassing and painful. After two weeks of going out, every single night I was exhausted. Going to clubs, hanging out with tons of new and exciting people, it had never occurred to me to say no to all these invitations. I was also helping a friend through a tough time and the word reflection or quiet had become a distant daydream of mine. So, I was getting ready and started scurrying down a hallway I had been down a million times. As I went to turn the corner with my head down, I turned it too soon and hit my head against a wall. I blacked out for a bit and then started seeing spots. The sturdy Italian wall had caused me stop dead in my tracks. I somehow made my way downstairs and for fear of crying in front of my newly found group of friends, I made some excuse and quickly headed upstairs. I got to my room and locked the door. For the first time I was truly alone. My silence rushed through me like a breath of relief. I could hear my teacher’s voice saying, “I hope it doesn’t take your ipod, your computer and your phone to fall apart before you find a quiet moment.” This time a quiet moment had finally found me. And no one holding a mirror. I crossed the room to my mirror to examine the hideous bump. As I stared at myself in the mirror a voice came over my internal intercom saying, “You don’t like yourself very much, do you?” And I answered it outloud saying, “No I don’t.” And then the tears just came streaming down my face. I can’t remember falling asleep or how sleep came over me. That’s what happens when you are truly tired. I went to bed and awoke the next morning to the bells of the church that held Da Vinci’s “Last Supper”. The weight of my past and the bump had mysteriously disappeared. I believe that moment was a divine intervention from God, saying stop and take a moment to find yourself. Take a minute to live your life, to redefine your own destiny.
There are people who have been through much worse coming of age stories. People who have truly survived hell and lived to tell about it. The truth is we all having something to stand up for, like John the Baptist did but we must hear that voice in some form before we can rush to our destiny. A modern day hero of mine is Rosemary Radfur Ruther is something of a John the Baptist. A professor of mine told me a story of hers while she was walking through the city streets with her one night. They were approaching an ally way and could hear voices, a man’s loud voice yelling at a woman and verbally abusing her. As Rosemary turned the corner she could see the man and without hesitation stared at him and in a very assertive voice said, “We are not leaving or moving from this place until you let this woman go.” My professor told me the man stopped yelling and the woman was able to leave. After that moment no violence ensued on her or the group she was with. Rosemary stood up for something, just like many modern day people. Without reason or regard for her own safety.Now it doesn’t take a plane ride to Italy to find a quiet moment or putting your life in harms way to live a life similar to John the Baptist. A quiet moment is right here and right now and we must take it. After all we will meet opposition in our life and there is no way of knowing what kind of opposition we must endure but we must take the time to renew our inspirational source, for me that was learning to live my life and not simply endure.