July 12,2015 Cobleskill United Methodist Church Rev. Pam Mikel Hayes :14‐29 is beheaded. Herod Regrets the Beheading Herod the king respected John the Baptist,”so he protected him.” He didn’t quite understand John, but nonetheless, “ he regarded him as a righteous and holy person.” So you heard the story. Herodias, the daughter, had pleased Herod. A doting father, Herod granted a wish for his daughter, the daughter of his wife, Herodias. The daughter was named Herodias also and when her father said, “Ask me whatever you wish and I will give it to you,” he swore to grant it. It could have been a Barbie dollhouse or a pony or a chariot of her own. So Herodias consulted her mother, Herodias, who said, demand the head of John the Baptist. That was easier than one might think because before this, Herod had put John the Baptist in prison. Why? Because his wife Herodias wanted revenge. She was insulted that John the Baptist dared to say to her husband Herod the king that, “it’s against the law for you to marry your brother’s wife!” She really wanted him dead but Herod respected John and chose instead to imprison him for protection. So what was John the Baptist's issue? Herodias' former husband was Herod's brother and he was still alive. Herodias had taken it upon herself to divorce him. Now if her husband Philip was dead, Herod could marry his brother's widow...infact that was the general way that it worked. So we get a sense of the character of Herodias. Herodias broke the law; John challenged her; Herodias demands that something be done and instead of killing John which is what Herodias wanted, Herod protected his friend by putting him in prison. It's a story of intrigue –good guys and bad guys. But that's not the purpose of the stories. The actions of the characters gives a bigger life lesson message. First, we much always know that biblical scholarship reveals in most cases that the chronology and the action and the conclusions are not necessarily accurate. But that does mean that there is no message to learn. One thought on this Mark passage is that the purpose of the account was to emphasize the political tension between the new movement of John the Baptist and and the authorities, both religious and government. It is more than a feud between the Herod clan and the John the Baptist group. It is a statement of power. John the Baptist and Jesus challenged the powerful. They challenged those who behaved according to the power they had and not according to the ethics of being a community minded citizen. But more than power; it is a lesson on integrity. I believe that John the Baptist was not simply concerned by Herodias breaking a law. I believe that John the Baptist was concerned about her motive – why did she arrange her own divorce. Now here's another possibility to consider in this chain of events. There were a whole host of Herods. It is not clear which Herod is being referred to in this passage and how it compares to Herods throughout history. Have you ever done a geneology? This generation is connected to the next generation by marriages, births, broken relationships and different configurations of people who often have repetitive names. Drop a Jr or Sr, or mistake a Ist with a II with a III, and the life story gets jumbled up. As I consider this passage where Herod and Herodias is the partial name in most every generation, do we need to have an exact family tree in order to grasp the meaning? The point is that these are powerful people abusing their power. One insult and that power becomes revenge. That was and is the way of the world. Amen. Here's our faith message: in the midst of the tooth and nail scrapping for control, there is this looming matter of Jesus. This passage begins “Herod the king heard about these things, because the name of Jesus had become well‐known.” This verse is written after Herod has John the Baptist beheaded. Can you imagine what is going on in Herod's mind and heart? OMG. “Could John have risen from the dead? I knew there was something special about him.” He has this uh‐oh feeling‐‐an epiphany. Herod had a glimpse of something special in John the Baptist; a deeper relationship that the scripture called holy and righteous. When we believe in Jesus; we live differently. Like Herod. Power was part of his DNA. But, he made different decisions than he would have if he had not noticed something in John. When we seek Jesus, we treat everyone differently. Rhonda and Monte knew there was something missing. This desire to belong to the Body of Christ was calling to them. How do we describe it? I don't know but I do know that we must honor it for the rest of our lives. It takes practice and consistency. People commit and gather. No excuses. We can't afford to be lazy in our commitment to live as Jesus. Baptism calls us to be present...not just when it's convenient. Show up because each of us depends on each other. Yes. You matter. The community has just promised to be faithful to Monte and Rhonda and Rhonda and Monte promised to be faithful to the community. Commitment to the Body of believers supercedes our biological relationships. It overpowers our professional and collegial relationships. Living in the Body of Christ, aligning with Jesus governs how we live with each other. Power is no longer; revenge is never an option; violence disappears; isolation and independence give way to community. When we acknowledge each other in the name of Jesus, we live in another realm. It is a realm of respect; of advocacy; of solidarity; of risk; of bold conviction; of empathy; of tolerance for what is good and intolerance for what is harmful. We try harder. We talk. We listen. We care. All of the messy family lines and the power structure of the days of Herod and Herodias was challenged not simply by rules that were not followed. It was the unmistakeable life‐altering perspective of John and then Jesus. There was something that caught the attention of some. And those who noticed it wanted to belong. Monte and Rhonda noticed something; they had an epiphany; it was so strong and honest that they could not resist. Welcome, Friends. We begin the next leg of the journey for Jesus. The world needs you and the world needs us. Together, united in Christ.