Seventh Sunday after Pentecost Amos 7:7-15; Mark 6:14-29 The Rest of the Story This sermon was preached by Pastor Jim Page at Trinity Lutheran Church

Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, may God’s word and this time of worship inspire your spirits and comfort your hearts as disciples of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus once said, “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 will find it.”

Losing life is not appealing. Today’s gospel reading about the death of John the Baptist is an extreme example of the cost involved in following Jesus Christ. This is not a story for the faint of heart. This is graduate level curriculum on discipleship. Before you throw this gospel reading out with the cat and the bath water, I want to present to you the rest of the story.

We’ll focus on these two sentences today: “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.” We heard how John’s disciples came to take the body and bury it in a tomb. I then said, “The gospel of the Lord.” You responded, “Thanks be to God.” Or, “Thanks be to God?” At first glance, there is nothing in this gospel reading to give thanks for.

We follow and support what we feel benefits our lives. We avoid what threatens our state of happiness. In these days of summer, in this season of Pentecost, we have followed Jesus in writing a story of thankfulness and praise. We’ve heard about the parable of seeds falling on different ground as symbolic of God’s word growing and shaping our lives; Jesus has stilled a storm with three words, “Peace! Be Still”; Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter back to life and healed a woman ill with persistent hemorrhaging. We give thanks to God for a word that grows over time to guide our lives, a Savior whose power is over creation; and a God whose healing presence is marked with hope and peace. Jesus’ vulnerability, authenticity, openness, caring and presence are captivating. His life stands for the common good, being present to the poor and needy and taking a courageous stand no matter the consequence.

We become comfortable, at ease, and accepting of such stories. It is in these readings that we are presented to a reality unlike our own. The reality is appealing and one which we long to experience. We’ll follow him wherever he takes us. We want to be a part of that story of goodness, joy and hope.

The gospel readings are not all that different than entertainment in the sense of drawing us out of reality as participants. Participants who follow within a captivating story.

For example, as a child, I often heard the following statement from the radio in my grandparent’s kitchen: "Hello Americans. This is Paul Harvey." That clarion Midwestern voice was its own time machine; it carried listeners back to radio days of old, when a distinctive vocal performance was as important as good looks are in TV news today. Paul Harvey’s radio show ‘The Rest of the Story’ began in 1951 and reached 24 million listeners at its peak. People followed his broadcasts each week. The opinions Harvey , who's seen it all — or, as he put it, "In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these." My grandfather used one of Harvey’s phrases often. People would ask him, “Bennie, how you doing?” “Well, it’s another day above ground so it’s a good day.” It is hardly an exaggeration to say that when Harvey died at 90, in February 2009, he took the whole history of radio with him.

This past July 11th, Stuart Muszynski wrote in his article for the Huffington Post, “Last week, when Andy Griffith died a wholesome piece of America died with him.” The Andy Griffith Show told us about life in Mayberry in a way to both entertain and convey a moral message. This was true in other shows such as Leave it to Beaver, All in the Family, and the Wonder Years. While most of these shows represented an idealized vision of the American family, they also conveyed a real respect for the values that made individuals, families and America more functional. Viewers watched those shows, made them successful, re-runs continue today. They followed Andy Griffith, they wanted an address in Mayberry. “When Andy Griffith died a wholesome piece of America died with him.”

I wonder what the people thought when they heard about John’s death. It was 400 years since people heard an authentic message from God. You remember him: the long-haired, locust eating, wilderness wandering preacher. People were eager to hear his message of forgiveness and hope in the promise of a Messiah who would restore Israel and bring God’s goodness upon them. John embodied that message of a different reality. He was fearless in addressing the status quo. The people wanted to follow, they wanted be a part of that story.

“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.” The story tragically changed. What died with him? Were the people’s hopes dashed? God’s power questioned? The fire of passion to follow and live differently under God’s guidance, was it gone to now only go back to the status quo? Were people now questioning if the son of a carpenter from a no-name peasant town, with disciples including fishermen and tax collectors, was he really the Son of God? Did that man named Jesus really calm a storm and heal the sick? My question is, “Why did Mark include this story?” Didn’t he know I would be up to preach this week and that Jesus doing something good would have been easier to preach on?

Why include this story. It is one of the oddest stories in the New Testament. There isn’t any teaching, no parable, and no miracle. It is the only scene in the entire Gospel of Mark where Jesus is not even present. Mark has the longest description of the events surrounding John’s death. Matthew has a shorter version while the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John omit the story all together. The gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four gospels. Mark doesn’t have any description on the birth of Christ, there’s isn’t any details about Christ’s resurrection. Yet, for some reason, we have an extended section on King Herod’s adulterous marital situation, his birthday party, the killing of John and his burial.

Why include this story? Because it’s a story with a sobering dose of reality. Marks tells this story if we like it or not. From the time it was written back in the first century all the way up to today in the 21st century…it’s a fact that the very best followers of Jesus Christ can fall victim to the very worst of circumstances. It is a reality that Mark knew well. It was a reality his audience experienced.

Marks words were written in the wake of devastation caused by Roman authorities exercising their brutal power. The pinnacle act was destroying the holy temple in Jerusalem. Everything they believed in and held dear was overcome by forces beyond their control. Mark tells this story because this is the world as he knew it, the world he lived in, and by extension, it is the world we live in as well. Following Jesus in such circumstances, holding on to faith, is challenging.

We live in a world, where sadly, a 34 year old father brutally killed his three daughters last week in River Falls; poverty persists among millions; where the status quo is now marked by marriage vows faltering and the effects of divorce are becoming more common, respect for others is fleeting and attaining more stuff is accepted by many.

We know how it feels when our temples are destroyed. A marriage that is faltering, job loss, you know you’ve screwed up in a relationship you hold dear, a loved one’s health is threatened by disease.

That’s our world. It can be overwhelming if you reflect on it too long. The status quo appears so grand when you think about your life and your life of faith. That’s our story. John knew that story. Mark knew that story. Jesus came to live that story. Jesus to give us the rest of the story. As honest as Mark is about the story of the world, he believes that isn’t the rest of the story. He wants even more to testify to God’s love for the world. To testify that as John’s death foreshadowed the death of Christ on the cross, it was Christ’s resurrection that shows us the unimaginable love God has for us.

The rest of the story is that Jesus Christ came to make possible for us more than we can perceive. There is more to life than what we see, more to life than what we experience, more to life than we can know or imagine.

It is by knowing the rest of the story that you are called to follow Christ in our world. To stand up for what is right under the teaching of Christ, to confront the status quo if it is harmful, to live as a beloved, forgiven, and empowered child of God. As you join others in living as a disciple of Christ, you are showing others that the story we know in our world of pain, violence, division and despair is not the only story.

John the Baptist trusted in that hopeful message embodied by Jesus Christ. In this season of Pentecost, in the glorious days that follow Easter, will you follow that message as well?

To borrow from Paul Harvey, we have heard and know the rest of the story. Let’s join together in making that story known in our midst.

Amen.