Year B
Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the four prophetic books that date back to about the eighth century\u2026 Hosea\u2026 Isaiah\u2026 Joel\u2026 and Amos\u2026 Amos is probably the oldest\u2026 and his words are so startling and dramatic\u2026 that they’re virtually unprecedented\u2026 but all Amos is doing\u2026 is reporting God’s use of a plumb line\u2026 normally\u2026 a plumb line just uses gravity to assess whether a wall stands true\u2026 this wall stands for Israel\u2026 and the plumb line represents God\u2019s standards of judgment\u2026 which include moral rectitude\u2026 truth\u2026 and justice\u2026 but the line reveals that Israel is not plumb\u2026 it is crooked\u2026 unjust\u2026 unrighteous\u2026 and corrupt\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amos is simply responding to the traditions that he and his hearers already held in common\u2026 that God brought them out of Egypt and gave them the land of Canaan\u2026 and that the people always knew that God expected them to be righteous and just\u2026 but they have ended up being responsible for so much religious arrogance and social injustice\u2026 that the land itself\u2026 the very land itself\u2026 was unable to bear the weight of God’s words of judgment\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the human level\u2026 Amos’ words were considered treasonous\u2026 because he prophesied against King Jeroboam\u2026 a king during the time of a divided monarchy\u2026 because in the north\u2026 there was the Kingdom of Israel\u2026 and in the south\u2026 the Kingdom of Judah\u2026 Judah\u2026 where Jerusalem and the Temple were\u2026 and early on\u2026 God said that only worship and sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple would be acceptable\u2026 ] so here’s Jeroboam with two sanctuaries in what was called the high places\u2026 one in Bethel\u2026 and one in Dan\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Amos ended up having to defend himself\u2026 saying\u2026 I’m no professional prophet\u2026 I’m just a herdsmen\u2026 the Lord took me from my flock\u2026 took me from what I know and do\u2026 and told me to say these things<\/em>\u2026 his innocence and reluctance only made his message more credible\u2026 and about forty years later\u2026 the Kingdom of Israel came to an end\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n While I was growing up\u2026 and when we celebrated Passover\u2026 we sang a song called Dayanu<\/em>\u2026 it recounted the things God had done for us\u2026 there are five stanzas about leaving slavery\u2026 five about miracles\u2026 and five about being with God\u2026 and after each stanza\u2026 the singers proclaim Dayanu<\/em>\u2026 it would have been enough\u2026 ] if God had only done that first thing\u2026 that would have been enough\u2026 or just the first two… those would have been enough\u2026 or just the next and the next and the next\u2026 if at every point God had done NO more\u2026 it would have been enough\u2026 because each stanza contains deep appreciation for each thing God has done…<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Paul wrote Ephesians\u2026 he didn’t have this song to go by\u2026 it’s only about one-thousand years old\u2026 but Paul too recounts all the things God has done for us\u2026 blessed us in Christ\u2026 chose us before the foundation of the world\u2026 destined us for adoption\u2026 forgave our trespasses\u2026 made the mystery of his will known to us\u2026 gave us an inheritance\u2026 marked us with the seal of the Holy Spirit\u2026 and redeemed us through his blood\u2026 and because of how the Ephesians received the Gospel\u2026 they are experiencing a radical transformation of their personal and social identity\u2026 they are being formed for humility and social justice\u2026 into God’s purposes\u2026 and into God’s family\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n This morning we have a story about King Herod and John the Baptist\u2026 John had been like Amos\u2026 he spoke out against religious arrogance and social injustice\u2026 Herod had no right to marry his sister-in-law while her husband was still alive\u2026 and on one level Herod knew it\u2026 and he knew that John was a holy man\u2026 and he liked to listen to him\u2026 but was perplexed by him too\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Herod’s wife Herodias held a grudge against John\u2026 she feared that if Herod listened to John\u2026 and took what he said to heart\u2026 that she’d end up as a divorced woman out on the street\u2026 shamed out of the lap of luxury\u2026 ] clearly she’d benefit from silencing John\u2026 and Herod may even have put John in prison to protect him…<\/p>\n\n\n\n So here’s show-off Herod\u2026 at a lavish birthday feast he throws for himself\u2026 and all the friends he wants to impress are there\u2026 and Herodias’ daughter\u2026 known as both Herodias and Salome\u2026 so impresses Herod with her dancing\u2026 that he tells her she can have whatever she wants\u2026 up to half of his kingdom\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The older Herodias tells her daughter to ask for John’s head\u2026 it’s the younger one who adds “on a platter”\u2026 and Herod ends up between a rock and a hard place\u2026 it’s not difficult to imagine the struggle Herod had inside\u2026 Herod knew that John was a righteous and holy man\u2026 but because of his audacious promise\u2026 he also didn’t want to lose face in front of his guests\u2026 and so rather than acknowledge that his offer was just too much\u2026 he chooses to have John murdered\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark sandwiches this story about Herod\u2026 between stories about the disciples being sent out\u2026 and stories about them coming back\u2026 and he may do this as a way of helping us understand that discipleship comes at a price\u2026 as a way of teaching us\u2026 that weak people kill\u2026 and while strong people suffer at their hands… they generally don’t retaliate\u2026 that those who follow Jesus are strengthened by faith and may be less afraid to die\u2026 they may even preach repentance to political and religious leaders\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And like Herod\u2026 there are people at the top\u2026 who because of their emotional or spiritual immaturity\u2026 harm others to protect their lavish lifestyles\u2026 they like listening to holy men\u2026 they may have sat through a thousand sermons\u2026 but think that repentance and conversion are signs of weakness\u2026 they have not converted from ego to soul\u2026 from self-love to love of others\u2026 they’re so attached to their social image that they can become desperate when it’s threatened\u2026 and in whatever form it takes\u2026 the heads of others are a small price to pay to maintain their illusions\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Matt Skinner from Luther Seminary\u2026 writes\u2026 the Bible includes a number of tales that take us inside the courtrooms of immoral\u2026 <\/em>unprincipled<\/em>\u2026 and self-absorbed leaders\u2026 however\u2026 there is no Esther or Daniel in this one\u2026 there is no one who can serve as a circuit breaker\u2026 to prevent the ruler<\/em>\u2019<\/em>s stupidity from becoming deadly\u2026 . nor is there a humorous element that allows the story to function as satire\u2026 ] this is simply a depiction of noxious people\u2026 with little impulse control\u2026 who hold positions of power\u2026 ] <\/em>and Prof. Skinner reminds us… that opposition to the reign of God takes a toll\u2026 and has lasting consequences\u2026 but that opposition never has the last word<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n We know that this temporal world is not permanent\u2026 but we do not resist this impermanence by digging in arrogant heels\u2026 one theologian wrote: We will only know how to correctly save our life in this world\u2026 if we convert and value the eternal world\u2026 we must move beyond listening and not acting\u2026 no one knows what the future holds\u2026 events are conspiring\u2026 to bring us into situations where the only way to move justly and honestly forward… will be to access the resources of conversion<\/em>\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n We don\u2019t always have the power to rein in the destructive potential of self-obsessed rulers\u2026 toxic values\u2026 or an unwillingness to listen to truth\u2026 but Herod Antipas and his household remind us\u2026 that the voices of innocent people are far too often silenced\u2026 and they suffer when we don\u2019t use the power and the free will that’s available to us\u2026 and so we may ask\u2026 what do our internal plumb lines reveal\u2026 does the pull of God’s gravity\u2026 of God’s values\u2026 show us to be in or out of alignment with them\u2026 and is there anything\u2026 or anyone\u2026 or any group of people\u2026 who we’re willing to sacrifice\u2026 in order to protect our status quo<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year B Amos 7:7-15 Psalm 85:8-13 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29 May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026 Of the four prophetic books that date back to about the eighth century\u2026 Hosea\u2026 Isaiah\u2026 Joel\u2026 and Amos\u2026 Amos is probably the oldest\u2026 and his words are so startling and dramatic\u2026 that they’re virtually unprecedented\u2026 but all Amos is doing\u2026 is reporting God’s use of a plumb line\u2026 normally\u2026 a plumb line just uses gravity to assess whether a wall stands true\u2026 this wall stands for Israel\u2026 and the plumb line represents God\u2019s standards of judgment\u2026 which include moral rectitude\u2026 truth\u2026 and justice\u2026 but the line reveals that Israel is not plumb\u2026 it is crooked\u2026 unjust\u2026 unrighteous\u2026 and corrupt\u2026 Amos is simply responding to the traditions that he and his hearers already held in common\u2026 that God brought them out of Egypt and gave them the land of Canaan\u2026 and that the people always knew that God expected them to be righteous and just\u2026 but they have ended up being responsible for so much religious arrogance and social injustice\u2026 that the land itself\u2026 the very land itself\u2026 was unable to bear the weight of God’s words of judgment\u2026 On the human level\u2026 Amos’ words were considered treasonous\u2026 because he prophesied against King Jeroboam\u2026 a king during the time of a divided monarchy\u2026 because in the north\u2026 there was the Kingdom of Israel\u2026 and in the south\u2026 the Kingdom of Judah\u2026 Judah\u2026 where Jerusalem and the Temple were\u2026 and early on\u2026 God said that only worship and sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple would be acceptable\u2026 ] so here’s Jeroboam with two sanctuaries in what was called the high places\u2026 one in Bethel\u2026 and one in Dan\u2026 And Amos ended up having to defend himself\u2026 saying\u2026 I’m no professional prophet\u2026 I’m just a herdsmen\u2026 the Lord took me from my flock\u2026 took me from what I know and do\u2026 and told me to say these things\u2026 his innocence and reluctance only made his message more credible\u2026 and about forty years later\u2026 the Kingdom of Israel came to an end\u2026 While I was growing up\u2026 and when we celebrated Passover\u2026 we sang a song called Dayanu\u2026 it recounted the things God had done for us\u2026 there are five stanzas about leaving slavery\u2026 five about miracles\u2026 and five about being with God\u2026 and after each stanza\u2026 the singers proclaim Dayanu\u2026 it would have been enough\u2026 ] if God had only done that first thing\u2026 that would have been enough\u2026 or just the first two… those would have been enough\u2026 or just the next and the next and the next\u2026 if at every point God had done NO more\u2026 it would have been enough\u2026 because each stanza contains deep appreciation for each thing God has done… When Paul wrote Ephesians\u2026 he didn’t have this song to go by\u2026 it’s only about one-thousand years old\u2026 but Paul too recounts all the things God has done for us\u2026 blessed us in Christ\u2026 chose us before the foundation of the world\u2026 destined us for adoption\u2026 forgave our trespasses\u2026 made the mystery of his will known to us\u2026 gave us an inheritance\u2026 marked us with the seal of the Holy Spirit\u2026 and redeemed us through his blood\u2026 and because of how the Ephesians received the Gospel\u2026 they are experiencing a radical transformation of their personal and social identity\u2026 they are being formed for humility and social justice\u2026 into God’s purposes\u2026 and into God’s family\u2026 This morning we have a story about King Herod and John the Baptist\u2026 John had been like Amos\u2026 he spoke out against religious arrogance and social injustice\u2026 Herod had no right to marry his sister-in-law while her husband was still alive\u2026 and on one level Herod knew it\u2026 and he knew that John was a holy man\u2026 and he liked to listen to him\u2026 but was perplexed by him too\u2026 But Herod’s wife Herodias held a grudge against John\u2026 she feared that if Herod listened to John\u2026 and took what he said to heart\u2026 that she’d end up as a divorced woman out on the street\u2026 shamed out of the lap of luxury\u2026 ] clearly she’d benefit from silencing John\u2026 and Herod may even have put John in prison to protect him… So here’s show-off Herod\u2026 at a lavish birthday feast he throws for himself\u2026 and all the friends he wants to impress are there\u2026 and Herodias’ daughter\u2026 known as both Herodias and Salome\u2026 so impresses Herod with her dancing\u2026 that he tells her she can have whatever she wants\u2026 up to half of his kingdom\u2026 The older Herodias tells her daughter to ask for John’s head\u2026 it’s the younger one who adds “on a platter”\u2026 and Herod ends up between a rock and a hard place\u2026 it’s not difficult to imagine the struggle Herod had inside\u2026 Herod knew that John was a righteous and holy man\u2026 but because of his audacious promise\u2026 he also didn’t want to lose face in front of his guests\u2026 and so rather than acknowledge that his offer was just too much\u2026 he chooses to have John murdered\u2026 Mark sandwiches this story about Herod\u2026 between stories about the disciples being sent out\u2026 and stories about them coming back\u2026 and he may do this as a way of helping us understand that discipleship comes at a price\u2026 as a way of teaching us\u2026 that weak people kill\u2026 and while strong people suffer at their hands… they generally don’t retaliate\u2026 that those who follow Jesus are strengthened by faith and may be less afraid to die\u2026 they may even preach repentance to political and religious leaders\u2026 And like Herod\u2026 there are people at the top\u2026 who because of their emotional or spiritual immaturity\u2026 harm others to protect their lavish lifestyles\u2026 they like listening to holy men\u2026 they may have sat through a thousand sermons\u2026 but think that repentance and conversion are signs of weakness\u2026 they have not converted from ego to soul\u2026 from self-love to love of others\u2026 they’re so attached to their social image 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