July 12, 2015

         We often come to church, or open the bible, to find comfort and assurance. In summertime, our minds are filled with plans for vacation. We are thinking about relaxing and escaping the pressures of life. We want to have fun. We want to unwind. Today we hear words that may not be so encouraging. We hear about he beheading of John the Baptist. What place does this have in our summer? What place does this have in our church?

         We follow Jesus as disciples wherever we are, no matter what the time of year. We may find ourselves culturally in a time of rest. Our faith still defines us. We have a series of readings that follow from the week before, telling parts of different stories. First, we hear about King David, bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Before, it had been set up in a field, where it had been found, following its return from a Philistine city. David is uniting the kingdom of Israel, and he has chosen a border city of Jerusalem as his capital. He is bringing the ark to Jerusalem to make it a political and religious center of Israel. Setting aside all these political considerations, David is also joyful. He leads the ark in procession, dancing and leaping for joy.

         We respond to this story with a psalm of entrance. This particular psalm is a piece of liturgical writing. It begins with two verses of praise to God acknowledging that everything is mad by God. Then a question and response follows, much as how we begin our worship. I make a statement (or a question) and the congregation responds. The question is “who can enter into the holy place?” The next three verses is a kind of response answer. It assumes that all the holy people can enter. Then it goes on for the last four verses as kind of refrain and verse. God alone can enter the most holy place because of who God is.

         The gospel holds no such joy. It is a sad story of political maneuvering and a pompous brutal dictator. John has spoken some hard truths and the people in power don’t like it. Herod (son of Herod the great) keeps him in prison but is afraid to kill him. His wife, Herodias uses her daughter to get the revenge she seeks. What good is this story? It is certainly a negative example. It shows what may happen to a man who succumbs to fear and builds his life on the illusion of control. I also think it is a lesson in faithfulness.

         We want to think that if we believe, if we give ourselves to God, then all will be well. In the larger picture this is true. Until we reach the place where God completes every promise, we are called to be faithful in this world. The gospel was written originally to a group of small churches on the fringes of society. They were part of the Roman Empire, which functioned exactly as described in the gospel reading. They were powerless and without respect in the wider culture. From time to time, their very lives were in danger. It is possible that when this gospel was being shared throughout the empire, the Romans had already destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.

         We are blessed to live in a culture of religious freedom. We are only now getting used to being a minority community. We are not used to being on the fringe. We remember being in the center (at least we thought we were.) The gospel is not synonymous with the United States of America. It is not synonymous with free market capitalism. It is not synonymous with suburban Connecticut. There are many good things here and we should be thankful for our blessings. God did not call us to be comfortable. God calls us to be disciples.

         God’s call doesn’t stop here, in this gathering. God calls us to love. We gather to practice and learn about God’s love. Then God sends us out to do it. We are not called to only be Christian in this place. We are Christian everywhere we go. The gospel today reminds us that it is hard to be a Christian. The gospel reminds us what it costs.

         If we are content to be content, then we will only want to live well and look out for those close to us. If we want to be faithful, we will embrace a deeper calling. We will make it a priority to live more closely with God. We will be interested in the lives of those around us. We will not only talk about loving our neighbor, we will seek them out and take an interest in their welfare. If we are serious, we will look beyond the borders of our comfortable lives and seek neighbors who are strangers and seek to be their companions.

         The most hopeful message is in the letter to the Ephesians. Unlike some of Paul’s letters, this seems to be written to a region of churches. This is why it omits many personal references we find in Paul’s other letters, and why he doesn’t seem to be answering specific questions of problems.

         The letter begins with a sort of poem or hymn that praises God for the mystery of salvation through Jesus. It is hard to read in English, but it is well crafted Greek. We have to add periods to break it up and make sense. It is written with phrase after phrase; each phrase suggesting the next and responding to what came before. It feels as if it is going round in circles. It is a different way of expressing hope and joy.

         Who are we? We are God’s children. This is what matters most. This is what we live for. This is what we were made for. In a sense, the good news is absolutely free. We do not earn it (or deserve it.) The cost is in what we have to let go of because we no longer need it. All of the trappings and posturing or wealth and power are of no use to us. As we follow Jesus, we begin to take on new values and new purpose. As we seek to love our neighbor, we should expect to be at odds with the present dominant culture and we should expect resistance.

         God gives us courage. God gives us strength. God gives us life. When the work is difficult, God also gives us joy and God gives us hope. We cannot see any particular outcome. We know to whom we belong and we know what God wants for us. This is always more than enough.