Our interest here has something to do with the fact that a story like this offers a reflection of reality. This is the way things work in the real

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1 Why Are We Drawn to this Dark Tale? Mark 6:14-29 Dr. Christopher C. F. Chapman First Baptist Church, Raleigh July 12, 2015 There are certain authors that tell such dark stories that we have to wonder why we are drawn to their work. For example, Khaled Hosseini is one of my favorite contemporary authors, but his stories, mostly set in Afghanistan, are so dark and tragic. Why am I drawn to them? The same can be said of certain filmmakers, for example the Coen brothers, or films like Titanic. Why do we watch it over and over again? We may like the acting, the cinematography or the characters, but the story is tragic. The boat is going to sink every time we watch the movie. The good guy is going to die, the bad guy is going to live, the good gal lives too and a child is born, a sign of a kind of hope, but it is enough? Why are we drawn to such stories? Are we but moths attracted to a flame? Are we rubberneckers on the freeway slowing down to look at the accident? Is it just a confirmation of Freud s view that we have two basic drives eros and thanatos, love and death this being evidence of the latter? Or is there something more going on? I ask this question today because it seems like the appropriate place to begin with the reading from Mark, the story about the death of John the Baptist. Why are we are drawn to this dark tale so often? It s not just that it comes around in the lectionary frequently. It is found in works of art, movies about the life of Jesus, Sunday School lessons. Is it the violence and sensuality that seem gratuitous? Is it the thanatos drive? Are we but moths drawn to a flame, church moths, but moths nonetheless? And why would any preacher choose to preach on this text? Jesus isn t in the story, there doesn t seem to be any good news, and how will we ever get to the cross, where all good sermons are supposed to end, if we begin with this story? Our interest here has something to do with the fact that a story like this offers a reflection of reality. This is the way things work in the real 1

2 world, not always, but far too often. We don t like it and we may not want to admit, but this is how things work and thus we find a kind of affirmation of our experience, not comfort, but an affirmation that sometimes life is messy and the bad guys win, at least in the short run. We know the story all too well. It is told by Mark as a flashback to explain why Herod fears that Jesus is John raised from the dead. Herod has John imprisoned because he has been preaching a word of judgment against him. He has married his brother s wife, even though his brother is still alive, and John calls him out. Not surprisingly, Herod is not exactly thrilled, but his wife, Herodias, is the one who is really angry. She is ready to do John in, but Herod has mixed feelings. He doesn t like John s message but he is captivated by his preaching. So, he has him imprisoned but offers him a kind of protection which works until a party gets out of control. This part of the story reads like some kind of late-night, R-rated horror film. Herod throws a party for his courtiers and officers and leaders in the community, and after everyone has a few drinks, he has his daughter dance for them, not the kind of dancing David does before the ark nor the kind of dancing contestants on So You Think You Can Dance do. She dances, they love it, and Herod is pleased to have shown his buddies a good time, even if it is at his daughter s expense. He is so elated that he offers his daughter whatever she wants and at this point the music in the background shifts to an ominous tone. She goes to her mother to see what she wants and what she wants is John the Baptist dead. The daughter reports back to Herod with this request, and though he is deeply grieved, he grants her wish, he has made a vow, after all, and John is beheaded. So, how does this help us? It offers a reflection of what we often experience. Not these exact details, thank goodness, but some of the worst things in life happen to the best people. Often a righteous person like John seems to get only grief for his/her righteousness. And the evildoers get away with murder, figuratively or literally. It may not be a story we want to teach our children when they are very young, I am not recommending it for VBS this year, but it is a story we all need to know at some point. Only exposing ourselves to happy 2

3 stories that indicate that good deeds are always rewarded is a disservice if we are going to live in this world. But we are drawn to this story not only because it offers a reflection of reality but because we identify with the characters. I am not suggesting any one of us is the Herod of Raleigh nor am I saying we have any dancers in the style of Herod s daughter. But there are qualities in these characters that are not that foreign to us. For example, Herod is a bit more complex than he might appear. He is the ruler who orders the execution and from what we know of him, he is neither a strong nor a noble leader. But in the story, he is not a straightforward villain. He doesn t like John s message but he likes his preaching. He has John imprisoned but he protects him. He is perplexed by this wild-eyed prophet, which is to say he is intrigued with him, confused by him, entangled in his message. Someone has suggested that this is a prophetic task to perplex people. Before anyone s mind can be changed to a righteous and holy point of view, it has to be disconnected from a selfish and destructive point of view. And as Walter Brueggemann once said, the prophet must nourish, nurture, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture. Herod gets part of the way there. He is perplexed. But he doesn t have the courage of his convictions. He doesn t stand up to his wife. He is more concerned about his reputation than with doing the right thing. So, even though he knows it is wrong, he orders John s death. Are there not times when we are perplexed by some word of truth than indicts us? We know there is something there, the truth hits close to home, but when it comes time to act, we lack the courage of our convictions, especially if our reputation could be hurt. Then, consider the other people at the party, those who have enjoyed the drinks and the dancing. They don t ask for John s head but nor do they object. This is not what they have come for, they just want to have a good time, but Herod is the host, the one with the power What might have happened if even a single person had spoken up? 3

4 But again, do we not see something of ourselves here? Have there not been times when we thought something was wrong but we just sat there and kept our mouths shut? We are drawn to this story because it offers a reflection of reality and whether we admit it or not, we identify with the characters. But perhaps most of all, we are drawn to this story because in John we see a kind of integrity that we admire and aspire to but seldom witness today. Here is a guy who speaks the truth as he sees it no matter who he is speaking to or about and no matter what the consequences might be. There is no putting a finger in the air to sense the direction of the wind. There are no focus groups or feedback mechanisms or surveys. Right is right and wrong is wrong, here is the truth as John sees it, youknow-where the consequences! In a world of compromise, placation and appeasement, John is a bright light of straightforward integrity. The question is is his tribe extinct? Is his brand of courage a thing of the past? Are there are any John the Baptists walking the earth in our time? In my view, James Dunn was one these characters. Long before he took the helm of the Baptist Joint Committee, he was first a courageous pastor and then a bold witness for justice concerns in his role with Texas Baptists Christian Life Commission. But in his role at the BJC, James never hesitated to voice his concerns about religious liberty to anyone and everyone - senators, Supreme Court justices and presidents included! He was a passionate advocate for the 1 st Amendment, he articulated historic Baptist arguments better than anyone else, and he just didn t back down no matter who he was talking to at the time. He worked with people of all political perspectives and challenged people of all political perspectives. For example, on May 6, 1982, James made this statement in response to President Ronald Reagan s call for a constitutional amendment to permit public, school-sponsored prayer. It is despicable demagoguery to play petty politics with prayer. He knows that the Supreme Court has never banned prayer in schools. It can t. Real prayer is always free. Then, when Vice President Al Gore backed federal funding for faith-based groups during his 2000 presidential campaign, James said to him, Dear Mr. Vice President, I 4

5 know you. I like you. You mean well. But this time, as we say in Tennessee and Texas, you ve ripped your britches. That was James. He was monogones, one of a kind. He was a courageous advocate for justice concerns and religious liberty. And like John, he had a complete spinal column. Unlike John, he was almost always admired even by his opponents. I don t know how he pulled that off. It was partly because they knew where he was coming from, a sincere faith conviction, and partly because he was a good friend to all. We need more of that Spirit in this day. We need more John the Baptists, even if they are sometimes at odds with each other. We need more straightforward opinion and strong conviction especially about things that are not in keeping with the heart of God. So, maybe there is some value in this story. Maybe it is O.K. if we are drawn to this dark tale. It does reflect a good bit of human experience, we can identify with the characters and in John we see qualities we want to emulate even though they require courage. But is there any good news here? What about Jesus and the cross? How do we get from that table of revelry and massacre to this table of love? Actually it is not a long journey. The cross and the empty tomb are not far apart. Both are remembered at this table and the cross comes first. Suffering and death come before hope and resurrection. And John s story runs parallel to Jesus story. John tangles with Herod, Jesus tangles with Pilate. John confronts the powers that be and ends up dead; Jesus confronts the powers that be and ends up dead. There is no story about John s resurrection but as these stories mirror each other, John s death, in and of itself, is a kind of harbinger of hope. Suffering is a prelude to hope in this metanarrative the great cosmic Storyteller is telling. As a result, perhaps this would-be tragic ending is not so tragic after all. Death does not have the final word on any life, including John s. Every time we remember this story, we honor his courageous faith and we reaffirm our belief that the God he served, the One to whom he was true to the very end, cannot be defeated by anything in this world, not even death itself. 5