The lectionary, this week, takes us to the death of John the Baptist and I’ll confess that I looked for something else to preach.  As a story that stands alone, John the Baptist’s death is one of truly tragic events within the pages of the New Testament. It demands that we talk about faith and despair, and fear and hope in the most realistic way possible. Stories like this demand that we abandon the kind of “cotton candy optimism” to which we are always tempted. I would love to tell you that if you will just think positive thoughts and do good deeds, everything will be ok but John the Baptist won’t let me say that. He forces me to place my hope and faith in some place other than my own positive thoughts and some place other than my own good efforts.

In Mark’s Gospel, the story is told in this way. Just before the story of John the Baptist, Mark tell us about the sending out of the disciples. They were sent out two by two into the villages to preach the good news that God’s Kingdom is very near at hand. As they traveled, they preached the need for repentance and they cast out evil spirits and they made people whole.

King Herod heard about the disciples and their ministry and about Jesus. Some were saying that Jesus was the reincarnation of John.  Others were saying that “He is Elijah,” and others thought that was a prophet who had returned from long ago.

But this is what Herod thought. “But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’” [Mark6:16 (NRSV)]

The story is that Herod had married his brother’s wife, his sister in law, and John the Baptist had publicly denounced it as the adultery that it really was. That made Herod’s new wife, his former sister in law, really angry. It is one thing to be guilty but it is another thing to have your guilt exposed to the world and Herod’s wife, Herodias, was absolutely livid and she lived for the day when John the Baptist would be killed. Herod, the king, had John arrested and imprisoned but he resisted the execution. He thought that John was indeed a righteous man, an authentic man of God, and he like to listen to what he had to say. But his wife would not be assuaged.

Now, the authentic man of God, the person who tells the truth, the man who baptized Jesus, the one sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah, this really good man is now in prison for doing the right thing. And I am asking, where is God in all of this? Why did God not protect John?  Why is God letting the bad guy win? Why is this spoiled and temperamental woman getting her own way? Can’t God stop her and why doesn’t God just put a sock in her mouth?

And I am not the only person in the room who has asked that kind of question.  There are two reasons for not asking that question. 1. You’ve hardened your heart to the suffering of the people in this world. You’ve learned not to care about the neighbors who are suffering. If you do not let them into your heart, you’ll not be bothered by their plight. 2. You’ve shut your mind down because the question is too frightening! Or there may be a third reason. 3. You’ve already given up on God and do not expect anything from God.

Many of you will remember the story.  Herod, the king, held a great banquet for all his cronies and along with the food, he served copious amounts of alcohol of which he consumed more than his fair share. Down home we would say, “He got drunk!” 

Then he invited his step-daughter to dance and her dance is so beautiful, or perhaps so sexually charged that Herod loses his mind and promises to give her anything that her little heart desires. I am tempted to think of the step-daughter’s dance as a form of child abuse or perhaps even something that is approaching incest. Mark, the Gospel writer is making Herod’s character plain for all to see. He is making it clear that the king, the governing authority, the political system is corrupt and the instrument for evil.

The step daughter confers with her mother and following her mother’s instruction, she asks the king for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod has made his offer in a public place, he is too drunk to think of a way out and he orders John to be murdered in his cell.

The Bible sometimes refers to this kind of behavior as “Sin” and it is clear that sin has consequences that are destructive of the human race.

So, what does that tell us about the environment within which Jesus first preached his gospel? Quite simply, the king ruled capriciously and everybody was at risk. At the whim of the king, anything and everything including your life could be taken from you – and it frequently was.

“The Gospel of Mark” summarizes Jesus’ message in this way.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news ⁱ of God, ^j   and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; ^k repent, and believe in the good news.” ^l Mark 1:14-15 (NRSV)

Let me paraphrase that. First look at the Kingdom of Herod. Now look, the Kingdom of God is near. Give your loyalty to God’s Kingdom.

This is the Gospel that the disciples carried with them into the villages when Jesus sent them out two by two. Repent means, change your attitude, change your point of view, change your behavior. Live in the light of the nearby Kingdom of God.

Before the story of John’s death, we read that Jesus sent the disciples out two by two to preach the gospel. After the story is told, what happens?

Jesus and the disciples tried to find a quite place for a little rest but the crowd followed them and Jesus responded by teaching them the lessons of the Kingdom of God. He taught how to live as citizens of God’s Kingdom. Evening came and they had no food.

Jesus told the disciples to feed the crowd but, they had no food. Finally 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes were found. Jesus prayed and the food was served and everybody had more than enough to eat and 12 baskets of food were gathered together.

Look at it. Before the story of John’s death, we see the disciples going into the villages with a gospel of hope, the Kingdom of God is near, and the mark of God’s Kingdom is healing.  God is at work making people whole.

Then with Herod and John the Baptist, we see the Kingdom of Evil. Men and women are destroyed at the whim of an immoral-evil person.

Then we return to Jesus. Out in the fields, he teaches people, he empowers the people to live in this difficult world and when they are hungry, he feeds the. In God’s Kingdom, people really matter. All are nurtured both spiritually and physically.

Where, now is the hope?  Is it not in the signs of God’s Kingdom? Is it not in the teaching and in the healing and in the feeding?  Hope is what happens when you and I accept Jesus’ invitation to become citizens in God’s Kingdom and join with him in ministries that heal and feed and teach and preach the gospel.

But what about John the Baptist?  He was a teacher and a preacher and a good man.  Where is his hope?  Where is our hope when the world is bearing down on us and the people we know are disappointing us and our bodies betray us?  Where is our hope when death steals our loved ones from us in untimely ways? 

I wonder what John would say if we asked him. How would he answer our question? Allow me a little imaginary conversation with John the Baptist. 

John.

Yes Joe.

I have a question.

OK

Why did you do it?

What?

Why did you publicly embarrass Herod and Herodias?  You did not have to do that. Everybody knew what they were doing. You did not have to say anything.  Why did you have to say anything?

Joe, it was the truth.

I know but it was awfully risky. You could have gotten killed for what you said – you did get killed! Was it worth it?

Was it worth it?  Let’s see. What were my choices?  I could have sold my soul and kept quiet. I could have violated my relationship with God and saved my own life?  Did you ever hear Jesus say, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”

So you did it to save your soul? You did this to protect your own integrity?

Not quite. The deepest joy I ever had in life was in those moments that I experienced the presence of God.  In my relationship with God, I discovered a life really worth living. God invited me to do some really strange things.  Have you tried my diet of locusts and honey?

No.

You will lose a lot of weight. And living in the desert and preaching to the crowds on the riverbank and the baptism rituals – they were really strange to a lot of people. But listen, the intense satisfaction that I discovered with God was worth more than any other thing that this world can offer.

More than life itself?

No. More than existence. I lived. I really lived. And I will live in heaven.

John, Do you feel cheated? You life was stolen from you and it wasn’t fair.

Cheated? Yes, Herod stole my earthly life from me. But I do not feel cheated by God. God gave me life, a genuine life.

I think about John in that prison cell. I can see him examining his soul. I can see him struggle with himself. I can see some fear and uncertainty. I can see a lot of it. But his answer was that the hope of the Kingdom of God saw him through.

The honest truth is that God does not always protect us from the hard times. Bad things sometimes happen to Christians. But the Kingdom is near and God is giving life and eternal life to all who will become citizens in his Kingdom.

I do not know if I as strong as John. I pray that I will never have to find out. But on this I have staked my life. Even in those  times when my weakness prevails over my strength and I fail miserably, God is gracious and my hope is grounded in God’s grace rather than in my own strength.

And it is that reality, the reality of God’s kindness and grace that sees me through to the other side of despair.