July 20, 2012

• Truth-tellers 2

  I promised @canadiansrock that I would post the manuscript to my sermon that I preached last Sunday. If you are the kind of person that can’t stand sitting through a boring sermon, it’s posted below If, however, you are still interested in watching it, feel free to click this link.

   

  Truth-tellers

  When I was asked to preach on this passage (Mark 6:14-29, the beheading of John the Baptist), I was like, “Uh, what?”  I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard a sermon preached on the beheading of John the Baptist! So, this is my very first sermon ever, outside of a youth group activity… And needless to say, this has been a bit of a challenge, but this is where God lead me this morning.

  This story, as disturbing as it is, is deeply rooted in truth. And this is why I agreed to preach on it. John the Baptist was a rather strange man, it seems. He distanced himself from society. He lived in the wilderness, and ate locusts and wild honey. He dressed in camel’s fur. Some people believe that John was a Nazarite. And what that means is that he was set apart for the Lord. One of the characteristics of a Nazarite is that they were forbidden to cut their hair. So basically, John must’ve looked like a crazy person, yelling in the wilderness, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near!” I mean, John was obviously a bit disheveled… The same kind of person we would love to avoid. At the same time, though, he must’ve literally reflected the image of Christ. In the scripture reading, we heard that Herod and others, after hearing and seeing the miracles taking place around them, thought that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead. According to scripture, Jesus and John were cousins, so a resemblance would have made sense, but John was spiritually like Jesus too. John was filled with the Holy Spirit, and through the Holy Spirit, he testified to the truth of Christ, and urged others to repent from their sins, “For the Kingdom of God is at hand!” And as crazy as John must have appeared, the Holy Spirit, that was his fire, drew in crowds of people.
              John’s crowds had become so large based on his message that eventually, word got around to King Herod Antipas about the truth that John was proclaiming. One of those truths happened to be about Herod. John had been confronting Herod about his unlawful marriage to Herodias, who was already married to Herod’s brother, Philip.

  Just when you thought your own family couldn’t be more complicated… Apparently, life is filled with Jerry Springer moments, even in the Bible.

  Under Herodias’ plea, Herod Antipas ordered John to be arrested. Now, if Herodias had her way, she would have had Herod order the guards to kill him on the spot, but because the crowds knew that John was a prophet, Herod couldn’t allow that to happen. He feared the people would revolt in response to his death. In fact, Herod himself believed John to be a holy man. Even though John would remind Herod of his unlawful marriage, Herod still loved to hear John speak. Our scripture reading said that Herod was perplexed. He liked to listen to John, but Herod could not face his own sins. He could not repent. Herod, though he was being convicted by the truth, was too set in his ways to make the change necessary to be vindicated by the public and in the eyes of God.

  Soon, however, Herod had a birthday party where Herodias’ daughter danced for the guests. Herod was so impressed with her that he promised her a favor, anything she’d ask, up to half of his kingdom. She went to Herodias to see what she should ask for and Herodias told her to ask for John the Baptizer’s head on a platter. So that’s what she asked for. Herod was distressed about this plea. He liked John, remember? He liked to listen to John preach. But despite this, he made an oath and he wanted to fulfill it. He had a guard behead John the Baptist. John the Baptist was put to death simply for being a truth-teller. We don’t get beheaded for being truth-tellers.

  So, I promised you the truth that is in this story. And you might be wondering where it is… Remember when I told you how John resembled Christ, in a spiritual sense? Well, the good news is that we do too! Like John, we resemble Christ. That’s what we are supposed to be known for. The word “Christian” was originally a sort of derogatory term that we eventually adopted. It means “Little Christ” because the first Christians sought to reflect Christ. So, like it or not, if we call ourselves Christian, this is what we are agreeing to—that we will reflect God incarnate. We will love the way Christ loves. We will serve the way Christ serves. And most of all, we will do what Christ asks us to do. John the Baptist knew what it meant to carry the Holy Spirit. He knew that it meant that he had a job to do. His job as a prophet was to be a truth-teller. He knew to point others to Christ, who is the truth. We have this responsibility as well; each and every one of us. The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church says “Lay members of the United Methodist Church are, by history and calling, active advocates of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every layperson is called to carry out the great commission; every layperson is called to be missional.” But often times, what we find is that some people often come to church and treat it, not as if it’s the body of Christ, but rather, like it’s a club. I can get as involved as I want to. If they ask for help, I won’t volunteer because someone else can do it! I can come visit on Sunday mornings to listen to a sermon and leave. And hey, if I like the sermon, I may just pay my dues. If I don’t like it though, I’ll withhold. I mean it’s a church, not a club!

  Friends, this is the gospel. Christ came to die for us so that through him, we can live. It is our privilege to share the truth of this message in whatever way we are able.  And we worship a very big God; a God who, despite how big, still chooses to use us, the church, to bring his kingdom to earth. God stirs in us, and God tells us to go. Go, tell others the good news of Christ. Go, take care of the least of these. Go be the body of Christ.  Go be truth-tellers. But as you can see by the example in today’s scripture, being a truth-teller doesn’t always get us friends. In fact, it has the tendency to create enemies.  No one likes to be told that what they are doing is wrong, even if, in their hearts, they know it is. And not many people like to confront wrong doers, either. We just like to be comfortable, and stay out of the way of others… because we don’t know if they will get in our way and confront us too. We need to be truth-hearers as well…

  You know, I tell my youth that if we get to a place where we are content, something is wrong. If we don’t feel the Spirit moving in us, something is wrong. If we feel like we can no longer be transformed into a new creation, if we get to a place where all we do in church is come to hear a sermon and sing a few songs every Sunday, something is wrong, and we’ve entirely missed the point of what it means to be a Christian. Conviction is a good thing. Conviction is proof of a living God, and the church, itself, is a living, breathing organism. It needs every individual to be motivated and set on fire by Holy Spirit to thrive and to be the hands and feet of the living God! The church is not a club. The church is meant for fellowship and good works, not to be a part of our own personal traditions. It’s an organism, not an institution.

  If you’re feeling convicted, remember, it’s a good thing. It means the Spirit is alive in you, so don’t turn away, rejoice and see that God has a purpose for us all!

  So, in the scripture reading, we have John the Baptist—a man who with every inch of his being, pursued God; a poor man, but rich in the love of God, living in the wilderness who made himself the lowest of the low, so that others could be exalted. He lived in God’s will. He pointed others to Christ. He had the truth in him, and because he did, he knew his responsibility was to be a truth-teller. And he died as a truth teller.
  Then, we have Herod—a man who loved to listen to a good sermon, but would not allow himself to be changed by the message that was directed to him. The scriptures tell us that he was perplexed. The prevenient grace of God was moving in him, but he fought it, looking to his own self-satisfying ways instead of the ways of God.  He was a truth-rejecter.

  Friends, are you a John the Baptist, or a Herod Antipas? Are you a truth-teller, or a truth-rejecter? We all know what we are called to do, but do we do it? I believe the gospel challenges us to be truth-tellers—to live as a reflection of Christ, so that by the Holy Spirit, we can bring a positive change to this world so that all can know and believe the truth of Christ.

   

  • 9:44 pm
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