SOME DAYS

WEDNESDAY AFTER SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 6:1-29. Bishop Wright focuses on verses 14-29 that describe Herod Antipas’ confrontation with John the Baptist (JB), which led to John’s beheading. In Bishop Wright’s treatment, he again, in a fairly short space gets us to appreciate much of what is going on.

I want to look at the sweep of the 29 verses. In verses 1-6 Jesus is rejected in his home town of Nazareth. The situation was so discouraging that the text says Jesus could not do many miracles. Next, verses 7-13, in a rather summary fashion, chronicle that Jesus sends out the twelve, two-by-two, and with little to no provisions. They come back reporting great success. Lastly we read of Herod, JB, and Jesus. Herod hears of this amazing Jesus and some speculate that it is JB raised from the dead. We then get a rather long section (by Markan standards) describing how JB died.

To me the first bit—Nazareth, and the last bit—Herod, is a little like the world I am living in. I feel like we are in Nazareth—Jesus and today’s church really are like prophets in their own villages—without honor and not really able to do much. I contrast that to what I watch on TV, it is another world. A world of Herod’s. Herod desperately wanted to by King of the Jews; he wanted to be seen as a godly king. So too ISIS. Yet the reality to all who observe is that there are sick pathetic tyrants, using force to perform terrible acts of terror…and all the while it being amazingly obvious to anyone who will look, even to people who reject the idea of God, that they are not men of God, quite the opposite.

The challenge for me is to wonder “how?” How does the church in Albany shake free of the complacency of Nazareth? It seems to me that Jesus did not stop being Jesus when he was in Nazareth and Jesus will not stop being Jesus with Herod looming in the shadow. In fact Jesus will always be seeking to spread the kingdom, and we see a glimpse of that as he sends out the 12. At the end of all of this we need to be the church—the people who proclaim the Good News in-season and out-of-season—regardless of its reception. I don’t mean to say we should not try new ways. I am simply saying we need to be like our Lord and Savior, steadfast and faithful…some days easier said than done…some days he was in Nazareth…some days he and his message was warmly received...some days he was at Calvary…so pray for his Body, the church.