The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B (Proper 10) - July 12, 2009
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B (Proper 10) - July 12, 2009
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
Mark 6:14-29
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer and say “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven” do we really mean it? Do we really mean for God’s WILL to be done? Or is it just some random prayer that we make? We say it, because we have always said it… but do we really really mean it?
If we look deeply into this week’s difficult and challenging lessons, we can see that they are about a clash… A clash of the will of the Kingdom’s of this world, and God’s divine will for us to have hope in Christ.
In our Old Testament lesson, David, the King of Israel was moving the Ark of the Covenant… The Ark that contained the laws given to Moses by the living God. This was the symbol of God’s divine presence among them, and David was moving it to the capital city. Now this was a grand procession with dancing and trumpets and castanets and cymbals. The scripture says that he was going from the house of Abinadab to the city of David, the Capital City.
What the portion of the lectionary reading left out, is that when they arrived at the threshing floor at a place called Nacon… probably the most level place that they had been… an oxen, who was pulling the cart, shook the cart and the ark began to fall. Uzzah, the son of Abinadab, was driving the cart and he reached out and touched the ark to steady it. Uzzah was immediately was struck down dead.
This scared David. And David feared God and was unwilling to bring the ark into the city of David, so he took the Ark to the house of Obed-edom, the Gittite. The scripture says that the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months; And the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household. David got word of the blessing of Obed-edom’s household and decided to take the Ark back and bring it into the city of David.
God’s will was not convenient for David, and David was scared and upset. After this incident, King David feared God and didn’t trust God after he saw Uzzah die. David put God on hold, and didn’t continue on with the grand procession… David knew that God told the people to offer sacrifices, but the people thought the sacrifices were the most important thing. They would rather offer sacrifice than nurture a relationship with God. As long as they got that done, they thought that it didn’t matter so much what else they did. And people do the same thing today.
People think just as long as they confess their sins and do penance periodically that all will be well. There are even members of the church that act in a similar fashion. They think, as long as they come to church on Sunday and get their card punched, it doesn’t matter what else they do throughout the week… It was only after he heard that Obed-edoms house was blessed, and it was safe, that David continued on with his praise and sacrifices to God.
In our Gospel lesson, Herod follows his own will also. King Herod, (a puppet of the Roman Emperor), had John the Baptist arrested because he spoke out against Herod’s unlawful marriage to Herodias, his brother Phillip’s wife. But the scripture also says that while his was locked up, Herod protected John, because Herod thought John was a righteous and holy man. His wife, Herodias, on the other hand, feared John and wanted him dead.
King Herod’s stepdaughter (and niece) Salome, unnamed in the Gospel, was the daughter of Herodias, and danced for Herod on his birthday. King Herod was so pleased with her that he granted her whatever she asked for. He even said that she could even have ½ of his kingdom.
Salome didn’t know what to ask for, so she went to her mother, Herodias, – who seized the opportunity to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Salome went back and told Herod… and Herod was deeply grieved, but didn't want to appear weak, so he granted her wish.
He didn’t have the guts to say, NO, there is no reason to kill this man. For Herod, this was the beginning of the end… Trying not to appear weak, he followed his own will, and what he did what inevitably made him weak. This started the whole process that brought him down.
These stories are about the Kings of this world doing what they think suits them best, and the consequences of doing just that… However, they are also a stories about how these Kings used others to further their own agendas. David used the house of Obed-edom as a place to stash the Ark of the God he feared, until he found out that the house of Obed-edom was blessed. Then David wanted the Ark back to continue with the original plan and bring the Ark it into the city of David.
And then we have the tangled web of the tragedy in the Gospel story where Herod used Herodias to further his own political agenda. And Herodias using Salome to bring about the death of John the Baptist, and Salome using John to please her mother. But make no mistake about it, the blame lies not with Herodias or Salome but with Herod. Herod was certainly hesitant and deeply grieved about what he was asked to do, because he was protecting John and thought him to be holy and righteous, but instead of having to face embarrassment, he took an innocent life.
Are we not all like David sometimes, when we are fearful of what we don’t understand, and decide to do something that isn’t in the larger plan, because we consider it to be more safe? Then only to take the risk after we see what profit is to be gained!…
And Are we not all like Herod sometimes, when we do something to save face, and make a decision that profits us even thought it’s not right or fair to others? Or, as one of my colleagues suggested to me, perhaps one question to ask ourselves is, "whose head do we call for?"
St. Paul says to the Church in Ephesus, “In Christ we have obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.”
We are believers in Jesus Christ, and in Christ we have been redeemed and sealed as God’s own people. We are members of Christ body, and subjects in God’s divine kingdom. When we pray, “Thy will be done,” God shows us and others the way to salvation in Christ Jesus. We use the good gifts that God has given us to build up God’s kingdom and to follow God’s will…, because it is God’s divine will is to gather all things in heaven and on Earth unto God.
But being faithful to God’s will for us is difficult… We struggle every day against the forces of this world that do not want us to live a holy and righteous life. But we need to be assured that what we are doing makes a difference not only in our lives, but in the lives of others.
So, like John, if we suffer or die for being faithful to God’s will, the kingdoms and principalities of this world do not have the last word. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, and our just reward will be eternal life with the God of our salvation. The important thing that we have to remember is… regardless of how difficult it is, we need to be faithful and follow God’s will for our life… Herod may have taken John's head, but he couldn't take his life.
Thank you to the Rev. Doris Westfall, the Rev. Don McCann, the Rev. Fred Clarkson, the Rev. Susan Bane, and the Rev. John Milholland, friends and colleagues, who helped me struggle with this difficult text.
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer and say “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven” do we really mean it? Do we really mean for God’s WILL to be done? Or is it just some random prayer that we make? We say it, because we have always said it… but do we really really mean it?
If we look deeply into this week’s difficult and challenging lessons, we can see that they are about a clash… A clash of the will of the Kingdom’s of this world, and God’s divine will for us to have hope in Christ.
In our Old Testament lesson, David, the King of Israel was moving the Ark of the Covenant… The Ark that contained the laws given to Moses by the living God. This was the symbol of God’s divine presence among them, and David was moving it to the capital city. Now this was a grand procession with dancing and trumpets and castanets and cymbals. The scripture says that he was going from the house of Abinadab to the city of David, the Capital City.
What the portion of the lectionary reading left out, is that when they arrived at the threshing floor at a place called Nacon… probably the most level place that they had been… an oxen, who was pulling the cart, shook the cart and the ark began to fall. Uzzah, the son of Abinadab, was driving the cart and he reached out and touched the ark to steady it. Uzzah was immediately was struck down dead.
This scared David. And David feared God and was unwilling to bring the ark into the city of David, so he took the Ark to the house of Obed-edom, the Gittite. The scripture says that the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months; And the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household. David got word of the blessing of Obed-edom’s household and decided to take the Ark back and bring it into the city of David.
God’s will was not convenient for David, and David was scared and upset. After this incident, King David feared God and didn’t trust God after he saw Uzzah die. David put God on hold, and didn’t continue on with the grand procession… David knew that God told the people to offer sacrifices, but the people thought the sacrifices were the most important thing. They would rather offer sacrifice than nurture a relationship with God. As long as they got that done, they thought that it didn’t matter so much what else they did. And people do the same thing today.
People think just as long as they confess their sins and do penance periodically that all will be well. There are even members of the church that act in a similar fashion. They think, as long as they come to church on Sunday and get their card punched, it doesn’t matter what else they do throughout the week… It was only after he heard that Obed-edoms house was blessed, and it was safe, that David continued on with his praise and sacrifices to God.
In our Gospel lesson, Herod follows his own will also. King Herod, (a puppet of the Roman Emperor), had John the Baptist arrested because he spoke out against Herod’s unlawful marriage to Herodias, his brother Phillip’s wife. But the scripture also says that while his was locked up, Herod protected John, because Herod thought John was a righteous and holy man. His wife, Herodias, on the other hand, feared John and wanted him dead.
King Herod’s stepdaughter (and niece) Salome, unnamed in the Gospel, was the daughter of Herodias, and danced for Herod on his birthday. King Herod was so pleased with her that he granted her whatever she asked for. He even said that she could even have ½ of his kingdom.
Salome didn’t know what to ask for, so she went to her mother, Herodias, – who seized the opportunity to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Salome went back and told Herod… and Herod was deeply grieved, but didn't want to appear weak, so he granted her wish.
He didn’t have the guts to say, NO, there is no reason to kill this man. For Herod, this was the beginning of the end… Trying not to appear weak, he followed his own will, and what he did what inevitably made him weak. This started the whole process that brought him down.
These stories are about the Kings of this world doing what they think suits them best, and the consequences of doing just that… However, they are also a stories about how these Kings used others to further their own agendas. David used the house of Obed-edom as a place to stash the Ark of the God he feared, until he found out that the house of Obed-edom was blessed. Then David wanted the Ark back to continue with the original plan and bring the Ark it into the city of David.
And then we have the tangled web of the tragedy in the Gospel story where Herod used Herodias to further his own political agenda. And Herodias using Salome to bring about the death of John the Baptist, and Salome using John to please her mother. But make no mistake about it, the blame lies not with Herodias or Salome but with Herod. Herod was certainly hesitant and deeply grieved about what he was asked to do, because he was protecting John and thought him to be holy and righteous, but instead of having to face embarrassment, he took an innocent life.
Are we not all like David sometimes, when we are fearful of what we don’t understand, and decide to do something that isn’t in the larger plan, because we consider it to be more safe? Then only to take the risk after we see what profit is to be gained!…
And Are we not all like Herod sometimes, when we do something to save face, and make a decision that profits us even thought it’s not right or fair to others? Or, as one of my colleagues suggested to me, perhaps one question to ask ourselves is, "whose head do we call for?"
St. Paul says to the Church in Ephesus, “In Christ we have obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.”
We are believers in Jesus Christ, and in Christ we have been redeemed and sealed as God’s own people. We are members of Christ body, and subjects in God’s divine kingdom. When we pray, “Thy will be done,” God shows us and others the way to salvation in Christ Jesus. We use the good gifts that God has given us to build up God’s kingdom and to follow God’s will…, because it is God’s divine will is to gather all things in heaven and on Earth unto God.
But being faithful to God’s will for us is difficult… We struggle every day against the forces of this world that do not want us to live a holy and righteous life. But we need to be assured that what we are doing makes a difference not only in our lives, but in the lives of others.
So, like John, if we suffer or die for being faithful to God’s will, the kingdoms and principalities of this world do not have the last word. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, and our just reward will be eternal life with the God of our salvation. The important thing that we have to remember is… regardless of how difficult it is, we need to be faithful and follow God’s will for our life… Herod may have taken John's head, but he couldn't take his life.
Thank you to the Rev. Doris Westfall, the Rev. Don McCann, the Rev. Fred Clarkson, the Rev. Susan Bane, and the Rev. John Milholland, friends and colleagues, who helped me struggle with this difficult text.
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