Mark's Challenge

Christianity in the United States is an enigma. Americans go to church in droves; ministries are flourishing; religious discourse permeates many areas of our culture, including politics and even sports. A billion-dollar industry is established around Christian music and other spiritual paraphernalia. 

Yet much of what passes as Christian faith can be insipid and shallow, if not dangerously distorted.  Our very language describes the enigma of our Americanized pantomime of biblical faith: We say we "go to" church, implying we step out of our lives to practice our faith in a specified and compartmentalized time and place, from which can emanate a great deal of judgmentalism  upon the world.

We see this phenomenon described powerfully in our Amos text for today.  Amos is confronting God's people of his time who had made religion into a shallow and narrow piety rather than a deep seeded pursuit of justice and righteousness:  "I despise your festivals... take away from me the noise of your songs... but let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream"  

During this liturgical year, thousands of churches who follow the lectionary, a three-year-cycle of biblical readings used in worship, are all reading the gospel of Mark. While congregants sit in comfortable surroundings, the penetrating voice of Mark, the earliest evangelist, will cry out with his stark and cutting and uncompromising vision of Jesus, and his clarion call to follow him along the radical way of justice, servant-hood and grace of the Kingdom of God.

Mark's gospel was written for a fledgling community of Jesus followers in the late 60's of the first decade who found themselves caught between the rock and a hard place of two violent forces: the oppressive Roman occupation forces on one side, and on the other side the armed uprising of  revolutionary Jewish militants. 

Caught between these two violent forces Mark was calling upon his community of Jesus followers to another way, the way of Jesus which is the way of the Kingdom of God.  Mark's gospel is a radical paradigm of discipleship; the formation of a discipleship community that breaks from a social order that is often violent, corrupt and oppressive.

Mark begins his gospel this way: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ..."  It is important to note that the phrase euangelion, meaning "gospel", or "good news" was part of the lexicon of Roman propaganda.  The Romans used the phrase "gospel" to formally announce an emperor's birth, an emperor's accession to the throne, or to spread the "good news" of a great Roman military victory.  By adopting this Roman imperial phrase and applying it to Jesus, Mark is ingeniously delegitimizing and challenging oppressive Roman power.  Mark knows that the gospel of Jesus is about a clash of two great realities: the Kingdom of God vs. Kingdom of Rome. The two cannot co-exist comfortably.  So Mark is calling on his community to make a clear choice; to declare their allegiance; to make a commitment - not to Rome and not to violent revolution; but to the Kingdom of God as embodied by the life and teaching of Jesus. 

Mark weaves this sordid story of Herod into his narrative as an example of how these great realms can play out in a human life and community.  We must note that Herod was a Jew, at least in name, but had been appointed by Rome to rule Palestine. Herod was a prime example of collaboration and political expediency. 

Mark, with great attention given to detail, describes Herod's apparent conflicted feelings for John the Baptist.  On the one hand, Herod feared John, but on the other hand, he did what he could to protect John from potential enemies. On the one hand, Herod was confused and puzzled by John's message, but on the other hand, he was intrigued by John's preaching.  Being a marginal Jew, perhaps down deep Herod recognized that John spoke truth - and that's why he was paradoxically drawn to John.  By having John put in prison perhaps Herod thought he was helping to protect him from harm.  Who can say?  But Herod obviously was conflicted about John.

But a fateful day came when Herod had to choose; choose between John and his own reputation; choose between John and his own wife; choose between life and death; choose between being a coward and being a hero; choose between turning toward the Kingdom of God or turning away from the Kingdom God; chose publicly in front of his guests.

You see, Jewish law forbade a man from marrying his brother's wife, and that's exactly what King Herod had done - and John had made a pronouncement of judgment against Herod and his wife, and she (Herodias) had been waiting for an opening to even the score with John. John was a threat to her cushy situation.  Her opportunity finally came at Herod's birthday bash.

The wine and booze were likely flowing freely. Herod's daughter came out to dance, and he was so stirred by the sensuality of her performance, and he was probably just drunk enough that he promised her the stars - anything she wanted!  She ran to her mother, "Oh mother, what should I ask Daddy for?"  Like a cat, poised and ready, mother pounced, "The head of John the Baptizer!"

Mark tells us when Herod got the word he was "deeply grieved!"  You see, Suddenly Herod found himself at a crossroad; a point where he had to commit himself one way or another.  The fact that he was "grieved" tells me that he had deep feelings for John.  But in the end Mark says, "Yet, out of regard for his oaths and his guests, he did not want to refuse her."

Allow me to paraphrase what I discern that verse means: "Yet, because Herod was coward; and did not wish to jeopardize his reputation in front of his drunken political allies and invited VIP's; because Herod wanted to save face and not risk the scorn of his so called friends; because Herod dared not upset the delicate and complex balance of power and favor that existed between he, his wife, his daughter, and his political friends, he chose to go along with the whole ghastly escapade, and he placed the order for John's head to be immediately delivered on a platter!"

In other words, Herod sold his soul to the politically expedient thing. This is an ugly and grotesque story, and not only ugly because of the horrific scene of the beheading and the uncivilized parading of John's bloody head on a platter through the palace halls. I'm also referring to Herod, watching him reduced to nothing, dehumanized and trivialize because of his inability to turn away from a web of entangled political commitments. Herod had an incredible opportunity to be God's person and do a godly thing; and yet in the end all we can say is, "so close, yet so far."

One of the big news stories of this past week was the act of civil disobedience performed by members of the environmental group Greenpeace who scaled Mt Rushmore and hung a banner next to the face of Abraham Lincoln, that was intended as a message to the President that read: “America honors leaders not politicians: Stop Global Warming.”

I watched a piece on the news where a reporter interviewed a host of people who were present at the Rushmore National Monument when this event occurred.  What I found interesting was that the only thing the reporter and those interviewed focused upon and wanted to talk about was the act itself, and as expected, there was a wide diversity of opinion - pro and con.  But I was struck that nobody commented on the message.  It was as if the message on the banner was secondary to the act itself. 

This all happened as I was reflecting on this story from Mark, and it occurred to me that the message of the banner is exactly the issue that Herod was caught in and to which Herod succumbed. Herod surrendered his opportunity to seize the moment and be a leader - to political expediency; to being a politician.

From the first line of his gospel Mark portrays two great kingdoms in conflict: the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed and embodied - and - the Kingdom of Rome that Caesar proclaimed and embodied.  It's a conflict that goes on to this day.  Rome is gone, but the strategies, tactics, values and mindset of Caesar an Herod live on - even are embedded in many of the institutions of our culture.  It's a conflict that every last one of us is caught up in; feeling the opposing tugs of these two great realities.   Caving in to the politically expedient thing is not exclusively reserved for professional politicians.  That is a drama that we all star in!

And you see, Mark will not let us off the hook. Mark's gospel, from beginning to end, offers a powerful antidote to domesticated, comfortable, superficial Christianity.  His gospel and his telling of this story challenges us to make choices for the kingdom of God; to take a stand and make commitments to the kingdom of God embodied and proclaimed by Jesus. 

In the final analysis this story is about us - you and me.  This story ultimately gets very personal and confrontational. I believe a part of the reason Mark remembers to tell it in his gospel is to remind his readers (us) how powerful and seductive forces are that would hold us back from turning and embracing the "good news" of God.  

What will we do?  What choices will we make?  Will we choose for the Kingdom of God or choose to do the politically expedient thing in the everyday circumstances of our lives. 

Will we be seduced by a "family value" mentality that encourages us to take care of our own yes, but resists a wider definition of family that recognizes sisters and brothers among society's marginalized?

Will we tolerate, without resistance, contemporary expressions of the first century religious designations of "clean and unclean"; or will we work to break down social, ethnic, economic and racial barriers and practice inclusive table fellowship as Jesus included outsiders and enemies as his table?  

Will we quietly accept economic and political systems that continue to foster an unabated and widening gap between the wealthy and poor and increasing numbers of those living in poverty?

What will we do when we see church institutions opt for social and political paradigms of power rather than abiding by Jesus' definitions of servant-hood; that the greatest in the Kingdom of God are those who serve?

What will we do; the politically expedient thing and in so doing behead the Kingdom of God?

Or will our very lives be good news?  Will our lives embody the good news?  Will we live it, not just in this sacred time and space, but will we step out of this time and space and into the world and live it there?   That’s Mark’s challenge. That’s Mark's call.