When I first read the
readings assigned for today, I thought I might talk about dancing (rather than
beheading) because both the Old Testament and Gospel lesson have dance scenes
and I took ballroom dancing this past winter. Might there be some synergy there?
Then I considered what I would say next. Dancing is an appropriate method of
expressing emotion. Done, the sermon is over. I’m just kidding, by the way.
Don’t get too excited. Dancing may be fun and it is easy to be in favor of it,
unlike that town that banned it in the movie Footloose, but there is something deeper in these passages that can
help us understand our mission as Christians. It is something we can discern by
considering Jesus in light of the political leadership of David and Herod. I
need to give you some context.
Today’s Old Testament
lesson tells us about how King David brought the Ark of the Covenant to
Jerusalem early in his reign. When it finally got there (understand that it was
carefully transported over a long period), Michal, David’s wife, saw him
dancing in his underwear in front of the whole city. Let’s just say, she is not
amused. The portion of the scene that we heard today states that she “despised
him in her heart.” When they are alone, she sarcastically berates David for not
acting like a king. Michal’s reaction is important because she is the daughter
of the previous king. She grew up as part of the royal family, and she knew
what kinds of standards were expected of monarchs. David embarrassed her
because he didn’t live up to that standard. It might have been because he was
born into the family of a shepherd, the eighth son of Jesse the Bethlehemite. David
didn’t grow up privileged: he learned how to work the land, care for animals,
and earn money through sweat equity.
A couple of weeks ago,
we heard how David’s life changed when he defeated the great champion of the
evil Philistines, Goliath of Gath. Because the teenage David quickly defeated
the heavily armored Goliath with only the clothes on his back, a stone and a sling,
he became a household name. He was as well known as a teenager as Justin
Bieber, Shirley Temple, and Macauley Culkin. The difference being that David
saved his country from almost certain defeat and many soldiers counted him as
the man who saved their life.
With his newfound popularity,
David soon learned how to increase his power. He used his popularity to hang
with the king, marry the princess (not for love), command armies, make
strategic public appearances, and various other methods to increase his
political power (the recounting of David’s life is quite long). He was so
successful that when Saul died, he was anointed king in his place. Now David is
remembered as being a legendary leader, but if you look carefully at his
record, David attained that power in ways most unholy. David was certainly not
the first politician, but he is certainly the most successful one told about in
the Bible.
David hit the ceiling of
his political power early in his reign, but that wasn’t the end of his
scheming. David had the challenge of ruling the twelve tribes of Israel. As you
know from current history, binding multiple philosophies together into one
country is very challenging. David’s strategy to solidify his kingdom was to
raise his religious power. See, religion was the one thing that all the tribes
held in common. That is where our story for today comes in. Michal knew about
being royalty, but David understood public opinion. He knew how to manipulate it
like a well-seasoned public relations consultant.
Today’s lesson is
David’s effort to escalate his power by focusing religious power in his new
capitol, Jerusalem. Prior to David, Jerusalem was just another city controlled
by the Canaanites. David captured it and decided to make it the City of David.
To gain religious significance, Jerusalem needed to be credible for all the
tribes. That is where the long forgotten Ark came in. After the Philistines
returned it, Saul stuck it in someone’s house (Abinidab). He just left it
there, unvisited and unheralded for over 20 years. That is where our reading
today begins, David decides to move it to his new capitol city. He portrays it
as a religious event, but really it was a political one. It served his goal.
If you noticed, seven
verses were omitted from the reading. In those seven verses, the Ark of the Covenant
killed a person who attempted to steady it, David decided that it was too
dangerous to move, and left it with Obed-edom, only to return three months
later to continue the journey when it provided Obed-edom an unspecified
blessing.
David led a parade,
dances, hosts a gigantic celebration in the name of God, and hands out food to
the people. If you read the history books and certainly the Bible, you know
that David is the gold standard of biblical monarchs (maybe even of all
monarchs). David is so revered that 1000 years later, the Gospel writers point
out that Jesus’ lineage is from David. Be wary of the spin because David’s
motives are less than virtuous. His goal is to be a religious icon in addition
to a popular one. He makes choices that are David centered, not people
centered.
His reputation is
superlative, but his methods are similar to the other political leader in our
lessons today, Herod.
I am convinced that
there are too many Herods. Herod the Great ruled when Jesus was a born. His
son, Herod succeeded him and his other son, also named Herod, succeeded him. It
is kind of like George Foreman except they are evil despots and not boxers
turned grill makers. Throughout the entirety of Jesus’ thirty some years, three
different Herods rule the land. The one in today’s Gospel is not a nice man.
Actually if you are named Herod, are in the Bible, you are evil.
This Herod made his
decisions not based on what was best for the country and its people, but what
was most popular. John the Baptist was a popular guy, so when he proclaimed
that Herod was a sinner (for marrying Herodias, the widow of his brother),
Herod was not happy, but he didn’t have John killed because it would have cost
him too much public support. So he just had John the Baptist thrown into
prison. See, he is almost kind when it could cost him some of his power.
That is until he gets
caught making a promise. See, he told Herodias’ daughter (her name is
debatable, could it also be Herodias just like her mother’s? I guess that would
be consistent with all the Herods) [Herod told her] that her dance was so good
that he would grant her any wish. She consulted her mother who told her to ask
for John’s head. Herod read the wind. He evaluated the situation and determined
that it would be better for him to have John killed then to publically cross
Herodias.
Both David and Herod
were political leaders. One is considered positively and the other is
synonymous with evil, but they both made decisions in the same way. They
calculated how it would benefit them and increase their power. Some of those
decisions were good for the whole, while others were made to sway public
opinion or for appearances.
It is easy to dissect
political power plays and judge their effectiveness. We live in Washington.
Some of you and certainly some of your neighbors do this everyday. The
challenge of a faithful people is to look into the mirror and realize that every
one of us employ strategies that allow us to gain power in our relationships
with family and friends and in our professional lives. We, just like Herod and
David, are born with an innate disposition to seek what is best for us, to
improve our position, to direct things on a path we choose.
The thing is human
nature can often distract us from God’s mission, a mission that calls us to
serve others first. Paul writes to the Ephesians that they are inheritors of
the Holy Spirit. They are called to be God’s people here on earth. And that
means that everyone is equally valued, that power is a human thing and has no
place in God’s kingdom. What does this mean for us: (1) We shouldn’t be scared
by opinions and ideas that challenge our own notions; we should be willing to listen
and, if possible, digest new ideas into who we are (we have to be open to
transformation). (2) We shouldn’t be consumed worrying about our own safety
when others are struggling to find food and shelter, sometimes just blocks away.
Look at the power structure around you and imagine how to tear it down.
None of us are monarchs,
but we are all full of power. Learn from Jesus that power serves everyone best
when spread thinly. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make decisions, but it
does call us to consider what’s best for others, the collective, the community
before (or even instead) of thinking about what’s best for us. David and Herod
made some good and some bad decisions, they were effective in keeping their
power, but were they faithful leaders?
To wield power as Jesus
calls us to is to let it go, to live humbly, to live for others, to live in
love.
Remember you are not
alone on this most challenging journey. You are filled with God’s blessings and
you are in a community of faith willing to stand together in transforming the
world.
Let it go, remember whom
you serve, strive to make this world God’s kingdom. By doing so, you will
discover Godly love and peace.
Washington, DC
July 15, 2012
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