Power from the Backside
Notes
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Children’s Sermon
Children’s Sermon
The family trickster…unexpected packaging…anyone ever wrap a tiny present in a massive box? Or intentionally wrap a less desired present in the box of something highly desired? XBox360/Eggsbox 360 Prank Picture
Scripture
Scripture
Matthew 14:1-12 - At that time Herod Antipas heard about Jesus’ fame. He said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he must be risen from the dead; and that explains why this Jesus is able to work miracles.” Herod had previously arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison at the request of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. John had told Herod it wasn’t lawful for him to marry his brother’s wife. Herod wanted to kill John but didn’t because he feared the people who believed John was a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday party was held, the daughter of Herodias danced and pleased Herod greatly. He then promised her, on oath, to grant whatever she wanted. Under the direction of her mother, Herodias’s daughter asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod didn’t want to do it but he had to honor an oath made in front of his guests and he ordered John’s execution. John’s head was brought to Herodias’s daughter, who took it to her mother. Then the disciples came to take John’s body and bury it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened.
Engage
Engage
A few months back I read, for the first time, the science fiction classic Dune, written in 1965. It’s a difficult book in some ways, especially the first half or so. Right now, there’s a movie interpretation by Denis Villeneuve in the theaters…featuring a masterful score by Hans Zimmer. Dune is the story of several groups of people and, of course, some individuals within those groups. There are the Harkonnens…wicked, powerful, diabolical. There are the Atreides, kind, honorable, tough. There are the Fremen who live on the planet Arrakis (Dune), a sandy wasteland without any value to the Harkoonens who steward it except for one highly valuable cash crop. The book and movie(s) are the story of the Atreides taking over Arrakis (Dune) and how they see the Fremen not as worthless slaves and nuisances to be destroyed…but as having inherent value and skill. Desert power, one character says. You could say the Harkonnens are very much like the Herods in many ways, and John the Baptist like a Fremen. The central Atreides character, Paul, loves the Fremen and truly becomes one of them.
Encounter
Encounter
Friends, the powers of this world don’t recognize true power…which comes from places and people they would not expect. Power from the backside. Worldly power is fairly predictable, but Eternal power often comes in unexpected packaging!
The most powerful family in the time and place of Jesus, in the region of Jesus, were the Herods. Let’s take a look at worldly power in the forms of Herod and Herodias. What are the effects of it? What are some identifiers of it? These effects and identifiers can often be seen even in worldly power structures today, thousands of years later.
One tried and true marker of worldly power is irrational fear. It is illustrated by Herod in this historical story. Herod has had John the Baptist killed, really against his own wishes. You might say he knew better. He knew this man, John the Baptist, crazy in the eyes of the power structures of the world, had something genuine. Some mysterious power Herod couldn’t really understand. Yes, he lived in the desert eating locusts and such, but he had something. I sympathize a bit with him. He ends up in an almost impossible predicament, of his own making. He makes an oath that he really can’t break, he has a wish expressed by his wife and his wife’s daughter. The world says, and he ends up deciding, that John is really a nobody. He has no worldly power, no wealth, no army.
Yet, when Jesus comes, we’re told Herod’s thinking. This must be John the Baptist back alive, coming to get me, in a way. He has some of that same power John had and even more of it. Uh oh. Now, it’s not rational for Herod to believe John could come back to life. People then, and now, don’t routinely come back to life. The insecurity and evil grasp of power can lead to powerful darkness and paranoia. Herod follows this path. As a result, he trusts only family…and, ultimately, not even his family really. His family tree has more branches than a Christmas tree. For a while he only trusts his family and so marriages are all with too close of family. Herodias, for instance, marries her half uncle at one point. Eww. Their lives are a terrible tragedy. Contrast Herod with John and with Jesus. John and Jesus had virtually nothing material to speak of, but they had emotional and spiritual blessings in spades. And, they have healthy, loving, grace filled power for all eternity. Eternal power often comes in unexpected packaging. Remember, Jesus said his burden is light!
Another sign of worldly power is wildly emotional decision making. Worldly power is enticing but it is also consuming. Many of you remember a quote by John Rockefeller. His wealth at the time was about 1% of the entire US economy. Someone asked him, how much money is enough? Just a little bit more, he said. All sins have this quality. One of the great rock albums of all time, though not terribly redemptive, is Appetite for Destruction by Guns n Roses. The album is appropriately named. One of the songs talks about their addictions to heroin. “I used to do a little but a little wouldn’t do and so the little got more and more...” That is Sin! That is worldly power!
Herod, it seems to me, fell victim to this. He was a victim of the tyranny of self-desire. He could have whomever and whatever he wanted. But the satisfaction of taking and giving what he wanted kept getting harder to find. In the Scriptural account today, Herodias’s daughter dances for him. It must’ve been some dance. I have no doubt it was lovely. But a sane person isn’t going to do what he did even if the lord of the dance, gregory hines, the black swan, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and every other famous dancer that’s ever lived all dance for them at the same time. He promises to fulfill ANY request. Any request. Absurd. Wildly emotional. Yet, imagine with me the temporary high just making that declaration must’ve given him. Like a hit of heroin or a huge influx of cash money. I’m SO powerful friends, I can give as much as I want. Contrast Herod with the temptations Satan gives Jesus in the desert…Food, power, you name it. Jesus rejects the tyranny of self-desire! Now, God is a wildly extravagant giver as well…but not of sin or destruction but out of his unlimited supply of joy, love, and goodness.
We also see, in this episode, another frequent flyer when it comes to worldly power…disregard for human life. Really, disregard is too kind of a word. Perhaps hatred, disgust, purely evil indifference. This can manifest itself in many ways. For instance, I’ve mentioned before how the Roman Empire, and other civilizations even up to our day and time, treat certain babies/children (particularly girls) with complete indifference. Or, it can manifest itself with cruelty and gruesome demonstration, as in this case. Not only does Herodias order John’s execution…but his head on a platter. Why? Why this completely unnecessary step, this humiliation, this degradation? Why not. Pure evil doesn’t operate in the realm of morality. Look no further than the drug cartels not too far to our south for more modern day examples.
Worldly power is fairly predictable, but Eternal power often comes in unexpected packaging!
Empower
Empower
A woman named Jennifer McMurrain shares the following story (paraphrasing in her voice): I had to get away from that hospital room where my 24 year old sister just died of Leukemia, I came to this empty waiting room. I’d been gone more than 30 minutes and my family would soon come looking for me. I heard a voice, “You can’t be here, miss.” I turned and saw an old man with a mop and wheeled bucket. He explained I was in the same day surgery waiting room and it was closed, and suggested I might go to the chapel. I told him I just needed somewhere quiet. I told him how I wanted to run away. He asked if he could call the clergy on staff, I said I think I just yelled at the chaplain on staff. I went on to tell him how I was mad at God… He said it was ok to be mad at God…that he can handle my anger, grief, and pain. How God can gladly carry it all. He said I may not believe him now, but someday I will…but for now, I need to let others help me carry it. Your parents are probably worried about you, he said. I turned and looked in the direction I had come from, toward where my family was. He was right…I needed to get back. I turned back to thank him for listening to me…but he was gone, no footsteps to be heard, no squeaky bucket wheels. I looked at an ornamental ball on the Christmas tree next to where I was standing in the waiting room…A white figure began to form behind me…I blinked the tears away, trying to focus on the reflection in the sphere…too frightened to turn around. Was it an angel? The figure came into focus. My beautiful sister stood behind me. Her smile radiated warmth…the lights on the tree grew brighter and I turned around but she wasn’t there…the lights were back to normal. My sister was gone, but the peace remained. An angel helped me through the toughest night of my life, and I’m forever thankful.
Worldly power is fairly predictable, but Eternal power often comes in unexpected packaging!
Pray