EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 14TH JULY 2024
OPENING SENTENCE
The King of glory shall come in
HYMN
GREETING
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
COLLECT FOR PURITY
Almighty God
to whom all hearts be open
all desires known
and from whom no secrets are hidden;
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you
and worthily magnify your holy name
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
SUMMARY OF THE LAW
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”
The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
CONFESSION
God is love and we are God’s children.
There is no room for fear in love.
We love because God loved us first.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
God our Father, we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
ABSOLUTION
May the God of love and power
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by his Spirit
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
GLORIA
sung by Sue Turner
COLLECT
O God, you have prepared, for those who love you,
good things no eye has seen:
pour into our hearts such love of you,
that by loving you in all things and above all things,
we may be worthy of your promises,
which surpass all we can desire;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen
FIRST READING
2 SAMUEL 6:1-5, 12b-19
read by Billy Dewar Riddick
David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the LORD with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. So, David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
David danced before the LORD with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So, David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David. Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. They brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the LORD. When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
SECOND READING
EPHESIANS 1:3-14
read by Kay Solaja
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also 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 the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
HYMN
GOSPEL READING
MARK 6: 14-29
read by Rev Janice Aiton
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St Mark chapter 6 beginning at verse 14
Glory to Christ our Saviour.
King Herod heard of the healings and other miracles, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason, these powers are at work in him.’ But others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’ But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’ For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’
She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist.’ Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptizer on a platter.’ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious gospel
SERMON
Our lessons for this morning tell of two dancers: one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. The one in the Old Testament is the king, David; the one in the New Testament is the stepdaughter of the king, Herod. Both stories have to do with political intrigue.
In the Old Testament David’s dancing was his “coming out as king” party, and his wife Michel felt that he should have done it in a dignified, cultured way rather than dancing in the streets as a priest-king. She may have a point in that he was king but not priest!
In the New Testament we have the daughter of Herodias dancing at the king’s banquet to celebrate his birthday. Both dancers were accused of being scantily attired, whereas David’s dancing disgusted his wife Michal, Herod the king was captivated by this young girl’s dancing. His lust is publicly aroused by Herodias’ daughter. He goes over the top and boasts his pleasure is worth half his kingdom. “Whatever you ask me, I will give half of my kingdom.”
Before we consider this foolish claim of Herod’s, let’s look first at the narrative itself. There are a couple of things about this narrative that makes it stand out: it’s one of the longest sustained narrative scenes in the Gospel, Jesus does not appear in it at all, it seems to interrupt the flow of the rest of the story, and it’s told in flashback, the only time that Mark employs such a narrative device.
To understand this story, it’s important to take a step back and look at the context. Right before it, Jesus sends out his 12 disciples to the surrounding towns to preach the message of the kingdom and heal sick people. Then, right after the story of John the Baptists death, we are told that the disciples return to Jesus and report to them everything that happened on their mission’s trip. So, the question is: Why is the story of John the Baptist inserted or sandwiched, as Mark likes to do, right in the middle of this narrative? Why is the story of Jesus sending out his disciples wrapped around the story of John the Baptist’s death? Three reasons: Firstly, this is a story about mission. About meaning. About purpose.
You will recall the story last week, just before the story of Herod and John the Baptist, Jesus sends his disciples on a mission. Go! Don’t take an extra bag! Don’t be tied to material things! Share the gospel! Bring healing and restoration! Jesus gives the disciples’ lives a direction, a meaning, a purpose. This mission, this purpose comes from outside of them.
This is directly contrasted with the characters in the story about Herod. They have a different mission and purpose. Herod’s mission is status. He wants to be King! Herodias lives for power. She is a social climber—hopping from one husband to another—to be married to the man with the most clout. Her daughter lives to please the crowd. She dances to please the audience. She wants to please her mum, even if it means asking for the death of a man. The all-male audience is on a mission for pleasure. They just want to have a good time, have the honour of being at Herod’s party, get drunk and watch the girls dance.
Everyone in this story has a mission. They all have a purpose. The difference is that the disciples have their purpose given to them. The people at the party all pursue their own personal mission in life. One they came up with for themselves. If you like, the disciples have a God- given mission, whereas the others have a selfish self- appointed mission. In a way
Mark is saying, where is your ultimate allegiance lie, is it in the Kingdom of God or in the worldly kingdom of Herod.
In Herod’s kingdom weak people kill and strong people suffer under their weakness but do not retaliate in kind. John, Jesus and those who follow will not cave in to persecution. Strengthened by faith and unafraid to die they will preach repentance to the political and religious leaders.
This brings me to the second reason of this story – it is a story about death and resurrection. The story of John the Baptist’s death is inserted in the middle of the story about Jesus sending out the disciples is because it is intended to be a picture of what will happen to them. On one level it’s a picture of how Jesus’ disciples must face the same fate. For them, to carry out the mission of Christ is to face the same fate as John the Baptist. They too will be arrested, stand before kings, and be put to death.
But on another level, it’s a picture of the death all Christians must face if they intend to carry out the mission of Christ. Your own personal self –appointed purpose for your life must die in order to live for Christ. Jesus says: in order to be my disciple, you must deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me. Why? Because that is the only road, the only line that leads to life. Only those who lose their life will find it.
Jesus offers life in all its fullness. John the Baptist appears to have lost his life but in reality, he found it. What did actually transpire, between Herod and John, that resulted in John being put in prison by Herod?
How did John come to be in prison in Herod’s palace? Herod’s family was immensely complicated. It seemed that everyone was having an affair with everyone else and there were very few sexual boundaries. At this point in the story Herod had seduced Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Philip, and had persuaded her to leave her husband and marry him. Herodias was therefore Herod’s sister-in-law, and if that wasn’t bad enough, due to the complexities of the family tree she was also his niece!
This marriage was therefore a breach of Jewish law something which it appears John the Baptist felt compelled to denounce. But why did John particularly single out Herod, among all the other immoralities he would have encountered? There is, I think, one simple reason: John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ. He was the voice crying out in the wilderness, the herald of the coming of the Messiah, who was the true King of the Jews. In contrast, Herod had styled himself as the king of the Jews. His father, Herod the Great, had attempted to kill Jesus as a baby, by the slaughter of the innocents, to protect his position, and his son Herod Antipas, the Herod of this story, had inherited this sense of grandeur and entitlement.
Thus, John was beholden to denounce Herod’s behaviour, to draw a contrast between the corrupt and immoral kingdom of Herod and the pure and righteous Kingdom of the true King of the Jews, the Messiah. And of course, Herod couldn’t let that go; he couldn’t have a prophet going around denouncing him and his family, so he had John arrested and put in the palace dungeon. But Herod didn’t dislike John; it seems he was fascinated by him and afraid of him. Mark describes how Herod liked listening to John, to hear the words of truth from John’s mouth and that following his death he was still afraid of him, fearing that Jesus might be a resurrected John the Baptist.
Indeed, our Gospel passage describes Herod as being ‘deeply grieved’ when he kept his promise to his daughter and had John killed. A promise made by a vain man, who had sworn an oath in front of his guests, and was afraid to lose face by failing to honour it. The Greek word for ‘deeply grieved’ is the same word used by Mark to describe Jesus’ anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of the Last Supper. Herod was more than just disappointed or regretful; he was indeed ‘deeply grieved’ at having to have John killed. It was never his plan; never something he intended, but a consequence of his foolishness and vanity, his fear of losing face in front of his guests.
John died a violent death at the hands of a capricious and vain ruler, who was afraid to stand up to pressure and spare his life, and who was curious about the truth. Remind you of anyone? “What is Truth?” asked Pilate, shortly before he handed Jesus over to be crucified. There are clear echoes here between the two stories of the execution of John and the crucifixion of Our Lord.
So, John was not only the herald of Jesus’ public ministry, but also the forerunner of the manner of His death. The story of Jesus’ death and resurrection is our Good News, it is the foundation of Mark’s Gospel, so Mark was bound to include details of John’s death, as a precursor to the passion narrative.
I think the third reason for including this passage can be found in its location in Mark’s Gospel. It is immediately preceded by the Gospel reading we heard last week, in which Christ sent out the twelve two by two, to carry out His ministry. And the story is immediately followed by the feeding of the 5,000.
These are two stories about the work of the Kingdom, that in the face of tyranny and murder by the State, the work of the Kingdom continues. In the narrative of the feeding of the 5,000, Mark describes Jesus as having: ‘compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd’. What a contrast between the self-styled king of the Jews in the palace, ogling his dancing daughter and killing a prophet, and the true King of the Jews, having compassion for the hungry people on a hillside.
This story challenges us to follow our God-given mission and herald in Christ’s kingdom, with compassion, courage and love and in doing so challenge the corrupt and evil in kingdoms like Herod’s. Amen
NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
In humility and love
let us draw near to God,
and pray to him now.
Lord God we pray that our lives
may be upright and holy;
that our church communities may shine
with goodness and love,
humility and truth;
we pray for ourselves
that we will have the courage
to stand up for what is right,
and be advocates of truth and justice.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray
that many may be empowered to recognise evil,
and fight against it.
We pray that many will discern
the sparks of goodness and love in others
and encourage them to good works
for your name and glory.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray
that our households and neighbourhoods,
our places of work and leisure,
may be regarded as places of love and thankfulness,
not only when things and life are going well,
but also, in those moments of hardship and difficulty.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for those
who have given into evil and
because of their crime are in prison.
We ask that you will help them seek forgiveness
and that by your help they may be renewed and restored.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for those
who have been brainwashed,
and led to believe that killing
in your name is justified and good.
Open their minds and hearts to the truth,
and folly of their ways.
Protect too our own teenagers and students
that they will remain independent thinkers,
and people who will always uphold peace, justice and love,
to all people of all nations, religions, faith and none.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for those who are suffering at this time,
thinking especially of those,
who are imprisoned because of their faith,
or those who have spoken out about injustice
and inequality in their country,
or have challenged the lack of freedom
in their ability to speak or write freely,
give them strength and courage to keep going
and we ask for their release
and lift to you, agencies working on their behalf.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for those
who are weak in body, mind or spirit at this time.
We lift to you those,
battling with mental illness
and ask that they might know stability and peace.
We lift to you those who are worried about their health,
those facing heart problems,
those undergoing treatments against cancer,
those recovering at home from surgery,
and ask for your loving and healing presence
to be with them
and ask that you will meet them at their point of need.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God we remember those in prayer
who have lost recently a loved one.
We remember too those families for whom
this month is an anniversary of a death.
Be their comfort and stay in these days.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for ourselves
that we might have more thankful and courageous hearts
that we would not be shy in speaking your truth,
and that by our love we would be seen as the disciples of Christ.
Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
HYMN
BLESSING
The peace of God,
which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,
and of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord:
and the blessing of God the Father,
the Son and Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always. Amen
DISMISSAL
Go or stay in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ.
