Sunday, July 15, 2018

15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (8^th Sunday after Pentecost/Proper 10)

The Revised Common Lectionary passages for the Lord’s Day are:

First Reading: 2 Samuel 6:1-5 12b-19, Psalm 24
Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel Reading: Mark 6:14-19

The liturgical color for the day is: Green

Preaching this week from the Revised Common Lectionary is not for the faint of heart.  The First Reading has David parading (in his undergarments no less) the ark into the city named for him.  The epistle lesson is one of those texts that require dealing with the touchy Calvinist subject of predestination.  The gospel lesson is the brutal story of murder and politics around John the Baptizer.

I’ve found that the lectionary is good discipline for requiring a practice of preaching on texts I would otherwise shy away from—so, I cannot help but look at the tragic story of John’s beheading.  As I read the story, I’m constantly reminded of one of the great truths—there is always something going on behind the scenes.

In organizational theory, one of the current concepts is that we should look at things through multiple frames.  A frame is a perspective.  That perspective changes depending on the frame through which one looks.  Bolman & Deal say there are four frames: Structural, Human Resource, Political, and Symbolic.  From this perspective, we in the church often look through the symbolic frame.

As we consider the beheading of John, there is certainly a political frame worthy of consideration.  It appears as if Herod was caught by surprise at the conspiracy of the women.  He did not expect the request for John’s head.  His decision appears to be a political one as well.  Someone recently asked me about politics in the church and I believe they were taken aback by my answer that EVERY institution and every church has politics—such is not particular to us Presbyterians.

A sermon on this text could focus on the politics of Herod and his relationship to John as well the relationships with the temple in the first century.  Such topics can boldly continue to speak truth to power.

A sermon on this text can also focus on the symbolic frame that is at hand in this story.  Symbolically, there is a clash here between good and evil.  Symbolically, that clash is lived out in actions that either will build up or tear down.  This symbolic frame confronts us still today—there is no neutral, everything has an “energy” about it—everything has a result that will either build up or tear asunder the work God sets us to do as creation.

In the story, we become Herod—we are continually called upon to make choices.  Some of those choices are very difficult and feel foisted upon us.  Do we understand, that all the choices we make will either build up or tear down the kingdom of God?

This same dynamic is operative in the text from 2 Samuel—as David brings the ark into his city.  The choices that he makes already foreshadow the reality there will be moments when he faces difficult choices and dangerous ones too.  We know enough of the story to know that he does not always choose so well.

This being our lived condition, we are grateful for the mercy of God.  That mercy meets us in those places where the decisions we are making are not big bold decisions, but a constant flow of ones of which we have little consciousness that continue to do dis-service to the reign of God.

May these difficult stories of good vs. not-good-at all (bad, evil), serve to bring to our consciousness that we need to frame our decisions by what builds up the reign of God in this world (and our lives too).

General Presbyter
Rev. Dr. Daris Bultena