“Perplexity and Gladness Make Strange Bedfellows”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Dear Fellow Believers in Immanuel, whom God adopted as His own in
Baptismal water, Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ
Jesus our Lord [Amen.]
“Our thanks for John the Baptist
Who, till his dying day,
Made straight paths for the Savior
And heralded His way!
In witnessing to Jesus
Through times of threat or shame
May we with faith and courage
The Lamb of God proclaim.”
(Lutheran Service Book [hereafter LSB] © 2006 Concordia Publishing House,
St. Louis, MO. 518:24)
Gospel
Reading..........................................................................
St. Mark 6:14-29 (esp. 20)
… Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he
kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he
heard him gladly.
Prologue: “Strange Bedfellows” is a 1965 American comedy movie
in which “a wealthy American and a bohemian Italian woman meet in London,
and impulsively marry. Then finding they have virtually nothing in common
they separate. Seven years later, just days before the divorce is due to be
finalized, they meet again and begin to rekindle the romance.” (Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Bedfellows_(1965_film)
Updated: 2015-05-19T03:49Z)
It’s also “a 2004 Australian film [about two] heterosexual men who
pass themselves off as a gay couple in order to get financial benefits from
the government.”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Bedfellows_(2004_film))
In light of those two movies, a definition of “bedfellow” is “An
associate, often an otherwise improbable one.” (Wiktionary) Proceeding out
of that definition is the saying: “politics make strange bedfellows.”
With that explanation of “bedfellow” and “strange bedfellows” let’s
turn our attention to today’s Gospel Reading, in which we discover that …
“Perplexity and Gladness Make Strange Bedfellows.”
You know, we can almost feel sorry for Herod. After all, he
recognized that Jesus’ cousin John (sometimes referred to as “the baptizer”)
was “a righteous and holy man” and even demonstrated his fear of him by
protecting Him. But John’s “in-your-face” denunciation of sin and call to
repentance greatly befuddled Herod. And yet, because he probably realized
that John’s message was an honorable one, Herod happily listened to him.
Although Herod’s feelings of perplexity and gladness were strangely
intermingled, John clearly showed with his confrontation of Herod’s guilt
that …
I. Condemning Sin Requires Faith-based Boldness. (14-19)
14King Herod heard [about all this], for Jesus’ name had become known. Some
said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these
miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15But others said, “He is Elijah.”
And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16But
when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
17For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for
the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.
18For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your
brother’s wife.” 19And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put
him to death. But she could not,…
“Faith-based boldness” is declaring God’s holy truth about the
stark ugliness of what He plainly and simply states is wrong … while
trusting God for His providential protection. Such Spirit-given trust doesn’t
mean that God will necessarily spare us from painful and torturous results.
Rather, it’s the confidence that God will ultimately bring to be with
Himself in the glorious mansions of heaven all who cling steadfastly to
Jesus by Spirit-given faith in Him as Lord and Savior.
“Faith-based boldness” is speaking the truth of God’s Law as
summarized with the Ten Commandments. It’s proclaiming what God wants us to
do and not do, to say and not say, to think and not think, to desire and not
desire. It’s proclaiming as wrong what God declares to be wrong … without
hesitation or reservation. It’s proclaiming that being politically
incorrect is really being divinely correct by telling the people of the
world and our elected or appointed leaders who occupy positions of
governmental authority that the wanton murder of unborn babies, same-sex
unions and homosexual activity, polygamy, incest, living and sexing together
in heterosexual but unmarried relationships, as well as all other socially
and culturally-accepted lifestyles and activities that God condemns are,
well, transgressions of His holy will.
In addition, “faith-based boldness” is declaring as Saint Paul did
in his letter to the Galatians: “The [sinful] works of the flesh are
evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, strife,
jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy,
drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” (Gal 5:19-21 ESV) It’s
declaring what Jesus Himself unmistakably stated: “Out of the heart come
evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness,
slander.” (St Matt 15:19 ESV) It’s declaring that “There is no distinction:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:22-23 ESV)
and “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23 ESV)
Furthermore, “faith-based boldness” is realizing that, although
some sins result in greater consequences than others and some in lesser
consequences than others, all sins no matter how seemingly small or large
make us deserving of God’s severest punishment. It’s then confessing with
heart-rending grief and sincere honesty what we admitted at the beginning of
this divine service, namely, “that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We
have sinned against [God] in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done
and by what we have left undone. [That] We justly deserve [God’s] present
and eternal punishment.” (LSB. Page 151.) In response to that frightful
condition we humbly pray today’s Introit: “Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear
to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your
righteousness! Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living
is righteous before you. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.” (Ps 143:1-2, 8 ESV)
Sadly and unfortunately, the further reality is that …
II. Condemning Sin May Result In Tragic Consequences. (21-29)
21But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his
nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22For when
Herodias’s daughter 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 to you.” 23And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give
you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24And she went out and said to her mother,
“For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”
25And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I
want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his
guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27And immediately the king
sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded
him in the prison 28and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the
girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29When his disciples heard of it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Two very seriously sobering questions in the Church’s Rite of
Confirmation, in which baptized and catechized candidates confirm their
Baptism and pledge absolute faithfulness to the almighty triune God, are:
“Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and
deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death?”
And, “Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and
to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?” The prescribed
significant answer to each question that few probably give any real thought
to is: “I do, by the grace of God.” (LSB. Page 273.)
In case you haven’t heard, read about, or seen it in graphic
pictures, faith in the one true triune God in general and especially in the
person and work of Jesus Christ that Christians in many places of the world
and especially in Syria and Iraq confess together with us is being put to
the ultimate test today. Mutually with fellow Saints throughout the world
we confess to “know and trust in Jesus Christ as [our] only Savior from sin,
death, and the devil and believe that He gives [us] eternal life.” In
addition, we confess that we “believe that Jesus is [our] Lord and [our]
Redeemer, whom [we] love and serve with [our] life.” (Luther’s Small
Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986, 1991 Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 121 & 127.)
As spirituality declines in our American society and our culture
grows less friendly toward Christianity, it may well happen in the
foreseeable future that our Spirit-given faith in the one true triune God in
general and Jesus Christ in particular that we confess will also be put to
the ultimate test. That’s what happened with Jesus’ cousin John in today’s
Gospel Reading. Because he relentlessly confronted sin with “faith-based
boldness” and unwaveringly called people (including Herod and his incestuous
wife Herodias) to repentance, he was gruesomely beheaded. He willingly gave
his life instead of compromising or backing off from confronting sin with
“faith-based boldness” and pointing his hearers to “the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world.” (St John 1:29 ESV) That’s what Pastor
Marks and I (along with countless other pastors who have preceded us and
will follow us) have pledged to do. We will continue to relentlessly
confront all sins with “faith-based boldness”, unwaveringly call you to
repentance, and uncompromisingly point you to Jesus Christ alone, who is the
only solution for mankind’s sin-dilemma.
After all, as the Old Testament prophet Isaiah testified: “Surely
He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him
stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our
transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the
chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.” (Is
53:4-5 ESV) The apostle Paul wrote: “[God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew
no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor
5:21 ESV); and: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’”
(Gal 3:13 ESV) The apostle Peter declared: “He Himself bore our sins in His
body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By
His wounds you have been healed.” (1 Pet 2:24 ESV) And, the apostle John
wrote: “The blood of Jesus [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John
1:7 ESV) and “[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2 ESV).
All that is to say in simple summary that Christ alone fulfilled
God’s holy Law for us; Christ alone bore the divinely-imposed penalty for
our sins for us; and Christ alone validated His atonement activity with His
resurrection from the dead for us. Now the Holy Spirit communicates divine
grace alone to us through God’s Holy Word, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution,
and Holy Communion. Through Spirit-given faith alone in Christ alone we
receive God’s wonderful grace-alone gifts of forgiveness of all our sins,
rescue of our immortal souls, and everlasting life with Jesus in heaven.
Because of such, we can meaningfully pray today’s Collect: “Give us pure
hearts and minds to follow Your Son faithfully even into suffering and
death.”
So, while it’s certainly true that in Herod’s life and ours as
well …
“Perplexity and Gladness Make Strange Bedfellows”
let’s rejoice in today’s Epistle Reading’s gracious message: “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. In him we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the
riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us … . In him we have obtained
an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who
works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were
the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you
also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and
believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the
guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the
praise of his glory.” (Eph 1:3, 7-8a, 11-14 ESV) As we do so, let’s always
bear in mind that …
I. Condemning Sin Requires Faith-based Boldness. (14-19) It’s a
boldness that God alone gives us from outside of us, a realization expressed
by Amos about himself in today’s Old Testament Reading: “I was no prophet,
nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.
But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go,
prophesy to my people Israel.’” (Amos 7:14-15 ESV)
In addition, it’s certainly true that …
II. Condemning Sin May Result In Tragic Consequences. (21-29) In the
face of such possibilities, perhaps even probabilities, let’s always rely on
God’s invitation and promise: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will
deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” (Ps 50:15 ESV) as well as that of
Jesus Himself: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest.” (Matt 11:28 ESV) Realizing the truth of those and many
other divine promises, then let’s make the words of today’s Gradual our
heartfelt response: “For from [God] and through [God] and to [God] are all
things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom 11:36 ESV)
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
_______________________________________________
Sermons mailing list
[email protected]
http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
