JOHN THE BAPTIST
“Living Holy in a Not So Holy World”
Mark 6:14-29
Who said the Bible is boring?
Whoever it was hadn’t read this story.
It has more plots and subplots than an episode of NCIS or a John Grisham legal thriller.
This story has four main characters: John the Baptist, King Herod, Herodias, and Salome; Herodias’ daughter.
During the coming weeks we are going to spend some time reflecting on each of these individuals.
We will find that they demonstrates an important aspect of our society.
Today, we begin with John the Baptist.
I do not need to remind you of how difficult it is to live the life Jesus has called us too live.
Attempting to live the life of a Christian is becoming more and more out of the main stream.
Living what would be called a “Holy Life” is almost out of the question. Society tells us we must do whatever is necessary to succeed and to keep up with the Kardashians.
This philosophy of life is being instilled in our children in some not so subtle ways.
Our children are taught that if you want to be popular, to be mainstream, one must have the latest electronic gadget in our hand, skype on our ipad, or the latest fashion in Sperry’s on our feet.
To date, James Patterson has had 102 books published with three more due out in 2013.
His books have sold more than 100 million copies.
Before he published his first Alex Cross novel he co-authored a book that twenty years later still has people talking.
It is titled The Day America Told the Truth.
It was the first survey on morality in America.
It caused quite a stir.
Among other things, it reported that most Americans said they would steal, lie, and even commit adultery if they knew that they would not be caught.
These finds suggest that living a holy life is almost impossible, if in fact desirable.
John the Baptist found himself in a similar situation.
The world in which he lived was pretty unholy.
Even though it was a culture saturated with religion and law, it was a society characterized by Jesus as being “white washed tombs.”
What he meant was that things often appear to be nice and tidy on the outside but inside was the sickening stench of death.
Even the leading political official Herod was caught up in an open adulterous, if not incestuous marriage.
His autobiography could have been titled: The Scandalous Life of a King Gone Wild.
Most of society turned its head and pretended it was not happening.
John the Baptist was different.
He was able to maintain a holy life while living in an unholy world.
He was able to do this by remaining faithful to his convictions.
Without question, he had his conviction.
John said to Herod, “It’s against the law for you to marry your brother’s wife.”
John believed that there are things in life that are right and other things that are not.
Upon his heart was written a moral code that guided his life and served as the basis for his conviction.
When we attempt to live a life worthy of the Gospel it is because our understanding of "worth" is far different from the worlds.
John the Baptist was beheaded because he would not go along with the status quo.
John gave his life because of his commitment to truth as he understood it, much like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his struggles with Nazism and Hitler.
Being a pastor in the German Lutheran Church, Bonhoeffer was forced to choose between his loyalty to God or to an insane ruler.
He was executed in 1945 for the opposition he voiced to the satanic rule of Hitler. (Eric S. Ritz, Faith in Conflict)
We too have convictions, but for one reason or another, we often choose to keep them to ourselves.
Our unholy world tells us, “Don’t make waves. Play along with the game. Don’t alienate anyone because you never know when you might need their help. And besides, no one wants to be thought of as politically incorrect.”
William Sloane Coffin, Jr., said, “The Christian church is called to respond to Biblical mandates like truth-telling, confronting injustice, and pursuing peace.”
There comes a time when we must take a stand.
Not just the obvious concerns as war or capital punishment, but in the moment by moment living of life.
We must decide: Will I do this or not?
Will I be faithful to my convictions?
I have always been a Harrison Ford fan.
I mean, any 70 year old who wears an earring can’t be all bad.
One of my favorite movies is titled “Regarding Henry.”
It is the story of a successful lawyer, living in a gorgeous house, with a beautiful wife and daughter.
He is living the American Dream.
Late one night, he walks down to a convenience store to buy a pack of cigarettes, and walks in on a robbery and is shot in the head.
He survives, but loses all of his memory.
His daughter, who he does not recognize, teaches him how to speak and read again.
As he investigates who he was, he discovers things regarding the old Henry he doesn’t like.
The Old Henry spent little time with his family; was an adulterer, and had dishonestly taken advantage of people as a lawyer.
He could not stand the man he used to be, a man without convictions.
The transformed Henry chooses a new way of life, and reworks his priorities.
If we, like Henry, could honestly look at ourselves, what would we see?
If we were going to live a holy life, we must be faithful to our convictions.
Another characteristic that enabled John to live a holy life is found in Verse 20, it reads:
Herod respected John. He regarded him as a righteous and holy person. (CEB)
Seldom do we hear this said.
On, occasionally we hear, “he was a good man; or she is a good woman.”
To be honest, I can’t remember hearing someone referred to as a “righteous and holy person.”
What does this phrase, “righteous and holy,” really mean?
It has two distinct parts.
First, holy.
John was holy in the sense that he studied the ways of the Lord.
He spent time meditating on the things of God.
He was righteous, in that he applied it to the way he lived life.
John’s desire was to know the ways of God and then to apply them to the way he lived.
We would say that John had a good reputation.
He was known to be consistent in his walk with God.
Perhaps the best way to put it would be to say, “John had integrity!”
He was known as someone who practiced what he preached!
Can God trust us when we are alone?
This is the litmus test for integrity.
When no one is around, when no one sees us, if no one will ever know – will we still do the right thing?
Pat Morley tells the story of a man who was sitting beside him in a plane.
The man ordered a drink – a bourbon and coke.
The busy flight attendant said she would come back for his money, which he left laying on his tray.
She passed up and down the aisle several times.
It became obvious that the flight attendant had forgotten his money.
After she made half a dozen trips by, the gentleman reached over, picked up his money and slipped it back into his coat pocket.
Integrity – sold for the price of a drink. (Man in the Mirror, Pat Morley)
Can we be trusted?
If we want to live a holy life in a less than holy world, we must be like John.
We must be people of integrity.
John lived a holy life because he was devoted to an eternal cause.
John demonstrated the true mark of a disciple of Jesus; he gave his all, which included his life.
John could have saved his life as he stood before Herod.
All he had to do was keep his mouth shut.
Perhaps he could have recanted and begged the queen and king to forgive his ill advised remarks.
He could have blamed it on eating a batch of wild honey, but he didn’t.
John had already committed his life to an eternal cause and there was no turning back
What was that cause?
Was it seeing Herod brought to justice?
John had given his life to a cause long before he ended up in the dark dungeon.
John chose to give his life away for something eternal.
Something worthwhile, a person: Jesus Christ.
Knowing he had already sold out completely to God enabled him to die that day.
Think about it, we are all sold out to something.
We are giving our life for something.
The average American has 6.5 million seconds of life.
What are we giving those moments to?
Are we doing something worthwhile with our lives?
There is more to living than making dollars, punching time clocks or riding airplanes.
It’s serving Christ!
Unless we are sold out to Jesus, we can never hope to live a Holy life in our culture.
G.K. Chesterton wrote: "It is not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, but tried and found difficult."
It’s hard to live a holy, godly life in our world.
Perhaps the real lesson is that doing good and right things cannot protect us from being badly hurt.
There is real danger in naming what is wrong in the world and trying to change it.
Why is this awful story mentioned in the Bible?
Perhaps it is because God knows that some of us who try to follow Jesus will be tempted to follow from a safe distance.
We need this awful story to help us ask ourselves if we are truly following the One whose way was full of danger and whose final destination was a cross. (Catherine Taylor, Re-Membering Faith)
Micah Stampley wrote:
Holiness, Holiness
Is what I long for
Holiness
Is what I need
Holiness, Holiness
Is what you want For me
Chorus:
Take my heart And mold it
Take my mind Transform it
Take my will Conform it
(To yours)
To yours
To yours
If holiness is what we truly long for, like John, we must be:
A people of conviction.
A people of integrity.
A people sold out to God.
