Summary: The results of the Sin of others can seriously affect us in ways that we struggle to control; however there is victory exposing the weapons of Satan, if you know where to look.
This sermon was delivered to the congregations in St Oswald’s,
in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 15th July 2012.
(A Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 Psalm 24 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29
Prayer: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit let these words bring you honour, and prepare us to live in the world which you have given us; in Jesus name we ask, Amen.
Introduction.
It will come as no surprise that the sermon today is all about animal cunning and selfish ambition.
The execution of John the Baptist is not a pretty story as it reflects this world in which we live. Ok, we do not see people’s heads being cut off, but the results of somebody else’s sin do affect us in ways we struggle to control.
Yet there is much to learn from this story, in fact there is victory exposing the weapons of Satan, if you know where to look; so you need to follow me closely on this one.
To start with, we here the first reference to John the Baptist in Mark away back in Chapter 1, (for us that was away back at Christmas), when John was imprisoned for speaking his mind against Herod and his family; and we here nothing more from him until today’s readings in Mark Chapter 6 or (today, the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost).
Now there are a few Herods mentioned in the New Testament. The Herod we are talking about here is not the Herod commonly referred to as Herod the Great, you know, the one who was king when Jesus was born, the one who had all the infants murdered because of his paranoia after the visit of the three wise men. This Herod was insanely suspicious, and at the end of his life he did not only have innocents killed, but even those within his own family. Even Caesar in Rome is reported to having said, and I quote, “it was safer to be Herod’s pig than to be than Herod’s son.”
Now it was this Herod’s son that we are talking about today, Herod Antipas; who was fortunate enough to survive this wrath; and this makes me think He was weak but smart, because he avoided his father and stayed alive; whereas his brothers, who challenged his father, did not.
Not only did Herod Antipas survive, so did two of his half brothers; one called Herod Philip, and the other, Herod Aristobulus; whose daughter was Herodias; an odious anti-hero.
Herodias was initially married to Herod Philip, (her uncle); and between them they had a daughter called Salome: but Herodias was an ambitious, deceitful woman, and would do anything to get her way; and so she “dumped” Herod Philip and married his half brother Herod Antipas; the one with all the power and wealth.
(Herodias being really cunning in order to marry Herod Antipas, and manipulate Herod Philip into letting their daughter Salome go with her; and by the way, Herod Antipas was no innocent either, as one must have led the other on).
Are you all with me? What a family, what a mess? And although they both had a choice; they now find themselves married to each other, but not a marriage of bliss; because there was a man of God present, a man of God who saw the situation for what it was; and who was determined to speak the truth. His name was John the Baptist.
I admire John for this because he knew exactly what type of family he was speaking against, and he knew that by speaking out, regardless of how righteous it was, it would get him killed. But John did not take the easy way out, he spoke boldly, he spoke the truth, and he paid the consequences.
At first he was lucky to be thrown in prison, because it was Herod Antipas’ conscience which saved him; as he knew John was a man of God, and he knew he was doing wrong under the Jewish law.
Herodias however did not have this conviction, and her solution was simple; remove the man, and thereby remove the problem. So between them a compromise must have been reached and John was thrown in prison to shut him up.
Although it does not say in the bible, this must have made John a sort of Martyr, and instead of making the problem go away, it magnified it; because it was their reaction to John accusations which put him in prison. If there was no truth in what John had said, why bother with him. John must have got right through to both Herodias and Antipas’ hearts. John he could see through them, and they knew it.
So Herodias hatches a plan with her daughter Salome, and you know how the story goes, but go along with me here because this birthday party for Antipas had carefully been arranged behind the scenes, by Herodias.
Guests were invited, (carefully chosen guests may I add), and the topic of conversations carefully orchestrated before hand. I am sure the setting was admirably arranged to create the right type of ambience, and I am sure the drink was encouraged to flow. If that was not enough, there was music and dancing girls.
What I am getting at, is that Herod Antipas was a clearly and completely setup here, flattered probably from the beginning in order to mould him into their deception; ending in Salome’s striptease; and Herod fell for it, hook, line and sinker.
Herod was tricked into beheading John; tricked in a way that gave him no room for compromise, and Herod gave the order knowing it to be wrong. Yes, Herod was weak, and he lived to regret it, a broken man, haunted by stories of John returning from the grave.
And Herodias, well as you has just read, the head of John the Baptist was presented to Salome, who in turn presented it to her mother and I am sure that after this, everyone in that kingdom knew who pulled the strings; with Herod being demoted to a puppet king under his wife.
That is not the end of Herod and we read of him later on in Luke 23 where he is at first delighted to see Jesus, but then goes with the flow, back to his old self. Luke 23 verse 11, says “and Herod with his men of war treated Jesus with contempt, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.”
I hope this has helped you see this story in a more detailed way, showing the cunning and deceitfulness behind it all.
You may ask why we have this story in the bible; why are we including it in our Sunday worship. Well it is reality; even today. That is the way the world works, (not by everybody), but selfish ambition rules, and many suffer because of it. If you want an example of selfish ambition, you need look no further than the scandal of the bankers who cost Britain over £20,000,000 because of their greed, and who is left to pick up the pieces, the British public who had nothing to do with the scam in the first place.
Are we subject to such tactics, well yes, just as I have said and to what extent we will never know? I just hope this sermon opens your eyes to some of the deceit of Satan. Satanic forces work by deceit, because if they were blatant, you would see through them and see them for what they are; and avoid them.
We must therefore get to know the hidden tactics that are constantly being used against us, as Satan does not change his tactics too often. Why, because they work.
Now, let us go back to the party where Herod is tricked and start to imagine what would have happened if Herod had said no. I mean, look at the state was he in? He was pliable enough to offer half his kingdom? That is pliable, yet he still knew he would have been ridiculed and made to feel small if he had not executed John.
I am sure that had Herod been allowed his full senses, he would not have executed John. He would at least have been given the chance, or made the chance to have time-out to re-consider, but this is where Herodias tricked him. She let him drop his guard, she cornered him with his courtiers, and she gave him no opportunity to withdraw or re-consider. She forced his hand.
Herodias through Salome forced Herod to make the decision now; or else face ridicule in front of his guests. Can you see where I am going with this?
This type of thinking is prevalent all over our society, and I think the best analogy I can give you to highlight this is in marketing; which I am also qualified. For example,
When and where do you see most adverts? In the evening, in your own house, when you are relaxed, and when you are at your most receptive. Was Herod not relaxed and off guard at his party?
How do advertisers make you feel rejected? Simple, they present these so called beautiful people, and they say things that if you buy their product, you will not only be accepted by them, you will become one of them. Herod needed the support, or acceptance of his guests, and thereby was afraid to go against them, and so he stood by his decision knowing it to be wrong.
And so you must ask, where does the closing sell come in? When simply, the advertisers tell you to buy something now; they try to force your hands? You watch the ads on TV tonight and see how often they try to deprive you of a time-out to re-consider, and give you a chance to say no. Ads today are all geared for instant decisions, and listen to how often you are told to do something “NOW”.
There is also another marketer’s trick to say, do not miss out, and this tactic comes directly from Satan’s temptation of Jesus on the mountain, but that is another story.
Can you see how such deceit is all around us? And this is only an example in advertising. If you want to see these same cunning tactics used in real life, read any of the works of Niccolo Machiavelli, (Machia-velli) or any of the great con artists of our time like, Charles Ponzi, Victor Lustig, or the most famous yellow kid himself, Joseph Weil.
I am ashamed to say, I just love their stories, and read them quite a lot, because you do not know who is setting who up until the end. But they basically all have the same principles at work, relax the mark, make him feel comfortable; make him think that what you have to offer will somehow promote him above all his peers; and then get him to do it as quickly as possible, giving him little or no chance to cool off, think, discuss, or research.
Satan is the master of deception, he will trick you out of time by forcing you to make decisions quickly, he will try and make you feel rejected unless you agree to his solution; and he will do so when you are at your most vulnerable.
Through this story of Herod, some of Satan’s weapons are exposed, and if you at least aware of them, and what he is going to hit you with, then you have a chance to pull back.
But remember, if you are taken in, and we all have, make time for yourself. Remove yourself from the situation in order to think, and re-think or better, get yourself a second opinion.
But finally remembering that old saying that “sometimes you need to loose a battle in order to win the war”; do not be afraid to say no, or wait; you may lose face, but you will not be suckered in. Which is the least damaging? More damage has been done by somebody forcing your hand against your better judgement, than anything else; so remember that because we are never free from someone trying to con us; there is always an opportunity for those willing to try.
Amen; let us pray.
Let us pray:
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you he died in the cross taking our sin with him.
Father we thank you that through him, you walked the earth as a human being, and you know the trials tribulations we face.
Father we heard today some of Satan’s tactics and forces which are constantly bombarding us will, trying to make us to things that are against our will.
Father protect us from these forces, keep our eyes open for situations of deception, but when such forces are us, given us the opportunity for a time out, an opportunity for us to remove ourselves and give us time to think.
Jesus showed us the way, and father let us follow him unto victory, in his name.
Amen
