(Taken some pointers from David Hoke’s sermon “Herod’s Folly”)
We face pressures in life – different pressures, different degrees, at different stages of life.
• From school projects, workload, meeting datelines, and others.
• You faith in God – no matter how strong it is – will not take away the pressures of life.
• In fact, sometimes, being a Christian only increases the pressures we have to face.
We face pressures from people too – from our teachers, bosses, even friends (peer pressures)
• People-pressure can be most difficult to deal with – far more difficult than pressure from circumstances or schedules or work.
• We feel compelled to respond - because people expect us to do something.
• Like pastor-pressure – you feel compelled to do something because pastor says so.
How do you respond to pressure? We can’t run from them all the time.
• We have to learn to handle it – and yet please God in the process.
• Herod did not do such a good joy handling pressure. We’re going to learn from this event.
Mark was recalling an event that has taken place. He stops at this point in his chronology to update us on what happened to John the Baptist.
• John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod. Jesus came onto the scene and some thought that he must be John, who had been raised from the dead.
• Herod felt that way too. For him, it was the cry of a guilty conscience – somehow he felt that John the Baptist was a good prophet of God.
• Yet he killed him.
That is why this historical sketch is written - to give us insight into the kinds of pressures which caused Herod to act against even his own conscience.
• Apparently Mark deviated from this regular flow of events to tell us all these details, so that his readers would understand the folly of Herod’s decision and learn from it.
• As we seek to understand this story, we must keep before us this truth - what happened to Herod can also happen to us.
Have you ever been pulled or pushed in every direction?
• Do you allow yourself to be manipulated by the pressures of other people’s expectations and demands?
• Are you able, in the midst of that pressure, to think clearly and make the right decisions?
• Did you ever end up doing what you would not want to do?
Herod felt the pressure. 6:26 “The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her.”
• People-pressure forced Herod to do what he knew was not right; yet he did it anyway.
( I ) Beware of Pressure-Pushers
Herodias is a pressure-pusher. She is actually the wife of Herod’s brother Philip, whom Herod had taken unlawfully and married.
• John the Baptist confronted Herod: "It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife."
• That’s why Herodias was not happy – John had embarrassed her. 6:19 “So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him.”
• 6:19-20 But she was not able to, 20because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
• Somehow Herod was unwilling to remove John. He liked to hear him.
But the Herodias is waiting for the right moment to get him to remove John.
• 6:21 “Finally the opportune time came…”
• She is a pressure-pusher - who seeks to achieve her ends by whatever means necessary.
• A manipulator - who acts out of her own personal ambition and plot.
The stage was set. She decided to give Herod a birthday banquet.
• She made the guest list out and invited just the right people.
• She used her daughter to dance before Herod and his guests.
• In the spur of the moment, probably half drunk, Herod made a very foolish promise.
• He promised to give her whatever she wanted, up to half of the kingdom.
Salome the girl then went to her mother to ask what should be her request.
• Her mother, without hesitation, said, "The head of John the Baptist."
When Herod heard this, he was greatly distressed.
• He was put in a spot – the King has to honour his word, and before so many guests.
• As the governor, it’s important that he please the people and keep the job.
• He felt compelled to do what his conscience said otherwise. He gave in.
TODAY we face similar pressure – (1) the pressure of being popular.
• Everyone wants to be liked. We like to be popular. That’s why we give in to peer-pressures.
• To be popular, you may have to do things that you will not normally do.
• There’s also the pressure to be popular at work – we want the boss to like us more than the other employees. It may mean a raise or a promotion for us.
There is nothing wrong with being popular – but if we have to compromise our integrity, to do unethical things or things against our conscience – then we’re into trouble.
• For Herod, it meant murdering an innocent man just to keep his reputation or pride.
There is also (2) the pressure to conform.
• John has been telling him the truth - 20because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. His conscience is speaking to him.
• Yet there was this counter-pressure – the pressure to conform to the ways of man and not God’s. “It’s fine to go on with this adulterous relationship – many are doing it; it’s the way of life today.”
We face the pressure to conform all the time.
• Look at the way we dress, the things we buy, the way we behave.
• We are constantly pressurized to conform to someone else’s viewpoint, attitude, way of living, dressing, talking, etc.
If we give in to the pressures to be popular or to conform, then we’ve already fallen into Satan’s trap. The devil is a pressure-pusher.
• This event looks very similar to what happened in the Garden of Eden – the plot to tempt Eve and Adam to do what he wanted.
• We can be swayed to do things that are against our conscience; against God’s will.
Before we talk about HOW we can handle these pressures, take a look at Salome the girl –
She is a pressure-pawn:
( II ) Don’t be Pressure-Pawn
• It doesn’t seem that Salome had any problem with John the Baptist.
• She was simply a willing pawn in her mother’s chess game.
• She was someone her mother could use. She became the pawn, skillfully executing her mother’s schemes.
She did not stand up for what is right. Worst still, she may not have a stand.
• When the mom said, “I want the head of John the Baptist.”
6:25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter."
• She filters nothing! She did not dissuade her mom. She simple did what was told.
We must never let this happen in our lives – we must filter everything.
• We are held responsible for every decisions, words or deeds we make in life.
• 1 Cor 3:12-15 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
We are answerable to God PERSONALLY for every word we say, every act we commit.
The person we need to please is God. Live for the audience of ONE.
• Question we need to ask, at all times is not "What will they think?" but "What will God think?"
• We do not submit to anything that is not of God’s will.
• Look at Jesus – he was talking to His disciples that He would die on a cross, Peter stepped forward and imposed his influence: "May it never be, Lord."
But Jesus saw that Peter had become a mouthpiece for Satan himself. Jesus said to him, "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." (Mark 8:33)
Jesus addressed the spiritual force behind Peter directly – and rebuked him.
Don’t give in. Live by God’s standards.
• This is easier said than done. We need to be on our tiptoe all the time.
• If a woman can plot her scheme in such a way to achieve her purpose, we can imagine what the devil can do.
How can we handle pressures in life?
(1) MAKE UP YOUR MIND TO STAND FIRM
1 Peter 5:8-11 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
• Never mind if you lose your popularity. Dare to be yourself and do what is right.
• If you’ve compromised, turn around and make a stand again. Don’t be afraid to say you’ve made a mistake. Confucius: A man, who has committed a mistake and is not correcting it, is committing another mistake.
A second mistake won’t make the first one right.
Many people assume that one victory means the end of the war.
• The devil is not going to let you go so easily. Regardless of where we are in the Lord today, regardless of how many victory we’ve achieved, how successful we are as Christians that does not yet mark the end of the war.
• Paul says (2 Tim 4:7): “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” – the fight of faith is on-going, until the day we leave this world.
Live like Jesus – He wasn’t swayed by people opinions or the devil’s pressure upon Him.
• He knew His mission was to do the Father’s will. That was His first priority. In fact, there were no others.
• To have victory, we must know our life’s purpose – God’s will for our life. Like Jesus, we must understand that we are here to glorify God and to serve Him.
(2) PRAY – Get in touch with God’s Power
• Moses did that when under pressure in the desert; Daniel did that; the church did that when Peter and John were imprisoned (Acts 4).
• God promised in 1 Cor 10:13 “And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
• In Him, we can find relief, even in the middle of the pressure cooker. Like Daniel’s friends in the burning furnace. Nothing is burnt. Not even the smell of burning on their bodies.
People may not like it, but then, they never have.
• There were those who rejected Jesus and the prophets down through the Centuries.
• There will be people who won’t like what you are doing or the stand you are taking, or what you are saying.
But anyway, what the world needs are not more lukewarm Christians.
• What they need are Christians who dare to make a stand for Jesus, people who do not react to pressure, but who respond with God’s truth and ways.
Think a moment about a water-saturated sponge. If we push down with our finger even slightly, water runs out onto the table. We immediately know what fills the sponge. The same is true of us. People can tell what fills us on the inside by what comes out under pressure. Let them see Christ when the pressure is on.
Transform the pressures into opportunities to glorify God and testify for Him.
We can be victorious if we let that pressure teach us to live in the power of Christ!
The following poem, which appeared in the old publication Record of Faith, makes that point:
Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length;
Pressed so intensely, it seems beyond strength;
Pressed in the body, and pressed in the soul;
Pressed in the mind, till the dark surges roll.
Pressure by foes, and pressure by friends--
Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.
Pressed into knowing no helper but God;
Pressed into loving the staff and the rod.
Pressed into liberty where nothing clings;
Pressed into faith for impossible things.
Pressed into tasting the joy of the Lord;
Pressed into loving a Christ-life outpoured.
