Sermons for the Month
Easter Lilies Bloom In July!
DATE: July 13th, 2003
SERVICE: Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
TEXT: Mark 6:14-29To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
Last Sunday as I turned into the church off of Market Street a flash of white caught my eye. As what I had seen registered I thought, "That's odd". But, it was a busy day and I did not give it a second thought. On Monday morning, I once again took note of that which seemed out of place. But this time I walked around the corner of the church to take a look. Tucked back among the roses there were Easter lilies in full bloom. Easter lilies a symbol of hope and new life were blooming during the hot, stormy days of July. Now I realize that, botanically speaking, this may be a perfectly acceptable time for what we call Easter lilies to bloom. After all, my condominium has been brightened during the past few weeks with bright yellow, orange, red and white lilies, of various varieties, opening up to the world. So maybe this is the time for all lilies (one of you gardeners will have to let me know.) But there was something about seeing those trumpeting Easter lilies now that oddly comforting, and thus conveyed to me a word of hope at an unlikely time. I bring this up to note that it's often surprising how hope peeks out in unexpected, even tragic, times. Take today's Gospel lesson, for example. On the surface, there is nothing very hopeful about it. In fact, when I read the scripture theme summary I had written in my worship planning notes I became less than anxious to write a sermon. (You may not realize that I give the musicians a summary of what I'll be focusing on during the sermon on a particular Sunday so that every element of worship coordinates as much as possible. This year I did the themes for the entire summer at the beginning of June.) Anyway, let me read you what I wrote for this week's theme summary. "Poor John the Baptist lost his head (literally) because he was a prophetic voice in the world, speaking out against that which he felt was wrong. Do we ever "loose our heads" - in a positive way - because we are vocal about right and wrong? Or are we among the sleep walking masses who just do not want to be bothered?" Charming, isn't it? I'm about as anxious to talk about that as you are to hear it. And yet even when John the Baptist was murdered there was reason to hope, and when we step up to the challenge of clearly stating what we believe, there is hope - Easter lilies in July - because God is at work even in the most challenging of times. In order to see how that's true in the Gospel we have to look at what surrounds the story of the death of John the Baptist. You see, before we are told about the fateful banquet we read how Jesus sent out his disciples two by two to preach the Good News, heal and cast out demons. King Herod - who was not really a King but a governor over Galilee - heard about Jesus who was becoming widely known. Herod had a guilty conscious, evidently, because the text notes that he believes Jesus is a resurrected John the Baptist. So, right in the middle of the account of the disciples' mission, the Gospel writer proceeds to tell the rather gruesome story of how Herod had imprisoned John who had spoken out against Herod's marriage to his brother's wife (by the way, the brother, called Philip, is still alive.) John openly criticized the king for violating Torah law in his marriage, and in doing so took a huge risk. Surprisingly, in spite of the criticism, the text says that Herod considered John to be a righteous and holy man. Some scholars say the he was arrested not only to keep him quiet, but also to protect him from his wife's wrath. But, that wrath was sneaky, and the king was manipulated by fine food, drink and a sensuous dance to offer his daughter whatever she wanted. So, to skip the details, John's head ends up on a platter. Such a tragedy Jesus loses his beloved cousin John, the one who prepared the way for him, to a man who cannot stand up for what he believes. It's a grim account. And yet there are Easter lilies in July. There is hope because the very next thing the Gospel writer does is finish the story of the disciples' mission. It had been a great success. People were called to repent, demons were cast out and the sick were cured. The apostles had been empowered to do great things for Jesus. In the midst of tragedy there is hope. Or, as one of the commentators said, Mark included the unnerving story of John the Baptist to convey the message that while terrible things happen, that's not the whole story. Even while John was being murdered, God was using the disciples to heal the world. In other words, God is at work in the world and ultimately God will win. It is that reality - the Easter lilies in July - that should keep us from being among, to quote myself, the sleep walking masses. Our job is to speak out, to live our faith, in spite of the fact that doing so will challenge us. Being faithful does not guarantee an easy life. I love this quote, "The truth-tellers road is narrow and filled with potholes. We should not expect applause for speaking prophetically." But, we can expect God's empowering and comforting presence to be with us. And, there is always hope - Easter lilies in the midst of July storms - because God's love and grace will prevail. Every ministry has peaks and valleys - whether it is the ministry of an individual as he or she strives to be faithful - or of a congregation like this one that for nearly 50 years has worked to fulfill its mission. There are wonderful experiences, like the beautiful service we shared on Good Friday with our Catholic sisters and brothers from St. Hilary, and there are times when we hope that the Holy Spirit is working hard, like last Sunday when numerous technical difficulties invaded our worship service. And, yet, we cannot stand still because our call is the same as those first disciples - to touch our community with the love of Jesus and make it clear, in all that we do as individuals or as a group, that we follow him. In the midst of challenges we must focus on today's message that God wins. I like the story of William Carey, sometimes called the father of modern missions, primarily because one of his quotes really speaks to me. To make a long story short, his goal in the early 1800's was to translate the Bible into as many Indian languages as possible. He had a large print shop where he spent hours to do the translation work. Then, in one moment, the work of years - dictionaries, grammar books, multiple translations of the Bible, sets of type for 14 eastern languages, an entire library - was lost in a fire. In the midst of that tragedy he is quoted as saying, "There are grave difficulties on every hand, and more are looming ahead. Therefore, we must go forward." (On This Day by Robert Morgan, March 12) Therefore, we must go forward? Let me tell you, this business of being a Christian, of committing ourselves to proclaiming our faith, keeping it vibrant and growing, is no task for wimps. And yet, though challenges abound, because of the grace of God we are declared winners even before we start. There are Easter lilies in July. Therefore, we must go forward. AMEN