Year B

Mark 6:14-29

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Dance of God’s Blessings

There is a Jewish Hassidic story that tells of the triumph described in the book of Exodus where the Israelites are saved by the miracle of the parting Red Sea and the armies of Pharaoh are drowned. As the Israelites begin to celebrate and sing the songs written by Moses, Miriam, and others, a wild day of dance erupts among the people, as well as among the angels of heaven. Everyone is cheering. Everyone, that is, except God. During the height of the celebration, one angel notices God’s unusual absence. He sidles up to the Archangel Michael to check things out and ask, “Where is God?” “This is his party; he should be in the middle of it!”

But Michael demurs. “Carry on,” he urges the angels. “This is indeed a day of victory and celebration. But don’t look for God around here. He has gone off by himself for a little while to mourn. You see, although God’s special people of Israel were saved, many of God’s other children tonight are mourning, and God shares their tears.” In today’s text’s we read of both celebration and tears. They lead us to reflect on the meaning of blessing in Judaism and among the Gentiles, and anti-blessing represented by Herod’s court. Ephesians and 2 Samuel take up the theme of joy. We read of David dancing a dance to God, a dance of delight in the presence and blessing of God.

God’s covenant with the people of Israel, first formed with Abraham and Sarah, was always to be a source of blessing, as God says to Abraham: “I will make of you a great nation and will bless you. Your name will be remembered, and you will be a blessing.” The people of Israel were to be a blessing to the world. The Ark of the Covenant and the temple, represent God’s will to bless the Jewish community and through them, to bless the other families. The ark was actually a rectangular wooden box that tradition said held the two tablets of the law given to Moses on Mount Sinai. You can read a full description of it in the book of Exodus 25:10-22.

When the Israelites marched through the wilderness in route to Canaan, the ark was carried at the head of the column and was the great symbol of God’s presence with God’s people. David brings the Ark of the Covenant to his capital in Jerusalem, thereby making the city the religious as well as political center of the nation. With the ark set in its place, Jerusalem became the heart of Israel, and David’s power as monarch was set. To usher the Ark into Jerusalem, David assembled many thousands and there was great rejoicing. He himself “danced before the Lord with all his might” clad in a linen ephod, a priestly garment.

The theme of joy reaches a climax, where the text describes a kind of Eucharistic meal. The ark is placed in the special tent, a tent that will ultimately give way to Solomon’s magnificent Temple. David, who did not often fill a priestly role, then offers sacrifices, blesses the people in the name of the Lord, and concluded the ritual with a feast of bread, meat, and cakes of raisins in celebration of the goodness of God. David, who now presides over a newly united nation, and who takes pride in a new shrine of worship, looks boldly to the future, in joyful gratitude to the God who has blessed and ordained him to his high calling. Yet, the reality of human sin is close at hand as the moment of David’s triumph will soon be defiled by his lust and greed.

Our theme of joy and blessing continues in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Ephesus, located at the mouth of a river, was an important trade center, an ancient city even in Paul’s time. It was the center of many faiths, including mystery religions as well. This letter, addressed to Gentiles, was to strengthen the church of Jesus Christ to be faithful as it assures them that through Christ they have access to the blessings of God in a similar way to the blessing of Israel. The whole letter can be stated this way: All the wonders of God’s blessings that were conferred on Israel for the sake of Israel and all humanity have now, through Jesus Christ been bestowed on the Gentiles.

The letter begins by blessing God and in an early reference to the trinity; God has blessed us through Jesus Christ, a blessing sealed with the Holy Spirit. These blessings are grace, salvation, forgiveness, wisdom, the knowledge of God’s will, and an inheritance. Gentiles are inheritors of all the gifts from God, through Jesus who came to live among us, to teach us, to lead us into a love for God. What a blessing this inheritance is for us. We, Gentiles as, Paul reminds us, prior to Christ were “aliens rather than citizens of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of God’s promise. But since Christ we are “no longer strangers and aliens. Rather…fellow citizens with God’s people, and we belong to God’s household.”

Our complete dependence is on God and our response to this grace, this love, is to praise and glorify God. When we think about the sacrifice of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, an inheritance takes on a whole new meaning, a kinship with God; an inheritance that should overwhelm us and bring joy. God’s plan is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This is what all history has been aiming for. The arrest of John the Baptist, mentioned in the first chapter of Mark’s gospel, did not end God’s work. Last week’s gospel text concluded with Jesus sending out the twelve disciples to further his mission.

Inserted between the going out of the disciples and their return, is the graphic story of the death of John the Baptist who had been arrested as Jesus began his own ministry. The Gospel reading today seems out of place as it is not one of joy but anti-blessing a tragedy. Although this horrible story seems like an interruption in Mark’s story at this point, it fulfills a very definite purpose in the overall story of Mark’s gospel. The death of John the Baptist has parallels with the death of Jesus, and Mark uses this incident as a foreshadowing of the crucifixion. Just as John was killed for political reasons by the political powers, so too was Jesus.

A final parallel that connects this story to the departure and return of the twelve was that during this time it was dangerous to be a disciple of John or Jesus. The disciples had to face the fact that one day they could also be sentenced to death for political and religious reasons. And that did eventually happen for many of them but not before they carried on the blessings they received from Jesus. The texts today remind us that God’s gift of blessing calls for our response toward living ethically both individually and in community in ways that promote blessing for Jews and Gentiles.

Paul, writes in his letter to the Ephesians that God’s plan is to gather up “all things” into a final redeemed community. God wants everything in this world to live together in a process of mutual blessing, making salvation available to all people and when we join God in this work, we increase our own sense of being blessed as we become instruments of blessing, and that is definitely something to celebrate, to cause us to dance. While we praise God and confess Christ as Lord, the Spirit is present, assuring us that God’s goal will one day become a reality.