Mark 6:14-29
Proper 10 / Year B
A shocking headline caught my attention earlier in the
week: 233 Killed, 618 Injured by Gun Violence over Holiday Weekend. These statistics are compiled by a group
known as the Gun Violence Archive.
There is some ‘good’ news. This
year’s violence is 26% less than last year’s.
According to the GVA website, over 22,000 people have died from gunshot
wounds so far this year. It is sobering
to note 12,000 of these were self-inflicted.
No matter what the numbers suggest to you, doesn’t it feel like our
world is becoming harsher, more reactive, less kind, and less rational with
each passing day? It all seems so
senseless.
How do you make sense of senselessness? This is the question I have been living with as
I pondered this morning’s gospel reading.
The death of John the Baptist at the hands of King Herod, with all the
intrigue playing out behind the scenes, is a completely senseless event. Along with the crucifixion of our Lord, it is
one of the two darkest stories told in Gospels.
But unlike the crucifixion, this one seems to have no redeeming value
(other than John’s disciples give his body a proper burial).
I googled the question “how do you make sense of
senselessness” and was taken aback by what came up: story after story over the
past decade or so with various writers trying to come to grips with horrific
events: the shooting in Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, Parkland, George Floyd, the
church in Texas, the Surfside collapse.
It felt like I was taking a crash course in modern tragedies.
One writer offered this thoughtful insight:
There is definitely a need among us to talk about and make sense of
an incredibly senseless act. In times of crisis and disbelief our
humanity calls us to ask the questions – Why? How? What can
we do to prevent this from ever happening again?
There are no easy answers. No quick and painless solutions.
No neat, precise, clear responses that can take the pain and shock away or keep
evil from threatening us again. But this national conversation is an
important one to have. Even if the answers are not readily apparent or
forthcoming, it is necessary to begin to search our hearts and our souls and
ask the tough, difficult and uncomfortable questions that will ultimately lead to
answers that will enable us to be a better society. We must not
stop asking these questions and searching for the insights that will bring us
healing, comfort and clarity.
Another cited this bit of wisdom from Fred Rogers:
In times of stress, the best thing we can
do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured
that our questions are just as important as our answers.
And another
writer noted the importance of respect and compassion as we come together to
seek wisdom. This too feels increasingly
difficult in our society where we seem to act like, “If me and mine are in
charge, then I am ‘fir’ it. But if me and
mine are not in charge, then I am ‘agin’ it”; which, as a mindset, does not
engender healing and hope, but only adds to the senselessness.
In today’s
first lesson we hear God tell Amos a divine plumb line will be set to reveal
where society has lost its way. In the
hands of a skilled worker a plumb line can reveal subtle deviations which, if
not corrected, will result in dangerous structural deficiencies. In our day and age no special tools are
needed. The problems are visible to the
naked eye. What we lack is a means of
correction to unite us in working toward a better world.
We who embrace
Jesus Christ hold something from beyond is at work in the world to counter the
senselessness. It is articulated so
beautifully in today’s reading from the 85th Psalm:
I will listen to what the Lord God is saying,
for he is speaking peace to his faithful people
and to those who turn their hearts to him.
Truly, his salvation is very near
to those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth shall spring up from the earth,
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
We choose to
open ourselves to what God offers to the world: to be a people of truth who exhibit
mercy, a people who seek what is right as a means of creating peace. This is our response to senselessness. It is to join God’s team, to march in the parade
God is leading, to sing in the chorus God conducts.
The Crucifixion. At Tuesday’s Evening Prayer from the
Northumbria Community we read the lyrics of a song by the English writer and
worship leader Godfrey Birtill. Consider
how what he sees in the cross differs from the senselessness of John’s death:
When I look at the blood
all I see is love, love, love.
When I stop at the cross
I can see the love of God.
But I can’t see competition.
I can’t see hierarchy.
I can’t see pride or prejudice
or the abuse of authority.
I can’t see lust for power.
I can’t see manipulation.
I can’t see rage or anger
or selfish ambition.
I can’t see unforgiveness.
I can’t see hate or envy.
I can’t see stupid fighting
or bitterness, or jealousy.
I can’t see empire building.
I can’t see self-importance.
I can’t see back-stabbing
or vanity or arrogance.
I see surrender, sacrifice, salvation,
humility, righteousness, faithfulness, grace, forgiveness,
love! Love … love…
When I stop! … at the cross
I can see the love of God.
This speaks powerfully to the difference between the
two deaths. Jesus’ death was redemptive,
John’s was senseless. Everything Birtill
says he can’t see when he looks at the Cross – abuse of power, manipulation,
selfish ambition, hate, envy, vanity, arrogance, etc. – are found in spades in
John’s death. The actions of Herod and
those around him make John’s death seem cruel and meaningless. Jesus’ death on the cross is cruel to be
sure, yet it becomes the clearest symbol possible of God’s love for the world.
In 2006 a man walked into a small Amish schoolhouse in
Lancaster, PA and took hostages, killing five and shooting another five before
taking his own life. Most don’t remember
his name, but we do remember how the Amish community reached out the killer’s
wife, children, and family. We remember
how they extended forgiveness and expressed compassion. We remember how they took something senseless
and transformed it into a symbol of God’s love.
This is how we choose to live and move and have our
being in this world… aligned with the salvation our Lord offers in order for
God’s glory to dwell in our land. May God
empower us to reflect God’s light in the darkness of these senseless times.
