Promises, Promises
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This week’s lectionary gospel text tells the lurid story of John the Baptist’s demise. John had been arrested and imprisoned for his vocal criticism of King Herod’s moral shortcomings -- but while Herod’s wife tried to convince her husband to have John executed, Herod was unwilling to carry out a death sentence. Not only was he intimidated by John’s holiness, but Mark also informs us that Herod “liked to listen” to John. Things get totally out of control for the monarch, however, when he celebrates his birthday by hosting a state dinner for Galilean bigwigs. In a scene immortalized as the “Dance of the Seven Veils” in Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé (and the popular Richard Strauss opera based on Wilde’s play), Herodias’ daughter entertains the gathered celebrities with a suggestive dance -- and a delighted Herod is so overwhelmed that he rashly promises the girl: “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it... even half of my kingdom.” The flustered girl turns to her mother for advice on what to request -- and sensing an opportunity, Herodias tells her to ask for John the Baptist’s head on a platter (literally). Herod is clearly nonplussed by the demand -- Mark tells us that “the king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her.”
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Mary Austin points out that Herod’s actions have a familiar ring to them. Strip away the grisly details, and what you get is someone who makes a promise that isn’t well thought out -- one that he probably expected he could ignore. When forced to follow through, Herod has an uncomfortable choice between losing face by reneging on his pledge or taking a troubling and distasteful course of action. As Mary notes, a similar dilemma confronts many of our politicians -- especially the rapidly expanding field of 2016 presidential candidates. In the course of their campaigns, candidates often make promises that are almost impossible to keep once they’re elected. When pressed by circumstances or their loyal supporters to follow through on their pledges, the typical response of our politicians is to ignore their previously stated positions -- it seems they have no “regard for [their] oaths.” But when backed into a corner, our leaders (and all of us in our own lives too) discover just how difficult it can be to live up to imprudent guarantees.
Team member Robin Lostetter shares some additional thoughts on Psalm 24 and the implied call for environmental stewardship embedded in its opening two verses. As Robin points out, that theme certainly resonates with Pope Francis, who brought our environmental responsibilities into clear focus recently with the release of his first encyclical -- calling “for a radical transformation of politics, economics, and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change.” The pope noted that “humanity's ‘reckless’ behavior has pushed the planet to a perilous ‘breaking point,’ ” and suggested that “every person living on this planet” should act urgently -- not only to preserve the earth but also because it is an issue of basic human rights.
Promises, Promises
by Mary Austin
Mark 6:14-29
The start of the 2016 presidential campaign has me thinking about promises. Candidates are promising to repeal Obamacare (Republicans), raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour (Bernie Sanders), regain control of the oil hubs held by ISIS in Iraq and Syria (Donald Trump), and restore the middle class (everyone). Campaigns are built around the things politicians promise to do -- and our willingness to believe them.
As King Herod finds out, some promises should never be made. Promises, once made, have a life of their own -- and keeping them costs more than we anticipate. Other pledges are impossible to keep. In politics, keeping promises is rarely up to just one person -- and sometimes the success of keeping a promise involves uncomfortable bargains with other people. King Herod reminds us of the cost of making a promise, and the pain of keeping it.
In the News
Politifact, a project of the Tampa Bay Times, reports on campaign promises made -- kept and broken. In the clear air of a campaign a candidate is free to make promises, unencumbered by pesky legislators who may or may not want to go along. Politifact reports that as a candidate in 2008 and 2012, President Obama promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (completed for him by the recent Supreme Court ruling on marriage), “crush Al Qaeda” (still working on it), reduce the backlog at the Veterans Administration (not yet), and work for net neutrality (supported by the recent FCC ruling).
Candidate Mitt Romney also made promises to the voters, including pledges to not raise taxes on the middle class, protect the sanctity of life, honor the institution of marriage, cut off funding for the United Nations Population Fund, and “reverse every single Obama regulation that attacks our religious liberty and threatens innocent life.”
Hopefuls for 2016 will make a series of promises too.
Some are so routine that we can make them ourselves. Every candidate vows to keep America strong, build up the middle class, and bring a bipartisan spirit to the gridlock in Washington, DC. Some candidates make exceptionally memorable claims. Donald Trump recently commented on immigrants from Mexico, and then found his ties with several corporations severed, including Univision -- the nation’s largest Spanish-language broadcaster. In response Trump took it up a notch, writing to the CEO of Univision with a new promise: “Please congratulate your Mexican government officials for having made such outstanding trade deals with the United States. However, inform them that should I become President, those days are over. We are bringing jobs back to the U.S. Also, a meaningful border will be immediately created, not the laughingstock that currently exists.”
Business Insider reports that Donald Trump is making the other Republican candidates nervous as he draws attention with his outspoken comments. With his polling numbers up he may earn a spot in the first Republican debate, to be held in August. “Donald Trump is like watching a roadside accident,” former George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer told Politico recently. “Everybody pulls over to see the mess. And Trump thinks that’s entertainment. But running for president is serious. And the risk for the party is he tarnishes everybody.”
The Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality will also lead to a surge of new promises being made, in more personal ways, as thousands of couples get married or make plans to do so. As NPR reports, these promises also have a ripple effect. Couples will have marriages recognized by all 50 states, and can change jobs and move to other states, file taxes more simply, and “no longer have to wonder about who’s their next of kin or in which state to file for Social Security benefits.” Companies also benefit from the simplicity of the new rules. “Things also got easier for human resource departments. No longer do companies have to juggle the different and frequently changing marriage laws around the country.”
Same-sex couples may have the same difficulties keeping their vows as any other married couple. New York magazine reports that “gay couples are at the start of a divorce boom. One reason is obvious: more couples are eligible.” As the article observes, when the promises fail there’s much more room for anger and misunderstanding: “Divorce, one lawyer tells me, ‘provides a forum with rules and guidelines to keep people from giving in to their very worst impulses.’ For gay couples, though, the byzantine chaos of current law can yield grotesque results. The problems arise from two main sources: differences among the states in their laws concerning gay relationships, and differences between the states and the federal government, thanks to the Defense of Marriage Act, in their treatment of taxes, pensions, inheritance, and other transfers that may figure in settlements. You needn’t be a ‘marriage tourist’ -- one of the many couples who trekked from jurisdiction to jurisdiction to wed repeatedly as marriage became legal in each -- to get caught in the flypaper.”
Promises are complicated things, with a life of their own, as they ripple out from individuals to touch wider and wider circles of people. They can be kept or broken -- and each has its own consequences.
In the Scriptures
The gospel of Mark recounts the death of John the Baptist in a flashback. John’s death inaugurates the ministry of Jesus, as John came first as a charismatic spiritual leader. Here, the power of John -- prophet, storyteller, baptizer, truth-teller -- meets the power of Herod -- ruler, commander of men, maker of his own rules. John’s power, as with all representatives of God, is not a match for the rules of the world, at least in the short term. There is no “go along to get along” in John’s makeup, and he has a dangerous enemy in Herod’s wife, Herodias. John’s judgment of her marriage makes her angry, and Herod has John arrested to placate her. However, Herod spares John’s life, as the story says, “for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.” Herod is intrigued and puzzled by John and likes to listen to him, which suggests that they have had a number of conversations while John is in Herod’s prison. Does Herod ask for John to be brought out of his cell and into his presence when he needs a word of wisdom, or an interesting conversation on a slow day?
Herod is from a violent family, accustomed to killing, but he hesitates before having John killed. His respect for John as a holy man makes him pause, but saving face before his guests -- and, no doubt, his wife -- prods him to go ahead.
Blogger Rick Morley poses the question of why Mark tells this story. As he observes, “Mark doesn’t say anything about Jesus’ birth or give a resurrection account... but we get an extended section on Herod and John? Mark’s gospel is so short and to the point, but we get intricate details of Herod’s marital situation and birthday party?” He adds, “Mark [is] a short telling of the gospel of Jesus written for a people scared and persecuted. Jerusalem had either just fallen or was about to, and Mark’s people were frightened beyond words.... There is always the danger in religious circles to think that if you’re on God’s Team then everything will be great. You’ll be healthy, wealthy, and wise. God will heal every disease and conquer every foe. Well... not if you’re John the Baptist. If you’re John you’ll be the victim of an immature girl and an impotent puppet ruler, and your head will be served on a platter.... Even the very best of us can be victim to the very worst, and sometimes even to the very worst in other people.” Even so, Morley concludes, we, like the John the Baptist, belong to God and have a purpose in God’s world.
John’s death points ahead to the death of Jesus, who will also run afoul of powerful people with his own version of the truth. The Christian faith, built on the model of death and resurrection, calls all of us to our own death -- to the death of the old, so that the new can be born.
In the Sermon
The sermon could examine the question of promises -- what we promise when we marry someone or have a child or take a job. Some promises are spelled out -- marriage vows or a job contract. Others are unspoken -- the work of raising a child or caring for a parent. Are we allowed to change our promises as life changes? Every marriage that lasts evolves as the partners change, and the contract of caring for a child shifts as the child grows and needs different things. Different workplaces expect different things, although most of that is an unspoken part of the company culture. Ministers make promises in ordination, as do attorneys when they join the bar. What promises operate in each of our lives?
Or the sermon might look at the question of power -- how flimsy our spiritual power sometimes seems in the face of the world’s power to do harm. A biology teacher once told me that caffeine is “slow-acting and long-lasting,” and it seems that the power of God works the same way. We only know Herod’s name because of his connection with John the Baptist, as part of the story of Jesus. John’s influence has lasted longer, but it didn’t help him much in the short term. How do we interact with the powers of the world? How do they shape us, and how do we hold out against them?
Or the sermon might look at the place of people who tell us the painful truth. We all have people who are uncomfortable to be around because they point out our mistakes or nag us to do things we would rather avoid. Other people are difficult mirrors for us, reminding us of parts of ourselves that we don’t like. Or their mistakes evoke our own poor choices. All kinds of people bring us the truth about ourselves, and about the weaknesses in our lives. How do we live with, listen to, or avoid the people who bring us the truth?
Blogger Janet Hunt sees John as a witness -- to the truth about Herod’s life, and “also the larger truth about the importance of repentance in our lives and the even larger truth that was shared through his entire life as he pointed always to Jesus, ‘the thongs of whose sandals he wasn’t worthy to untie.’ ” She suggests that Herod continued to be affected by John as the ministry of Jesus began to spread. She writes that Herod “[continued] to be haunted by John. For at the beginning of this week’s gospel we hear that Herod has taken note of the amazing ministry of Jesus’ disciples. And Herod is certain that even though he received the certain evidence of John’s death, somehow he ties to the witness of John and he’s convinced John is back.” The sermon might look at the people who are witnesses for us, and how their influence continues to work in our own lives.
The sermon might also look at how we get part of the way toward God and then falter. Herod knows enough to listen to John and to take him seriously. But when the moment to make a choice comes, he can’t commit himself all the way. He’s intrigued by John’s message, but he doesn’t have the courage or the willpower to take the last step. Our faith is often similar -- we’re happy to go to church, to give some money, even to be involved. But when real inconvenience comes, we balk at the cost.
Promises and power touch all of our lives -- and John’s story invites us to look at them again and to find God’s place in our own promises. Whether we keep them or break them, we find the presence of God along the way.
SECOND THOUGHTS
The Pope’s Environmental Encyclical
by Robin Lostetter
Psalm 24
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers (Psalm 24:1-2).
Pope Francis’ first and highly anticipated encyclical, Laudato Si (Praise Be to You), was released on June 18, 2015. Unfortunately for all concerned, June 18 was the day that the news broke about the shooting of nine innocent people at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina the night before. The shooting and repercussions in its aftermath dominated the news for weeks, overshadowing the Pope’s encyclical.
For those preachers who have wanted to raise the issues in Laudato Si, this Sunday’s Psalm 24 offers just such an opportunity. Beginning with the premise in those two verses that all the earth and the creatures and humans who live in it belong to God and not to humans, paired with the Genesis affirmation that God said all this creation was very good, one can link to the Pope’s biblical basis. From the New York Times article about the encyclical:
“The basic idea is, in order to love God, you have to love your fellow human beings, and you have to love and care for the rest of creation,” said Vincent Miller, who holds a chair in Catholic theology and culture at the University of Dayton, a Catholic college in Ohio. It gives Francis a very traditional basis to argue for the inclusion of environmental concern at the center of Christian faith.
He added: “Critics will say the church can’t teach policy, the church can’t teach politics. And Francis is saying, ‘No, these things are at the core of the church’s teaching.’ ”
The pope begins the encyclical with a hymn by St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment. He used the Book of Genesis to underpin his theological argument. But in a passage certain to rankle some Christians, he chastises those who cite Genesis as evidence that man has “dominion” over the earth that justifies practices like mountaintop mining or fishing with gill nets.
“This is not a correct interpretation of the Bible as understood by the Church,” Francis writes. The Bible teaches human beings to “till and keep” the garden of the world, he says. “ ‘Tilling’ refers to cultivating, plowing, or working, while ‘keeping’ means caring, protecting, overseeing, and preserving.”
With this biblical understanding, the pope explicitly grounded his call for a “revolution” in Christian theology, noting that “humanity’s ‘reckless’ behavior has pushed the planet to a perilous ‘breaking point.’ ”
Linking not only climate change but other aspects of environmental degradation to human action amounts to taking a courageous political stand. However, the pope sees it not as a political concern so much as a spiritual one: “A huge indictment I see in this encyclical is that people have lost their sense of ultimate and proper goals of technology and economics,” said Christiana Z. Peppard, an assistant professor of theology, science, and ethics at Fordham University in New York. “We are focused on short-term, consumerist patterns.”
And, the New York Times points out, although “encyclicals are letters to the clergy and laity of the church that are considered authoritative [and] Catholics are expected to try to sincerely embrace their teachings... more specific assertions in them can be categorized as ‘prudential judgments’ ” -- which makes them fair game for those politicians and church leaders who disagree that:
a) climate change is anthropogenic, and
b) the Church has any business making statements about public policy.
Still, for those of us who see social justice as one aspect of following in Jesus’ footsteps, it is a theological stance to state that “central to Francis’ theme is the link between poverty and the planet’s fragility.” And from this position, his encyclical calls “for a radical transformation of politics, economics, and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change.”
According to the pope, the reason “every person living on this planet” should act is not merely to preserve the earth but rather because it is an issue of basic human rights.
An article in Slate outlining public reaction to the encyclical includes these words:
In the rush to politicize Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, most media outlets focused on the reactions of two high-profile conservative American Catholics: Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. While it’s true that U.S. Republicans are absolutely critical for truly bold global action on climate, they’re not who the pope was primarily talking to.
Instead, liberal Americans within the Catholic tradition -- especially those who may sometimes think they’re already doing a pretty good job living green -- are the ones to watch. Without their enthusiastic support, Francis’ inspiring sermon against a “throwaway culture” may fizzle -- at the very moment when it could inspire real change.
But the road ahead for the church’s progressive wing won’t be easy. The pope repudiates the slow, iterative approach that’s allowed climate change to escalate decades after the basic consequences were first widely known. In his message, the pope called for a complete “rethink” of humanity’s relationship to the environment, warning that “halfway measures simply delay the inevitable disaster.” When it comes to climate change, we simply don’t have that much time. Only a truly radical response -- like a global activist movement demanding a revolution in the way our society operates -- may give us enough wiggle room to escape the worst climate impacts. With the pope’s blessing, the Catholic Church’s liberal wing may be primed to lead such a movement -- or not.
“It’s a game-changing moment for the church,” said Matt Malone, a Jesuit priest and editor in chief of America, a weekly Jesuit magazine. By framing the environment as a core Catholic advocacy issue, “the highest teaching authority in the church is saying this is now a priority.”
The Washington Post speculated that the pope’s message may ring especially hollow in the United States, because the pope’s environmental ethic of “communitarianism” -- a “we’re all in it together” mentality -- cuts to the core of American individualism.
Yet, while the pope received significant pushback for his tough talk on human responsibility for pollution and global warming from climate change skeptics (particularly, as noted above, Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio -- both Catholic), for environmental activists like Bill McKibben the pope’s encyclical has “given everyone their marching orders.”
What about us? Are we ready to join the pope and take up the cause? Or will we continue to ignore the signs around us, like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water?
Those signs include the incredible damage done by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, for which BP has just agreed to pay a costly sum of $18.7 billion over 18 years. This sum satisfies only the claims from government agencies, from local to federal -- private claims are not included. Another sign is the increasing frequency of dangerous oil and chemical spills from transporting fuel either by pipeline or by rail. And for those watching the climate itself, we might want to take notice that about three months ago a record high temperature was recorded in Antarctica.
For those who believe “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it,” the pope’s encyclical is a clarion call to faithfulness for all Christians concerned with the earth and its creatures. May our voices join those of the secular environmental movement to give it spiritual grounding and expand its influence.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Chris Keating:
Mark 6:14-29
Pants on Fire
As a political ruler, Herod’s wild statements and promises came back to haunt him. Despite his respect for John (Mark 6:20), Herod was forced to carry out a promise to have him beheaded. According to PolitiFact (the Tampa Bay Times’ fact-checking website), lots of politicians make outrageous statements -- including promises that may come back to haunt them. Check out PolitiFact’s “Truth-O-Meter” recent ratings, as well as their various, bipartisan “pants on fire” award winners:
* Donald Trump: “[H]undreds of thousands (of illegal immigrants are) going to state and federal penitentiaries.” Truth-O-Meter says: “mostly false.” (There’s no reported data on these numbers, but experts say undocumented immigrants are not likely to be committing crimes at rates higher than other population groups.)
* Jeb Bush: Made the claim that his release of 33 years of tax returns was more than any candidate in recent history. Truth-O-Meter says: “true.”
* Hillary Clinton: “American schools are more segregated than they were in the 1960s.” Truth-O-Meter verdict: “mostly true.”
* Republican congressional leaders’ promise to cut Congressional budget: “promise kept.”
*****
Mark 6:14-29
What Sort of Promises Do You Keep?
In a brilliant passage from John Green’s The Fault in our Stars, teenage cancer patients Hazel Grace and Isaac discuss the meaning of promises, which takes on new meaning following Isaac’s breakup with his girlfriend:
“Sometimes people just don’t understand the promises they’re making when they make them,” I said.
Isaac shot me a look. “Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That’s what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway. Don’t you believe in true love?” (p. 61)
*****
Psalm 24
The Earth Is the Lord’s... Or Is It?
According to a piece in the Washington Post, response to the pope’s recent encyclical on climate change has been varied. Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter and a longtime Vatican observer, suggested that the encyclical pushes the environmental movement into the mainstream. “They can no longer be denigrated as tree-huggers and Gia worshipers,” Reece noted.
Rush Limbaugh, perhaps not surprisingly, saw it in a different light: “Essentially what this papal encyclical is saying is that every Catholic should vote for the Democrat Party. How else do you interpret it when the pope comes out and sounds like Al Gore on global warming and climate change?”
Anthony Annett, climate change advisor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, saw the teaching as revolutionary: “Very few people view the environment as a moral issue. This encyclical hopefully has a chance to change that. Have you ever in your life seen such interest in an obscure document? It’s stunning. It’s remarkable. I don’t think people are going to pick it up and say, ‘Been there, done that.’ ”
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From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Mark 6:14-29
How to Handle Making Promises
Writing for Psychology Today in 2010, former CBS national news anchor and wellness expert Michelle Gielan reminds readers that breaking even small promises can fracture a relationship. She recommends that we examine our promise-making and promise-keeping with these four questions:
1. What is my motivation behind the promise? Why am I making a particular commitment? What is my intention? Am I doing this for the recipient or for myself? Knowing what we expect to receive as a result of keeping the promise may help us decide whether we should make it in the first place.
2. Am I being realistic? In the age of multitasking and over-commitment, we need to check our schedule before we make a promise. It’s better to be under-committed and keep our promises than to be over-committed and break them.
3. Is it crucial for me to make this promise? There is nothing in life that says you must make promises to others. We all can’t stand the boss who looks us in the eyes and commits to something she can’t or won’t deliver. Don’t be that person! Be honest if you’re not sure.
4. When I break a promise, do I handle it well? Life has a way of intruding unexpectedly on our promises. It happens to everyone. But when it happens to us, do we let the person to whom we have made the promise know with plenty of lead time so they can make other arrangements? How we break promises often says as much about us as how we keep them.
*****
Mark 6:14-29
Ten Boldest Presidential Promises
The RealClearPolitics website offers this list of the ten boldest presidential promises made in recent history:
1. Universal Healthcare; Harry Truman, 1945: “Everyone should have ready access to all necessary medical, hospital, and related services.”
2. Interstate Highway System; Dwight Eisenhower, 1955: “Our unity as a nation is sustained by free communication of thought and by easy transportation of people and goods.”
3. Man on the Moon; John F. Kennedy, 1961: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”
4. Elimination of Poverty; Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964: “This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.”
5. Cure Cancer; Richard M. Nixon, 1971: “I will also ask for an appropriation of an extra $100 million to launch an intensive campaign to find a cure for cancer...”
6. End Dependence on Foreign Oil; Jimmy Carter, 1978: “Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 -- never.”
7. Strategic Defense Initiative; Ronald Regan, 1983: “I call upon the scientific community in our country... to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.”
8. Eradicate Illegal Drugs; George H.W. Bush, 1983: “There are few clear areas in which we as a society must rise up united and express our intolerance. The most obvious now is drugs.”
9. Hydrogen Cars; George W. Bush, 1989: “With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles... so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen and pollution-free.”
10. Man on Mars; George W. Bush, 2004: “With the experience and knowledge gained on the moon, we will then be ready to take the next steps of space exploration -- human missions to Mars and to worlds beyond.”
*****
Mark 6:14-29
A Ponzi Scheme Is Not a Promise
Thanks to Bernie Madoff, most of us have now heard about a confidence game called the Ponzi scheme. It was first created by a small-time con artist named Charles Ponzi who used the ploy in the early 20th century. It works like this: a schemer promises investors great returns, but instead of investing their money he keeps some for himself and uses the funds from new investments to pay off earlier investors.
Bernie Madoff didn’t invent the scheme, but he probably used it more successfully than anyone in history. In 2008, he confessed to having over the course of a decade conned about $50 billion from investors who trusted him with their savings. Usually the scam falls apart quickly because it requires the schemer to constantly find more and more investors. Madoff’s confession was also shocking because, as a former chairman of NASDAQ, he had been an accomplished and respected expert in the financial field.
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From team member Ron Love:
Mark 6:14-29
Statistician Hans Rosling is recognized for his contribution to advancing public health in Africa through his use of statistics to change people’s perception of health problems and how they can be resolved. Rosling says of his work, “I am not an optimist.” Rather, he would like to be defined as a “possibilist.”
John the Baptist may not have been very optimistic in his present situation, but he fully understood the possibilities of Jesus’ ministry.
*****
Mark 6:14-29
In May 2012, Time magazine devoted a special double issue to the 100 individuals they considered to be the most influential in society. Managing editor Rick Stengel opened the issue with a commentary in which he noted that the word influence “originates from the medieval idea that a magical liquid emanates from the stars to influence our actions on earth.” He stated that today influence comes “from the magical ability of technology and social media to overcome time and distance and reorder our perceptions.”
John the Baptist gave us another kind of influence, one which can only come from faith.
*****
Mark 6:14-29
Matt Lauer, the host of NBC’s Today show, outlined his working day. He is up at 4:10 a.m. Once he is at the office at 4:50, he reviews the news events of the day and the notes provided for him by the show’s producers. At 6:30 he takes his seat at the anchor desk, referring to it as “home base,” for that is where the show begins. When the Today show goes on the air at 7:00, Lauer writes, “The show begins. It’s live, there’s no looking back. There are no second chances!”
John the Baptist knew that his telecast was live and that there were no second chances, no looking back as his decision to confront and witness was final. John also knew that the news of his faith would transform the Christian community.
*****
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
The Great Sphinx of Giza is the oldest monumental sculpture on earth. Built in 2500 B.C., it is also the largest monumental sculpture, as it is 241 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 66 feet high. The purpose of the Great Sphinx was for solar worship. The body, which is that of a lion, was associated with the sun. The head, which is of a man, represents Pharaoh, who would keep the citizens of Giza safe. The Great Sphinx still stands as a tribute to architecture and a representation of idol worship -- but after 4,500 years it is still void of spiritual power.
King David called the people of Israel to worship something much more simple but ever greater -- the Ark of the Covenant. He called the people to worship the Lord who resides there. This is the same Lord who equally resides in the temple of the human body, in our own souls.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: The earth is God’s and all that is in it.
People: The world is God’s and those who live in it;
Leader: Who shall ascend the hill of God?
People: And who shall stand in God’s holy place?
Leader: Those who have clean hands and pure hearts.
People: They will receive blessing from God.
OR
Leader: The God of faithfulness calls us to wholeness.
People: We are broken and desire to be made whole.
Leader: There can be no wholeness without integrity.
People: We desire to become that which God created us to be.
Leader: Live in the truth of God and the truth of who you are.
People: With God’s help, we will live in truth.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“All My Hope Is Firmly Grounded”
found in:
UMH: 132
H82: 665
NCH: 408
CH: 88
ELA: 757
“How Great Thou Art”
found in:
UMH: 77
PH: 467
AAHH: 148
NNBH: 43
NCH: 35
CH: 33
LBW: 532
ELA: 858
W&P: 51
AMEC: 68
Renew: 250
“Standing on the Promises”
found in:
UMH: 374
AAHH: 373
NNBH: 257
CH: 553
AMEC: 424
“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”
found in:
UMH: 133
AAHH: 371
NNBH: 262
NCH: 471
CH: 560
ELA: 774
W&P: 496
AMEC: 526
“A Charge to Keep I Have”
found in:
UMH: 413
AAHH: 467, 468
NNBH: 436
ELA: 34
AMEC: 212
“Be Thou My Vision”
found in:
UMH: 451
H82: 488
PH: 339
NCH: 451
CH: 596
ELA: 793
W&P: 502
AMEC: 281
STLT: 20
Renew: 151
“Trust and Obey”
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 556
W&P: 443
AMEC: 377
“Blessed Jesus, at Thy Word”
found in:
UMH: 596
H82: 440
PH: 450
LBW: 248
Renew: 93
“How Majestic Is Your Name”
found in:
CCB: 21
Renew: 98
“You Are”
found in:
CCB: 23
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who keeps steadfastly true in promise: Grant to us, your children, the grace to be faithful to you and to those around us, so that we may bring honor to you and your way; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for your steadfastness in truth. We bless you, for you are the one in which we can always place our trust. Fill us with your grace that we may find ourselves to be faithful as well. Help us to be trustworthy neighbors who bring honor to you and your way of salvation. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to be true to our promises.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have forsaken integrity and steadfastness. We treat promises as nothing more than bargaining chips which can be discarded when they no longer are helpful to us. We complain about politicians, businesspeople, and others who promise things they cannot deliver, but we are no different. We make promises without thinking of their consequences or whether or not we can ever keep them. Forgive us our faithless ways and call us back to you, the God of truth. So fill us with your Spirit that we may stand as people of honesty and trust. Amen.
Leader: God is faithful and true. God desires us to grow into the image in which we were created. Receive God’s Spirit and grace, and become true children of God.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
Faithful and true are you, O God, our salvation for ever and ever.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have forsaken integrity and steadfastness. We treat promises as nothing more than bargaining chips which can be discarded when they no longer are helpful to us. We complain about politicians, businesspeople, and others who promise things they cannot deliver, but we are no different. We make promises without thinking of their consequences or whether or not we can ever keep them. Forgive us our faithless ways and call us back to you, the God of truth. So fill us with your Spirit that we may stand as people of honesty and trust.
We give you thanks for your faithfulness, which supports us during all the changes around us. Your promises are true and your love is never-ending. We thank you for those who have allowed your faithfulness to fill their lives and make them faithful to us and to others.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need, and especially for those who feel they have no one that they can trust. Help us to be faithful disciples of Jesus who share your grace with all our neighbors.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Tell the children the story of the boy who cried “wolf” or some other story where not telling the truth brought about bad consequences. Talk to the children about how we can always trust God -- and since we are God’s children, people should always be able to trust us.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Promises to Keep
by Dean Feldmeyer
Mark 6:14-29
Items needed:
a copy of the Robert Frost poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”;
one of the many pictures you can find when you enter the poem’s title as an image search on an internet search engine
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-- from The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem
(Distribute copies of the picture, one to each child, or display the picture on a projection screen.) I have a poem I’d like to share with you this morning. Many of your parents and grandparents have heard it before, and many people think of it as one of their favorite poems. It’s by a poet named Robert Frost, and it tells a story about one time when he was traveling by horse when it was snowing and he stopped to look at the woods. (Read the poem.)
The poet says that the only reason he stopped was to watch the woods fill up with snow. It must have been very pretty, huh? Kind of quiet and peaceful too, I bet.
He’s sitting there, watching it snow and enjoying the quiet, but his horse gets impatient. He says, “My little horse must think it queer to stop with a farmhouse near.” And then, “He gives his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake.” He realizes that his horse is right. He can’t sit there too long watching it snow, can he?
Why not?
Well, he gives two reasons. One is that he has a long way to go to get home, so he’d better get going. And the other reason is that he has promises to keep.
He has promises to keep. Interesting, huh? He can’t just do what he wants to do -- watch the pretty woods filling with snow -- because he has made some promises and he has to keep them. His promises are important to him, and he intends to keep his word.
Has anyone ever made a promise to you? Have you ever made a promise to someone else? When we make promises we are expected to keep them, aren’t we? And we expect people who make promises to us to keep their promises, don’t we?
In our Bible story today King Herod made a stupid promise, one he didn’t want to keep. But once his promise was made, he knew he had to keep it or everyone would know that he was a person who didn’t keep promises. One of the things that this Bible story reminds us is that promises are important -- and because we should always keep our promises, we should be careful about the ones we make.
Thank you for sharing with me this morning.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 12, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Mary Austin points out that Herod’s actions have a familiar ring to them. Strip away the grisly details, and what you get is someone who makes a promise that isn’t well thought out -- one that he probably expected he could ignore. When forced to follow through, Herod has an uncomfortable choice between losing face by reneging on his pledge or taking a troubling and distasteful course of action. As Mary notes, a similar dilemma confronts many of our politicians -- especially the rapidly expanding field of 2016 presidential candidates. In the course of their campaigns, candidates often make promises that are almost impossible to keep once they’re elected. When pressed by circumstances or their loyal supporters to follow through on their pledges, the typical response of our politicians is to ignore their previously stated positions -- it seems they have no “regard for [their] oaths.” But when backed into a corner, our leaders (and all of us in our own lives too) discover just how difficult it can be to live up to imprudent guarantees.
Team member Robin Lostetter shares some additional thoughts on Psalm 24 and the implied call for environmental stewardship embedded in its opening two verses. As Robin points out, that theme certainly resonates with Pope Francis, who brought our environmental responsibilities into clear focus recently with the release of his first encyclical -- calling “for a radical transformation of politics, economics, and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change.” The pope noted that “humanity's ‘reckless’ behavior has pushed the planet to a perilous ‘breaking point,’ ” and suggested that “every person living on this planet” should act urgently -- not only to preserve the earth but also because it is an issue of basic human rights.
Promises, Promises
by Mary Austin
Mark 6:14-29
The start of the 2016 presidential campaign has me thinking about promises. Candidates are promising to repeal Obamacare (Republicans), raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour (Bernie Sanders), regain control of the oil hubs held by ISIS in Iraq and Syria (Donald Trump), and restore the middle class (everyone). Campaigns are built around the things politicians promise to do -- and our willingness to believe them.
As King Herod finds out, some promises should never be made. Promises, once made, have a life of their own -- and keeping them costs more than we anticipate. Other pledges are impossible to keep. In politics, keeping promises is rarely up to just one person -- and sometimes the success of keeping a promise involves uncomfortable bargains with other people. King Herod reminds us of the cost of making a promise, and the pain of keeping it.
In the News
Politifact, a project of the Tampa Bay Times, reports on campaign promises made -- kept and broken. In the clear air of a campaign a candidate is free to make promises, unencumbered by pesky legislators who may or may not want to go along. Politifact reports that as a candidate in 2008 and 2012, President Obama promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (completed for him by the recent Supreme Court ruling on marriage), “crush Al Qaeda” (still working on it), reduce the backlog at the Veterans Administration (not yet), and work for net neutrality (supported by the recent FCC ruling).
Candidate Mitt Romney also made promises to the voters, including pledges to not raise taxes on the middle class, protect the sanctity of life, honor the institution of marriage, cut off funding for the United Nations Population Fund, and “reverse every single Obama regulation that attacks our religious liberty and threatens innocent life.”
Hopefuls for 2016 will make a series of promises too.
Some are so routine that we can make them ourselves. Every candidate vows to keep America strong, build up the middle class, and bring a bipartisan spirit to the gridlock in Washington, DC. Some candidates make exceptionally memorable claims. Donald Trump recently commented on immigrants from Mexico, and then found his ties with several corporations severed, including Univision -- the nation’s largest Spanish-language broadcaster. In response Trump took it up a notch, writing to the CEO of Univision with a new promise: “Please congratulate your Mexican government officials for having made such outstanding trade deals with the United States. However, inform them that should I become President, those days are over. We are bringing jobs back to the U.S. Also, a meaningful border will be immediately created, not the laughingstock that currently exists.”
Business Insider reports that Donald Trump is making the other Republican candidates nervous as he draws attention with his outspoken comments. With his polling numbers up he may earn a spot in the first Republican debate, to be held in August. “Donald Trump is like watching a roadside accident,” former George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer told Politico recently. “Everybody pulls over to see the mess. And Trump thinks that’s entertainment. But running for president is serious. And the risk for the party is he tarnishes everybody.”
The Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality will also lead to a surge of new promises being made, in more personal ways, as thousands of couples get married or make plans to do so. As NPR reports, these promises also have a ripple effect. Couples will have marriages recognized by all 50 states, and can change jobs and move to other states, file taxes more simply, and “no longer have to wonder about who’s their next of kin or in which state to file for Social Security benefits.” Companies also benefit from the simplicity of the new rules. “Things also got easier for human resource departments. No longer do companies have to juggle the different and frequently changing marriage laws around the country.”
Same-sex couples may have the same difficulties keeping their vows as any other married couple. New York magazine reports that “gay couples are at the start of a divorce boom. One reason is obvious: more couples are eligible.” As the article observes, when the promises fail there’s much more room for anger and misunderstanding: “Divorce, one lawyer tells me, ‘provides a forum with rules and guidelines to keep people from giving in to their very worst impulses.’ For gay couples, though, the byzantine chaos of current law can yield grotesque results. The problems arise from two main sources: differences among the states in their laws concerning gay relationships, and differences between the states and the federal government, thanks to the Defense of Marriage Act, in their treatment of taxes, pensions, inheritance, and other transfers that may figure in settlements. You needn’t be a ‘marriage tourist’ -- one of the many couples who trekked from jurisdiction to jurisdiction to wed repeatedly as marriage became legal in each -- to get caught in the flypaper.”
Promises are complicated things, with a life of their own, as they ripple out from individuals to touch wider and wider circles of people. They can be kept or broken -- and each has its own consequences.
In the Scriptures
The gospel of Mark recounts the death of John the Baptist in a flashback. John’s death inaugurates the ministry of Jesus, as John came first as a charismatic spiritual leader. Here, the power of John -- prophet, storyteller, baptizer, truth-teller -- meets the power of Herod -- ruler, commander of men, maker of his own rules. John’s power, as with all representatives of God, is not a match for the rules of the world, at least in the short term. There is no “go along to get along” in John’s makeup, and he has a dangerous enemy in Herod’s wife, Herodias. John’s judgment of her marriage makes her angry, and Herod has John arrested to placate her. However, Herod spares John’s life, as the story says, “for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.” Herod is intrigued and puzzled by John and likes to listen to him, which suggests that they have had a number of conversations while John is in Herod’s prison. Does Herod ask for John to be brought out of his cell and into his presence when he needs a word of wisdom, or an interesting conversation on a slow day?
Herod is from a violent family, accustomed to killing, but he hesitates before having John killed. His respect for John as a holy man makes him pause, but saving face before his guests -- and, no doubt, his wife -- prods him to go ahead.
Blogger Rick Morley poses the question of why Mark tells this story. As he observes, “Mark doesn’t say anything about Jesus’ birth or give a resurrection account... but we get an extended section on Herod and John? Mark’s gospel is so short and to the point, but we get intricate details of Herod’s marital situation and birthday party?” He adds, “Mark [is] a short telling of the gospel of Jesus written for a people scared and persecuted. Jerusalem had either just fallen or was about to, and Mark’s people were frightened beyond words.... There is always the danger in religious circles to think that if you’re on God’s Team then everything will be great. You’ll be healthy, wealthy, and wise. God will heal every disease and conquer every foe. Well... not if you’re John the Baptist. If you’re John you’ll be the victim of an immature girl and an impotent puppet ruler, and your head will be served on a platter.... Even the very best of us can be victim to the very worst, and sometimes even to the very worst in other people.” Even so, Morley concludes, we, like the John the Baptist, belong to God and have a purpose in God’s world.
John’s death points ahead to the death of Jesus, who will also run afoul of powerful people with his own version of the truth. The Christian faith, built on the model of death and resurrection, calls all of us to our own death -- to the death of the old, so that the new can be born.
In the Sermon
The sermon could examine the question of promises -- what we promise when we marry someone or have a child or take a job. Some promises are spelled out -- marriage vows or a job contract. Others are unspoken -- the work of raising a child or caring for a parent. Are we allowed to change our promises as life changes? Every marriage that lasts evolves as the partners change, and the contract of caring for a child shifts as the child grows and needs different things. Different workplaces expect different things, although most of that is an unspoken part of the company culture. Ministers make promises in ordination, as do attorneys when they join the bar. What promises operate in each of our lives?
Or the sermon might look at the question of power -- how flimsy our spiritual power sometimes seems in the face of the world’s power to do harm. A biology teacher once told me that caffeine is “slow-acting and long-lasting,” and it seems that the power of God works the same way. We only know Herod’s name because of his connection with John the Baptist, as part of the story of Jesus. John’s influence has lasted longer, but it didn’t help him much in the short term. How do we interact with the powers of the world? How do they shape us, and how do we hold out against them?
Or the sermon might look at the place of people who tell us the painful truth. We all have people who are uncomfortable to be around because they point out our mistakes or nag us to do things we would rather avoid. Other people are difficult mirrors for us, reminding us of parts of ourselves that we don’t like. Or their mistakes evoke our own poor choices. All kinds of people bring us the truth about ourselves, and about the weaknesses in our lives. How do we live with, listen to, or avoid the people who bring us the truth?
Blogger Janet Hunt sees John as a witness -- to the truth about Herod’s life, and “also the larger truth about the importance of repentance in our lives and the even larger truth that was shared through his entire life as he pointed always to Jesus, ‘the thongs of whose sandals he wasn’t worthy to untie.’ ” She suggests that Herod continued to be affected by John as the ministry of Jesus began to spread. She writes that Herod “[continued] to be haunted by John. For at the beginning of this week’s gospel we hear that Herod has taken note of the amazing ministry of Jesus’ disciples. And Herod is certain that even though he received the certain evidence of John’s death, somehow he ties to the witness of John and he’s convinced John is back.” The sermon might look at the people who are witnesses for us, and how their influence continues to work in our own lives.
The sermon might also look at how we get part of the way toward God and then falter. Herod knows enough to listen to John and to take him seriously. But when the moment to make a choice comes, he can’t commit himself all the way. He’s intrigued by John’s message, but he doesn’t have the courage or the willpower to take the last step. Our faith is often similar -- we’re happy to go to church, to give some money, even to be involved. But when real inconvenience comes, we balk at the cost.
Promises and power touch all of our lives -- and John’s story invites us to look at them again and to find God’s place in our own promises. Whether we keep them or break them, we find the presence of God along the way.
SECOND THOUGHTS
The Pope’s Environmental Encyclical
by Robin Lostetter
Psalm 24
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers (Psalm 24:1-2).
Pope Francis’ first and highly anticipated encyclical, Laudato Si (Praise Be to You), was released on June 18, 2015. Unfortunately for all concerned, June 18 was the day that the news broke about the shooting of nine innocent people at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina the night before. The shooting and repercussions in its aftermath dominated the news for weeks, overshadowing the Pope’s encyclical.
For those preachers who have wanted to raise the issues in Laudato Si, this Sunday’s Psalm 24 offers just such an opportunity. Beginning with the premise in those two verses that all the earth and the creatures and humans who live in it belong to God and not to humans, paired with the Genesis affirmation that God said all this creation was very good, one can link to the Pope’s biblical basis. From the New York Times article about the encyclical:
“The basic idea is, in order to love God, you have to love your fellow human beings, and you have to love and care for the rest of creation,” said Vincent Miller, who holds a chair in Catholic theology and culture at the University of Dayton, a Catholic college in Ohio. It gives Francis a very traditional basis to argue for the inclusion of environmental concern at the center of Christian faith.
He added: “Critics will say the church can’t teach policy, the church can’t teach politics. And Francis is saying, ‘No, these things are at the core of the church’s teaching.’ ”
The pope begins the encyclical with a hymn by St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment. He used the Book of Genesis to underpin his theological argument. But in a passage certain to rankle some Christians, he chastises those who cite Genesis as evidence that man has “dominion” over the earth that justifies practices like mountaintop mining or fishing with gill nets.
“This is not a correct interpretation of the Bible as understood by the Church,” Francis writes. The Bible teaches human beings to “till and keep” the garden of the world, he says. “ ‘Tilling’ refers to cultivating, plowing, or working, while ‘keeping’ means caring, protecting, overseeing, and preserving.”
With this biblical understanding, the pope explicitly grounded his call for a “revolution” in Christian theology, noting that “humanity’s ‘reckless’ behavior has pushed the planet to a perilous ‘breaking point.’ ”
Linking not only climate change but other aspects of environmental degradation to human action amounts to taking a courageous political stand. However, the pope sees it not as a political concern so much as a spiritual one: “A huge indictment I see in this encyclical is that people have lost their sense of ultimate and proper goals of technology and economics,” said Christiana Z. Peppard, an assistant professor of theology, science, and ethics at Fordham University in New York. “We are focused on short-term, consumerist patterns.”
And, the New York Times points out, although “encyclicals are letters to the clergy and laity of the church that are considered authoritative [and] Catholics are expected to try to sincerely embrace their teachings... more specific assertions in them can be categorized as ‘prudential judgments’ ” -- which makes them fair game for those politicians and church leaders who disagree that:
a) climate change is anthropogenic, and
b) the Church has any business making statements about public policy.
Still, for those of us who see social justice as one aspect of following in Jesus’ footsteps, it is a theological stance to state that “central to Francis’ theme is the link between poverty and the planet’s fragility.” And from this position, his encyclical calls “for a radical transformation of politics, economics, and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change.”
According to the pope, the reason “every person living on this planet” should act is not merely to preserve the earth but rather because it is an issue of basic human rights.
An article in Slate outlining public reaction to the encyclical includes these words:
In the rush to politicize Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, most media outlets focused on the reactions of two high-profile conservative American Catholics: Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. While it’s true that U.S. Republicans are absolutely critical for truly bold global action on climate, they’re not who the pope was primarily talking to.
Instead, liberal Americans within the Catholic tradition -- especially those who may sometimes think they’re already doing a pretty good job living green -- are the ones to watch. Without their enthusiastic support, Francis’ inspiring sermon against a “throwaway culture” may fizzle -- at the very moment when it could inspire real change.
But the road ahead for the church’s progressive wing won’t be easy. The pope repudiates the slow, iterative approach that’s allowed climate change to escalate decades after the basic consequences were first widely known. In his message, the pope called for a complete “rethink” of humanity’s relationship to the environment, warning that “halfway measures simply delay the inevitable disaster.” When it comes to climate change, we simply don’t have that much time. Only a truly radical response -- like a global activist movement demanding a revolution in the way our society operates -- may give us enough wiggle room to escape the worst climate impacts. With the pope’s blessing, the Catholic Church’s liberal wing may be primed to lead such a movement -- or not.
“It’s a game-changing moment for the church,” said Matt Malone, a Jesuit priest and editor in chief of America, a weekly Jesuit magazine. By framing the environment as a core Catholic advocacy issue, “the highest teaching authority in the church is saying this is now a priority.”
The Washington Post speculated that the pope’s message may ring especially hollow in the United States, because the pope’s environmental ethic of “communitarianism” -- a “we’re all in it together” mentality -- cuts to the core of American individualism.
Yet, while the pope received significant pushback for his tough talk on human responsibility for pollution and global warming from climate change skeptics (particularly, as noted above, Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio -- both Catholic), for environmental activists like Bill McKibben the pope’s encyclical has “given everyone their marching orders.”
What about us? Are we ready to join the pope and take up the cause? Or will we continue to ignore the signs around us, like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water?
Those signs include the incredible damage done by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, for which BP has just agreed to pay a costly sum of $18.7 billion over 18 years. This sum satisfies only the claims from government agencies, from local to federal -- private claims are not included. Another sign is the increasing frequency of dangerous oil and chemical spills from transporting fuel either by pipeline or by rail. And for those watching the climate itself, we might want to take notice that about three months ago a record high temperature was recorded in Antarctica.
For those who believe “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it,” the pope’s encyclical is a clarion call to faithfulness for all Christians concerned with the earth and its creatures. May our voices join those of the secular environmental movement to give it spiritual grounding and expand its influence.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Chris Keating:
Mark 6:14-29
Pants on Fire
As a political ruler, Herod’s wild statements and promises came back to haunt him. Despite his respect for John (Mark 6:20), Herod was forced to carry out a promise to have him beheaded. According to PolitiFact (the Tampa Bay Times’ fact-checking website), lots of politicians make outrageous statements -- including promises that may come back to haunt them. Check out PolitiFact’s “Truth-O-Meter” recent ratings, as well as their various, bipartisan “pants on fire” award winners:
* Donald Trump: “[H]undreds of thousands (of illegal immigrants are) going to state and federal penitentiaries.” Truth-O-Meter says: “mostly false.” (There’s no reported data on these numbers, but experts say undocumented immigrants are not likely to be committing crimes at rates higher than other population groups.)
* Jeb Bush: Made the claim that his release of 33 years of tax returns was more than any candidate in recent history. Truth-O-Meter says: “true.”
* Hillary Clinton: “American schools are more segregated than they were in the 1960s.” Truth-O-Meter verdict: “mostly true.”
* Republican congressional leaders’ promise to cut Congressional budget: “promise kept.”
*****
Mark 6:14-29
What Sort of Promises Do You Keep?
In a brilliant passage from John Green’s The Fault in our Stars, teenage cancer patients Hazel Grace and Isaac discuss the meaning of promises, which takes on new meaning following Isaac’s breakup with his girlfriend:
“Sometimes people just don’t understand the promises they’re making when they make them,” I said.
Isaac shot me a look. “Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That’s what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway. Don’t you believe in true love?” (p. 61)
*****
Psalm 24
The Earth Is the Lord’s... Or Is It?
According to a piece in the Washington Post, response to the pope’s recent encyclical on climate change has been varied. Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter and a longtime Vatican observer, suggested that the encyclical pushes the environmental movement into the mainstream. “They can no longer be denigrated as tree-huggers and Gia worshipers,” Reece noted.
Rush Limbaugh, perhaps not surprisingly, saw it in a different light: “Essentially what this papal encyclical is saying is that every Catholic should vote for the Democrat Party. How else do you interpret it when the pope comes out and sounds like Al Gore on global warming and climate change?”
Anthony Annett, climate change advisor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, saw the teaching as revolutionary: “Very few people view the environment as a moral issue. This encyclical hopefully has a chance to change that. Have you ever in your life seen such interest in an obscure document? It’s stunning. It’s remarkable. I don’t think people are going to pick it up and say, ‘Been there, done that.’ ”
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From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Mark 6:14-29
How to Handle Making Promises
Writing for Psychology Today in 2010, former CBS national news anchor and wellness expert Michelle Gielan reminds readers that breaking even small promises can fracture a relationship. She recommends that we examine our promise-making and promise-keeping with these four questions:
1. What is my motivation behind the promise? Why am I making a particular commitment? What is my intention? Am I doing this for the recipient or for myself? Knowing what we expect to receive as a result of keeping the promise may help us decide whether we should make it in the first place.
2. Am I being realistic? In the age of multitasking and over-commitment, we need to check our schedule before we make a promise. It’s better to be under-committed and keep our promises than to be over-committed and break them.
3. Is it crucial for me to make this promise? There is nothing in life that says you must make promises to others. We all can’t stand the boss who looks us in the eyes and commits to something she can’t or won’t deliver. Don’t be that person! Be honest if you’re not sure.
4. When I break a promise, do I handle it well? Life has a way of intruding unexpectedly on our promises. It happens to everyone. But when it happens to us, do we let the person to whom we have made the promise know with plenty of lead time so they can make other arrangements? How we break promises often says as much about us as how we keep them.
*****
Mark 6:14-29
Ten Boldest Presidential Promises
The RealClearPolitics website offers this list of the ten boldest presidential promises made in recent history:
1. Universal Healthcare; Harry Truman, 1945: “Everyone should have ready access to all necessary medical, hospital, and related services.”
2. Interstate Highway System; Dwight Eisenhower, 1955: “Our unity as a nation is sustained by free communication of thought and by easy transportation of people and goods.”
3. Man on the Moon; John F. Kennedy, 1961: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”
4. Elimination of Poverty; Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964: “This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.”
5. Cure Cancer; Richard M. Nixon, 1971: “I will also ask for an appropriation of an extra $100 million to launch an intensive campaign to find a cure for cancer...”
6. End Dependence on Foreign Oil; Jimmy Carter, 1978: “Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 -- never.”
7. Strategic Defense Initiative; Ronald Regan, 1983: “I call upon the scientific community in our country... to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.”
8. Eradicate Illegal Drugs; George H.W. Bush, 1983: “There are few clear areas in which we as a society must rise up united and express our intolerance. The most obvious now is drugs.”
9. Hydrogen Cars; George W. Bush, 1989: “With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles... so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen and pollution-free.”
10. Man on Mars; George W. Bush, 2004: “With the experience and knowledge gained on the moon, we will then be ready to take the next steps of space exploration -- human missions to Mars and to worlds beyond.”
*****
Mark 6:14-29
A Ponzi Scheme Is Not a Promise
Thanks to Bernie Madoff, most of us have now heard about a confidence game called the Ponzi scheme. It was first created by a small-time con artist named Charles Ponzi who used the ploy in the early 20th century. It works like this: a schemer promises investors great returns, but instead of investing their money he keeps some for himself and uses the funds from new investments to pay off earlier investors.
Bernie Madoff didn’t invent the scheme, but he probably used it more successfully than anyone in history. In 2008, he confessed to having over the course of a decade conned about $50 billion from investors who trusted him with their savings. Usually the scam falls apart quickly because it requires the schemer to constantly find more and more investors. Madoff’s confession was also shocking because, as a former chairman of NASDAQ, he had been an accomplished and respected expert in the financial field.
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From team member Ron Love:
Mark 6:14-29
Statistician Hans Rosling is recognized for his contribution to advancing public health in Africa through his use of statistics to change people’s perception of health problems and how they can be resolved. Rosling says of his work, “I am not an optimist.” Rather, he would like to be defined as a “possibilist.”
John the Baptist may not have been very optimistic in his present situation, but he fully understood the possibilities of Jesus’ ministry.
*****
Mark 6:14-29
In May 2012, Time magazine devoted a special double issue to the 100 individuals they considered to be the most influential in society. Managing editor Rick Stengel opened the issue with a commentary in which he noted that the word influence “originates from the medieval idea that a magical liquid emanates from the stars to influence our actions on earth.” He stated that today influence comes “from the magical ability of technology and social media to overcome time and distance and reorder our perceptions.”
John the Baptist gave us another kind of influence, one which can only come from faith.
*****
Mark 6:14-29
Matt Lauer, the host of NBC’s Today show, outlined his working day. He is up at 4:10 a.m. Once he is at the office at 4:50, he reviews the news events of the day and the notes provided for him by the show’s producers. At 6:30 he takes his seat at the anchor desk, referring to it as “home base,” for that is where the show begins. When the Today show goes on the air at 7:00, Lauer writes, “The show begins. It’s live, there’s no looking back. There are no second chances!”
John the Baptist knew that his telecast was live and that there were no second chances, no looking back as his decision to confront and witness was final. John also knew that the news of his faith would transform the Christian community.
*****
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
The Great Sphinx of Giza is the oldest monumental sculpture on earth. Built in 2500 B.C., it is also the largest monumental sculpture, as it is 241 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 66 feet high. The purpose of the Great Sphinx was for solar worship. The body, which is that of a lion, was associated with the sun. The head, which is of a man, represents Pharaoh, who would keep the citizens of Giza safe. The Great Sphinx still stands as a tribute to architecture and a representation of idol worship -- but after 4,500 years it is still void of spiritual power.
King David called the people of Israel to worship something much more simple but ever greater -- the Ark of the Covenant. He called the people to worship the Lord who resides there. This is the same Lord who equally resides in the temple of the human body, in our own souls.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: The earth is God’s and all that is in it.
People: The world is God’s and those who live in it;
Leader: Who shall ascend the hill of God?
People: And who shall stand in God’s holy place?
Leader: Those who have clean hands and pure hearts.
People: They will receive blessing from God.
OR
Leader: The God of faithfulness calls us to wholeness.
People: We are broken and desire to be made whole.
Leader: There can be no wholeness without integrity.
People: We desire to become that which God created us to be.
Leader: Live in the truth of God and the truth of who you are.
People: With God’s help, we will live in truth.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“All My Hope Is Firmly Grounded”
found in:
UMH: 132
H82: 665
NCH: 408
CH: 88
ELA: 757
“How Great Thou Art”
found in:
UMH: 77
PH: 467
AAHH: 148
NNBH: 43
NCH: 35
CH: 33
LBW: 532
ELA: 858
W&P: 51
AMEC: 68
Renew: 250
“Standing on the Promises”
found in:
UMH: 374
AAHH: 373
NNBH: 257
CH: 553
AMEC: 424
“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”
found in:
UMH: 133
AAHH: 371
NNBH: 262
NCH: 471
CH: 560
ELA: 774
W&P: 496
AMEC: 526
“A Charge to Keep I Have”
found in:
UMH: 413
AAHH: 467, 468
NNBH: 436
ELA: 34
AMEC: 212
“Be Thou My Vision”
found in:
UMH: 451
H82: 488
PH: 339
NCH: 451
CH: 596
ELA: 793
W&P: 502
AMEC: 281
STLT: 20
Renew: 151
“Trust and Obey”
found in:
UMH: 467
AAHH: 380
NNBH: 322
CH: 556
W&P: 443
AMEC: 377
“Blessed Jesus, at Thy Word”
found in:
UMH: 596
H82: 440
PH: 450
LBW: 248
Renew: 93
“How Majestic Is Your Name”
found in:
CCB: 21
Renew: 98
“You Are”
found in:
CCB: 23
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who keeps steadfastly true in promise: Grant to us, your children, the grace to be faithful to you and to those around us, so that we may bring honor to you and your way; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for your steadfastness in truth. We bless you, for you are the one in which we can always place our trust. Fill us with your grace that we may find ourselves to be faithful as well. Help us to be trustworthy neighbors who bring honor to you and your way of salvation. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to be true to our promises.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have forsaken integrity and steadfastness. We treat promises as nothing more than bargaining chips which can be discarded when they no longer are helpful to us. We complain about politicians, businesspeople, and others who promise things they cannot deliver, but we are no different. We make promises without thinking of their consequences or whether or not we can ever keep them. Forgive us our faithless ways and call us back to you, the God of truth. So fill us with your Spirit that we may stand as people of honesty and trust. Amen.
Leader: God is faithful and true. God desires us to grow into the image in which we were created. Receive God’s Spirit and grace, and become true children of God.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
Faithful and true are you, O God, our salvation for ever and ever.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have forsaken integrity and steadfastness. We treat promises as nothing more than bargaining chips which can be discarded when they no longer are helpful to us. We complain about politicians, businesspeople, and others who promise things they cannot deliver, but we are no different. We make promises without thinking of their consequences or whether or not we can ever keep them. Forgive us our faithless ways and call us back to you, the God of truth. So fill us with your Spirit that we may stand as people of honesty and trust.
We give you thanks for your faithfulness, which supports us during all the changes around us. Your promises are true and your love is never-ending. We thank you for those who have allowed your faithfulness to fill their lives and make them faithful to us and to others.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need, and especially for those who feel they have no one that they can trust. Help us to be faithful disciples of Jesus who share your grace with all our neighbors.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Tell the children the story of the boy who cried “wolf” or some other story where not telling the truth brought about bad consequences. Talk to the children about how we can always trust God -- and since we are God’s children, people should always be able to trust us.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Promises to Keep
by Dean Feldmeyer
Mark 6:14-29
Items needed:
a copy of the Robert Frost poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”;
one of the many pictures you can find when you enter the poem’s title as an image search on an internet search engine
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-- from The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem
(Distribute copies of the picture, one to each child, or display the picture on a projection screen.) I have a poem I’d like to share with you this morning. Many of your parents and grandparents have heard it before, and many people think of it as one of their favorite poems. It’s by a poet named Robert Frost, and it tells a story about one time when he was traveling by horse when it was snowing and he stopped to look at the woods. (Read the poem.)
The poet says that the only reason he stopped was to watch the woods fill up with snow. It must have been very pretty, huh? Kind of quiet and peaceful too, I bet.
He’s sitting there, watching it snow and enjoying the quiet, but his horse gets impatient. He says, “My little horse must think it queer to stop with a farmhouse near.” And then, “He gives his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake.” He realizes that his horse is right. He can’t sit there too long watching it snow, can he?
Why not?
Well, he gives two reasons. One is that he has a long way to go to get home, so he’d better get going. And the other reason is that he has promises to keep.
He has promises to keep. Interesting, huh? He can’t just do what he wants to do -- watch the pretty woods filling with snow -- because he has made some promises and he has to keep them. His promises are important to him, and he intends to keep his word.
Has anyone ever made a promise to you? Have you ever made a promise to someone else? When we make promises we are expected to keep them, aren’t we? And we expect people who make promises to us to keep their promises, don’t we?
In our Bible story today King Herod made a stupid promise, one he didn’t want to keep. But once his promise was made, he knew he had to keep it or everyone would know that he was a person who didn’t keep promises. One of the things that this Bible story reminds us is that promises are important -- and because we should always keep our promises, we should be careful about the ones we make.
Thank you for sharing with me this morning.
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The Immediate Word, July 12, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
