OPENING SENTENCE-
The King of glory shall come in
HYMN
GREETING
Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
COLLECT FOR PURITY
Almighty God
to whom all hearts be open
all desires known
and from whom no secrets are hidden;
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you
and worthily magnify your holy name
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
SUMMARY OF THE LAW
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”
The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
CONFESSION
God is love and we are God’s children.
There is no room for fear in love.
We love because God loved us first.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
God our Father, we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
ABSOLUTION
May the God of love and power
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by his Spirit
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
GLORIA sung by Billy Dewar Riddick
COLLECT
O God, you have prepared, for those who love you,
good things no eye has seen:
pour into our hearts such love of you,
that by loving you in all things and above all things,
we may be worthy of your promises,
which surpass all we can desire;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen
FIRST READING 2 SAMUEL 6:1-5, 12b-19 read by David Kerr
David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the LORD with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. So, David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
David danced before the LORD with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So, David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David. Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. They brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the LORD. When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
SECOND READING EPHESIANS 1:3-14 read by Kay Solaja
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
HYMN
GOSPEL READING MARK 6: 14-29 read by Rev Chris Wren
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St Mark chapter 6 beginning at verse 14
Glory to Christ our Saviour.
King Herod heard of the healings and other miracles, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason, these powers are at work in him.’ But others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’ But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’ For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’
She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist.’ Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptizer on a platter.’ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord
SERMON
Newspapers and magazines sell like hot cakes if they contain three things–and if they are combined so much the better! The first thing is royalty- almost any story about the royalty will sell around the world. We have seen the recent interest, regarding the fallout between Prince William and Prince Harry. The second thing is sex-nothing like a scandal, especially if it is to do with people in high places. Thirdly religion-though God has slipped down in the ratings in recent years, people are still aware that there are unanswered questions out there, and someone who seems to be an authentic spokesperson for God, is newsworthy.
Put this package together, locate it in first century Galilee and you have the story of Herod and John the Baptist. There is nothing private about this story- it would have been round the palace in minutes, round the neighbourhood by morning, and round Galilee within a day or two. If it had happened today, it would be all over the newspapers and face-book. This story is sordid, shabby, and shameful- exactly the sort of thing that everybody likes to hear, however much they pretend otherwise. The news would fly about the scandalous goings- on at Herod’s birthday party with his step daughter performing an erotic dance, his rash and no doubt drunken promise and his command to execute the prophet to whom all Galilee and Judea had gone for baptism- you can just hear the whispers, the rumours, the shaking of heads, the mutterings that no good will come of it! Indeed, no good did come of it for within a decade Herod had been banished to faraway Gaul, left to die in disgrace in a distant land. Within a generation John’s story had been written up by Mark, honouring him as a fearless witness to the kingdom of God.
This story of John the Baptist and Herod has much to teach us. It reveals John the Baptist as a man of great courage. It took courage to rebuke in public a despot who had the power of life and death. John was a child of the desert and of open places- a free spirit that Herod tries to tame and imprison in his dungeon. John is not to be silenced. He preferred death to falsehood. He lived for the truth and he died for it. He was the voice of God hitting out at Herod’s conscience, and John’s courage in rebuking evil wherever he saw it is to be praised and commended. It was Edmund Burke an Irish statesman from Dublin that said: the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke also said that ‘Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only little.’
Sometimes I think that we have gone so politically correct, that we feel paralysed to act, and we have become so tolerant that we have no sense of right or wrong, or if we have a sense of it, we are too afraid to act on it! Yet act we must!
Maybe our signing of petitions, writing letters for Amnesty International, giving money to charities to rescue young girls and to stop them being made slaves by crooks, or supporting of certain legislation that brings justice to others- may seem little to us but it all adds us and makes much. In God’s hands too our little can be transformed into much. From this story we are asked as Christian to stand up for what is true and have the courage to stand against what is evil and wrong in a world of fake news and scams.
We certainly don’t want to be defined like Herod as spineless and cowardly, lacking moral resolve and courage. Herod was following in his father’s footsteps and was highly ambitious and wanted to be revered as the true king. However, he had taken Herodias as his wife who in reality was his brother’s sister and wait for it -his niece- not sure how that worked! The marital history of Herod’s family is very tangled and incredibly messed up!
Herod is not only messed up in his relationship with Herodias but as a character, he is an odd mix. At one and the same time he feared John and respected him. At one and the same time he dreaded John’s tongue and yet found pleasure in listening to him. There is nothing in this world so strange a mixture as a human being. James Boswell in his London Diary tells us how he sat in church enjoying the worship of God and yet at the same time was planning how to pick up a prostitute in the streets of London. The strange fact is that human beings are haunted both by sin and goodness. Herod could fear John and love him, could hate his message, and yet not be able to free himself from its insistent fascination. Herod was an odd mix. He was a man who let impulse dictate his decision. He made his reckless promise to
Salome without thinking. It may well have been made when he was a little drunk. He finds himself in a difficult situation. He has made an oath out of drink and impulse, which according to the cultural and legal customs of the time he must keep. But keeping the oath means killing a man of God. Does he keep the oath or execute the prophet? Now it appears that he is confronted with two choices. And it seems obvious that the best possible answer is to break his oath and save the man of God. But this is not the best answer to this issue.
The best answer is to get rid of his so- called wife, Herodias. Not because she is a source of contention but because she is not his wife. Not only did Herod act on impulse but he also feared what others might say. He kept his promise to Salome because he had made it in front of his cronies and was unwilling to break it, for he feared the loss of his credibility, his status and reputation. He feared his couriers would see him as weak and he feared their laughter and scorn. How many people have acted today out of fear of what their cronies will say- out of pressure to conform, out of pressure to be popular and well liked and as a result have failed to do the right thing.
This is a story about a man who caved due to social pressures. He places his own status and reputation above all else. How do life’s pressures affect our judgment? How can we prevent ourselves from caving in to pressures from peers and colleagues and avoid making wrong choices and decisions? We need to take a leaf out of John the Baptist’s book, who found his security and love in God and whose decisions were anchored in God’s love and wisdom. We need to know God’s love in our hearts, be secure in our identity as part of God’s family and be guided by the Holy Spirit.
Removed from the anchor of God’s love and wisdom was not only Herod but also Herodias. We see Herodias with her near unquenchable wrath and she shows us what an embittered human being can do. Herodias wished to do as she liked with no- one to remind her of the moral law. She wished to eliminate John, the one man, who had the courage to challenge and confront her with her sin. She murdered John, that she might sin in peace. She forgot that there is a higher authority in God that she is ultimately answerable to. She manipulated and used people to get her own ends- with no thought to the conscience of those she was using and exploiting.
She could be accused of exploiting Salome for her own ends. Today people will trample on others like Herodias to get their own ends, and have no thought or regard for whether it is right and what damage it will do others. We read of this manipulation and cunning in different business companies, we read of it in families and sadly in all walks of life. We have this temptation within us to be bitter, manipulative and cunning and do all in our power to get our own way but we can all rise above this temptation by God’s strength and help – he tells us that there is no temptation that we cannot bear for he has given us a means to conquer it. He longs that we will resist whatever temptations are before us and do what is honourable and good.
Honourable and good seemed foreign concepts to both Herod and Salome. No doubt our psychologists today would blame Salome and Herod’s upbringing, incidents in their past for their bad behaviour but at the end of the day the responsibility and accountability for their actions lies with them. They have a choice. They selfishly put their own needs above the truth and life of another. On the other hand, John showed tremendous courage in facing up to them and challenging their lack of integrity and morals. Our call is to stand up for what is just, right and true. We are God’s instruments, and we are to ensure equality and fairness for all.
Recently Marcus Rashford stood up to the government about child poverty and the need for free school meals. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education in Pakistan. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Baroness Cox challenges the government on their cuts on foreign aid and she fights for the releasing of child slaves in Africa. Her recent words in June to the government were: While I support the concerns about the legacy of historical slavery, I fear there is a failure adequately to recognise and respond to the continuing tragedy of modern slavery, which comes in many forms. In recent years slavery has been used as a weapon of war in Sudan; sexual slavery and forced labour has occurred in Burma, former child soldiers are now seeking a new life in northern Uganda and human trafficking is taking place on our own doorsteps. Recent statistics cited by our government suggest that 40 million people globally are in slavery, of whom 4.8 million are victims of forced sexual exploitation and one in four is a child. Rather than toppling and removing statues, the priority must be to highlight and end contemporary slavery and to provide help for the victims enduring indescribable suffering today.
She is responding to God’s call for justice, equality of opportunities and dignity for all. St John’s has a good record of signing petitions and seeking to help the poor, this is something that we need to continue and intensify. Individually what has God laid on your heart that you are being asked to do to help others. Be like John the Baptist, courageous in standing for that which is true, noble and good. Amen
NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
In humility and love
let us draw near to God,
and pray to him now.
Lord God we pray that our lives
may be upright and holy;
that our church communities may shine
with goodness and love,
humility and truth;
we pray for ourselves
that we will have the courage
to stand up for what is right,
and be advocates of truth and justice.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray
that many may be empowered to recognise evil,
and fight against it.
We pray that many will discern
the sparks of goodness and love in others
and encourage them to good works
for your name and glory.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray
that our households and neighbourhoods,
our places of work and leisure,
may be regarded as places of love and thankfulness,
not only when things and life are going well,
but also, in those moments of hardship and difficulty.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God we pray for those
who have given into evil and
because of their crime are in prison.
We ask that you will help them seek forgiveness
and that by your help they may be renewed and restored.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for those
who have been brainwashed,
and led to believe that killing
in your name is justified and good.
Open their minds and hearts to the truth,
and folly of their ways.
Protect too our own teenagers and students
that they will remain independent thinkers,
and people who will always uphold peace, justice and love,
to all people of all nations, religions, faith and none.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God we pray for those who are suffering at this time,
thinking especially of those,
who are imprisoned because of their faith,
or those who have spoken out about injustice
and inequality in their country,
or have challenged the lack of freedom
in their ability to speak or write freely,
give them strength and courage to keep going
and we ask for their release
and lift to you agencies working on their behalf.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for those
who are weak in body, mind or spirit at this time.
We lift to you those,
battling with mental illness
and ask that they might know stability and peace.
We lift to you those who are worried about their health,
those facing heart problems,
those undergoing treatments against cancer,
those recovering at home from surgery,
and ask for your loving and healing presence
to be with them
and ask that you will meet them at their point of need.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God we remember those in prayer
who have lost recently a loved one.
We remember too those families for whom
this month is an anniversary of a death.
Be their comfort and stay in these days.
Lord of all truth
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for ourselves
that we might have more thankful and courageous hearts
that we would not be shy in speaking your truth,
and that by our love we would be seen as the disciples of Christ.
Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
HYMN
BLESSING
The peace of God,
which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,
and of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord:
and the blessing of God the Father,
the Son and Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always. Amen
DISMISSAL
Go or stay in peace to love and serve the Lord. In the name of Christ.
