at the First Congregational Church of Stoughton

United Church of Christ

I want to thank you for so graciously welcoming Rev. Dr. Stan Duncan as guest preacher the last two Sundays while I was on vacation. I had told Stan that you were a wonderful group of people, and he agrees with me! Thank you especially to Dana Barnes for serving as Lay Leader both Sundays – Dana, I know you are a natural up here!

You may recall that the Sunday I left on vacation, I did a little dance here in the sanctuary. My sermon was on King David dancing for joy in front of the Ark of the Covenant, and I showed the young people here, and all of you, the kind of jig I am prone to dancing when I am filled with joy.

I know that Stan preached on the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand.

Well, our scripture lesson for this morning offers both dancing AND a banquet. But today’s is not a joy-filled miracle. Truth be told, our passage from the Gospel of Mark is a terrible story. Rather than the banquet of life Jesus offers from two fish and five loaves of bread, Herod’s is a banquet of death, a harsh story that invades the tranquility of our summer in a drama of marriage entanglements and complicated inter-relations within the family of Herod.

The Herods were a family dynasty, and Herod the Great was in power when Jesus was born. Now, a generation later, Herod Antipas, his son, is on the throne, ruling – like his father – on behalf of the Romans with nearly absolute power.

Herod the son has imprisoned John the Baptist for offending him and his wife Herodias by criticizing their morals, and it’s understandable. Before Herodias was his wife, she was Herod’s sister-in-law, his brother Philip’s wife whom he lured away. I told you it was complicated! According to religious law, Herod’s relationship with Herodias is considered adulterous, and when John the Baptist publicly rebukes Herod Antipas with such “wife-swapping,” calling him to repent from his sinful ways, Herod throws him in jail. But there is more to Herod’s action than simply trying to silence his condemner. Our passage tells us that Herod knows John is a righteous and holy man, and he both fears him and wants to protect him.

Herod was raised in the Jewish faith, but wealth, power and influence have replaced the Torah in his heart and in his life. Nevertheless, there is something deep in the soul of Herod that remembers God’s word, some holy yearning that draws him to John’s teaching. Herodias, on the other hand, seethes with anger at John’s affront, and is poised to strike at an opportunity to have John executed.

And so Herod puts John in protective custody in prison, away from Herodias’ harm. But then Herod gets into a jam. He throws himself a birthday bash and invites all the important leaders and dignitaries of Galilee. With the wine flowing freely, the daughter of Herodias, Salome, wows the crowd with a seductive dance. Herod is so delighted with his guests’ enthusiastic response to his stepdaughter Salome’s dance that he makes an impetuous promise: he will give her anything she desires, even half his kingdom. Anything?? Consulting mom, Salome and Herodias seize the opportunity to ask for something even Herod had not imagined: the head of John the Baptist on a platter.

The Gospel of Mark tells us that Herod was deeply grieved by this turn of events. This is a “fork in the road” moment for Herod, when his need for God and his desire for earthly wealth and influence come into tragic conflict. Even though John's words from God have filled a void in his life, Herod knows that if he refuses to live up to his promise to have John beheaded, the dignitaries at his party will find it hard to trust him, and his power will be undermined.

Herod has had moments when he has seemed almost ready to embrace God’s word he has heard through John the Baptist, but he has allowed the empire, rather than God, shape his values and his decisions; giving in to the culture, he gets caught up in the pleasures and influences of the world. In the end, the voice of God, which had come to Herod through John the Baptist, gets lost in the din of the world’s noisy celebration. Herod refuses to risk his prestige and position to follow God’s word and his own conscience. And so, more concerned about saving face than saving his soul, Herod relents to Herodias’ and Salome’s request, and has the prophet beheaded.

We encounter “fork in the road” moments almost every day. Perhaps not on the scale of Herod, but we have to make choices all the time. Yogi Berra famously said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” But it’s not that simple. A fork in the road forces us to make a choice, usually between two options. Oftentimes, the decision is between doing what we want and doing what is right; of choosing between what is easy and what is difficult, between immorality and integrity, between faithlessness and faithfulness.

Jesus had these moments, too. When he was in the wilderness for 40 days following his baptism, he was tempted by Satan to follow not God’s path but rather what sounded like a much easier journey. But Jesus chose God’s purpose for his life and embarked on his Galilean ministry. Three years later, on the last night of his life, Jesus again faced a fork in the road as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and chose God’s way, the difficult way, the way of suffering.

Herod could have moved toward God, following God’s voice spoken through the prophet John the Baptist. But when faced with a “fork in the road” moment, he made a tragic choice, turning away from God and giving in to the voices to power and privilege.

I think there’s probably a little Herod in each of us. Herod was interested in God, but wanted God on his terms. Herod respected religion, but did not want to become too involved. Herod was interested in listening to the message John brought from God, but he did not want to actively engage the message. I think there’s probably a little Herod in each of us; times when we want to experience God, but only from distance; times we will follow God only if we can still do things our way and keep control of our lives.

Some people think that being a Christian means simply being a “good person,” perhaps coming to church every once in a while and, if you’re really dedicated, helping out with the church fair or becoming involved in some fellowship activities. Now these are important, but they are not at the heart of the Christian journey. The Christian journey is about developing a relationship with God. It’s about discovering God’s purpose for our life, about following God’s voice and God’s call.

The reality is that we are constantly facing forks in the road of our lives — and the road we take at these decisive moments will help to shape our lives and the lives of those around us. God’s ways head off in one direction, and the world’s ways go off in another. Which way are we going to choose? Will we go with your own understanding of how our life should unfold and proceed? Or will we put our faith in God with a trust and willingness to embrace a divine mystery? Will we go in the direction of self-interest and self-serving, or will we follow Jesus, putting his ways first.

God calls us to decide: we can be like Herod, succumbing to the pressures of the world, caring most about the approval of others, and listening from the sidelines to God’s message, or we can be like John, living out our lives with faith and integrity, nurturing our relationship with God, and allowing God’s words to shape our lives. When faced with a fork in the road, which way will you choose? Amen.

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