I must confess that I would rather we had different scripture readings for today
because the reading from the book of the Prophet Amos
and Mark’s account of the beheading of John the Baptist
present in clear and graphic terms the dangers facing
those whose ministry is to be called as prophets.
Yet both these biblical stories are part of the whole story of the Gospel
and what might be in store for followers of Jesus
depending on how the Holy Spirit may be calling them AND us.
So we do need to look at both readings,
and I will put them each in context.
Amos speaks prophetically to the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
You may remember that after King Solomon
the country got divided into the Southern Kingdom of Judea
Judah, the tribe that King David had come from,
and the Northern Kingdom of Israel:
the rest of the tribes that would not tolerate Solomon’s heir,
a foolish young king who let his new royal powers go to his head
and thought he knew better than his seasoned counselors.
Well, that was a fatal error.
The northern kingdom did all right for awhile,
but finally other surrounding stronger nations
were poised to expand their power and borders,
and Israel would fall first and those tribes would be scattered.
And then later Judea would be conquered
and the people carried into exile in the Babylonian captivity.
Amos was not a typical prophet.
He did not consider himself to be anything special,
not a professional, not even one of the “Sons of the Prophets,”
that is, those who were members of the prophets’ guild,
those who were schooled by current widely recognized prophets.
Amos described himself as a layman,
a herdsman by trade and in the tree pruning business.
just the sort of person God’s Spirit
might be able to get through to
and come upon mightily with fresh, powerful words.
Amos, outside the religious institution, could say things like:
thus says the Lord,
“I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
… your burnt offerings … I will not look upon …
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Oh, and by the way Israel will fall to invading forces.
He was just being obedient, as a disciple would be, to the Spirit moving upon him,
but he crossed a boundary when he predicted the doom of the nation.
So Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, a key religious center for the Northern Kingdom,
tells Amos to get out, “You’re banished!
Go peddle your prophecies elsewhere.”
And Amos’ message, faithfully delivered, goes unheeded.
John the Baptist was the last of this line of authentic prophets.
And what a prophet he was!
He had messages for everyone who came to him
recalling the people to the words of Isaiah,
dunking them in the Jordan River
symbolically causing them to re-enter the Promised Land
as well as washing them and reconciling them with God.
“Repent for the Kingdom of GOD is at hand”
not the Kingdom of the Emperor of Rome.
The common people struggling under harsh governance of their oppressors,
the religious leaders trying to maintain a fragile relationship with Pilate
that would allow them to continue to provide spiritual leadership,
even Roman soldiers keeping an eye on what was going on when John was preaching,
all were moved by his words.
But today’s Gospel story says nothing
about John’s powerful and prophetic ministry that gets stopped short
because he spoke the truth about the ugly behavior
of the most powerful ruler outside of Rome in that vicinity,
about what Herod perpetrated on his brother Philip,
who ruled his own adjacent kingdom,
Herod, offering Herodias a better deal than Philip could,
sticking it to his brother marrying his wife right out from under him
and doing it all in broad daylight shamelessly and deliberately.
And for John pointing to the blatant behavior,
saying out loud what others were afraid to say,
the reward was imprisonment. Silenced. Taken out of commission.
Ministry ended.
And then John is executed – not for speaking that truth,
not as a martyr for all his baptizing,
not for proclaiming the Kingdom of God at hand,
but as the payoff for a foolish promise made to a girl
who was the means by which her mother could get revenge on John
for what he had said about her and Herod.
There’s a saying, “No good deed goes unpunished,”
and sometimes it seems like that’s the way of the world,
despite all the good preaching and selfless ministry devoted to saving the world.
But now, what about us?
Well, everything I am going to say now
is related to and connects with the collect for today.
We here today may be thankful that
we have not been called to be a prophet like Amos or John the Baptist.
Not everyone has to put their neck on the line
speaking truth to power,
stepping over that line with the powers that be,
but as baptized Christians we are called to be disciples –
disciples, that is, students of Jesus,
but specifically, disciples who would follow Jesus’ example.
By showing up here, besides offering our devotion to Jesus,
we put ourselves in a good place to be made available to God.
Have you ever had that experience
in which you found yourself in a position of ministry
that called forth something inside of you that you didn’t realize you had?
Take some time to think about that.
God’s ways seem to include
taking by surprise the ones through whom the Spirit can flow.
And how merciful that is,
for then we have the opportunity to really be doing some good
without leaving our fingerprints all over it.
You see, being called to service and ministry is not just for some of us.
Being called is part of the deal;
it comes as a part of the whole salvation package.
Being a follower of Jesus, a student of Jesus, a disciple
is not just about being saved,
being taken into the loving embrace of a Savior
who takes care of us like a Good Shepherd,
who prepares the way for us
so that we have eternal life in him.
We get a bonus – Jesus calls us and chooses us to be disciples,
meaning to be as he is,
that is, to be outwardly directed in ministry,
being self-forgetful in service,
being of service to the needs you encounter.
Let me say some encouraging words (I hope they are encouraging)
about the process of discipleship.
Here are three things that I observe in the Gospels
about Jesus’ process of instructing and preparing those he chose
during the time of his earthly ministry.
First he was the one choosing the disciples, not the other way around.
He calls the disciples.
We are selected; we don’t enlist, so you’re not here by accident.
Second in the Gospels Jesus showed the disciples the ministry,
he demonstrated it for them.
Jesus taught the multitudes in parables,
wonderful stories for people to bounce off of
seeing mirrors of their own spiritual conditions of life.
Then when he was with the disciples,
he opened up the parables and explained them, gave further teaching.
And each healing and each releasing of persons from demonic bondage
were also teaching parables
revealing the qualities of the Kingdom of God as a present reality.
Jesus taught by acts of healing as acts of the Kingdom.
And third he then sent the disciples out to practice
what they had seen and heard,
giving them the authority and ability
to do just what he had showed them.
Jesus went ahead of them preparing the field of ministry before them,
and he goes ahead of us too,
doing the sowing for them to come after and do the reaping.
Jesus is the one giving them and us the authority, the authenticity, the power,
the ability to do the ministry.
He gives what is needed for the work to be done.
We need to trust that.
The very last words of the liturgy, after the final hymn, are
“Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”
We go with the gift of peace, embodied in bread and wine,
a grace and an empowerment for ministry.
We can be disciples who do what Jesus does,
letting that discipleship come to maturity in us,
not perfection, maturity.
Maturity is experienced knowledge of Jesus,
not facts about him,
but who he is, his quality of being,
what it is about him
that brings liberation in others,
healing, repentance and reconciliation.
May the process of discipleship come to maturity
in those of us who gather here,
who show up Sunday by Sunday,
trusting ever more deeply in Jesus’ responsibility for the work,
so that the whole of the way we live our lives
will be a fruitful witness of Good News.
It comes back to the Collect for today:
O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you,
and grant that we may know and understand what things we ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them.
