Hermily for August 29
Look, they can't all be bangers
Well. Today’s readings my seem simple and straightforward, but they won’t, once you’ve read my hermily. And if you think this is confusing, imagine having to listen to it!
The readings are here.
Godspeed. I almost want to color code this for you.
Today’s readings, put together to remember the death of St. John the Baptist, tell a story of before and after, and before and after. And before.
The letter from St. Paul to the people of Corinth, from which we hear the very first words today, was actually written before the Gospel of Mark.
Paul was writing his letters in the mid-fifties CE, around 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and around 30 years before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Gospel of Mark was written after, or maybe even, during that destruction and that time of persecution, around 70 CE.
Then, too, in the Gospel reading today we hear the story of John, Jesus’ cousin, who recognized Jesus before anyone else did, who was born before Jesus and who entered ministry before Jesus did.
John died before Jesus, too, as we hear today, in a way that foreshadowed how Jesus’ death would come- at the hands of politically powerful people, jealous of their charisma and abilities to heal, to teach, to attract dedicated followers.
Before we ever hear about how this exact thing happened to Jesus, we hear it about John’s life. He lived before Jesus, led before Jesus, died before Jesus.
Paul is writing to a community, a church that he had founded, to remind them that they needed to get their act together. He had founded the community after the death and resurrection of Jesus with a mission; that of telling the story of Jesus, and of living according to the way Jesus had lived. That meant living in unity and compassionate care for each other. It meant living lives of love, because love was their mission, and love was their guiding principal.
Mark, 20 years after that, tells the story of St. John right in the middle of the story of Jesus, some 40 years after it happened. He was writing to a community under siege; they are in the midst of a horrible oppression from the political leaders, who resent these new Jewish Christ-followers for their charisma and compassionate care for each other, for their willingness to sacrifice, for their dangerous ability to attract dedicated followers.
Both of these writers knew the “before” story, and were living in the “after.” Our writers understand that this love, this way of living, this dedication to the mission of Jesus, is so powerful that it is often threatening to political leaders (and in some cases, even religious leaders).*
In fact, in the aftermath of Jesus’ life, they have seen that love in practice is often met by opposing forces of jealousy, greed, and vanity.
Paul and Mark want us to know that, too- because we, too, are living in the after. We know how John’s life story ended, and how Jesus’ life story ended, and we can see that living lives of following Christ can get us into some hot water with those in power who might be offended by our mission of love.
But today, it’s important to remember that we are also, at the same time, living in the before. We know that even though Jesus’ life story ended with his death, his eternal story began with his resurrection, and his eternal story is still being told. It’s not easy to live in both the after and the before, waiting to see if we’ve done it right, waiting to find out how this story of our lives in Christ and God’s shalom resolve. But Paul and Mark and John and Jesus today urge us not to quit in the face of difficulty; to keep our faith that the after will be worth the before, and to support each other in the journey along the way in love.
*Now, here, I had written “in Jesus’ case, religious leaders” but crossed it out to say “in some cases, religious leaders.” It turned out, before the end of the day, to have been what we professionals call a “Cosmic Slap,” and both versions turned out to be true, as I had a ridiculous interaction with the local pastor, wanting to know (essentially) Who Do I Think I Am Anyway, Calling Myself a Catholic Pastoral Associate in His Parish? And that old Catholic hit “Why Are You Such An Angry Woman?”
I wish I’d thought of this edited reminder in my own ding-dang hermily, not that I’m comparing my leadership to Jesus’ in any impressive way, but because it’s a good reminder that for Paul, for Mark, for John, for Jesus, and for you and me, standing on our principles and being true to Christ’s mission is indeed often going to be found distasteful and threatening by our own religious leaders.