By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
March 31, 2024
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Isaiah 25:6–9 (ESV)
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7 And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
He is Risen!
For two thousand years we have celebrated this day. We sing for joy. We shout with excitement. We rejoice. We celebrate this day!
Today is the day that all creation reaches toward. It is the day the stars, the moon, and the sun yearn to participate in. We yearn for this day above all days because it is on this day that hope is restored. Redemption is secured, and life is renewed. We celebrate this day, but do we live as if the events that occurred on this day are reality?
For centuries, the peoples of the world have longed for this day. Every language, every tribe, every nation on the face of the earth sought for this day above all other days, even though they may not understand the reality.
From the dispersion of the nations at Babel, the Most High God had enacted a plan. From the Days of Noah, Yahweh had a desire to redeem the people of this world. From the fall in Eden when humanity joined the spiritual rebellion, God had restoration in play.
In Eden, God spoke to our first parents. We often look at the results of fall as the curse God placed on humanity. The curse was that by the sweat of our brow we would work the earth that would yield thorns and thistles. The curse was that in labor we would bear and raise children. And at the end of our lives, we would return to the dust of which we were created. Because we are but dust. Humanity is of the earth, but we are more.
God looked at the world he created, he gazed upon the sun and the moon. The oceans and the land. The majestic trees and the rolling prairies, and he announced that this is good. But there was more he looked around at those beings surrounding him as the earth sprouted to life and he said, “Let us make man in our image.” Let us create for this beautiful paradise a being to be our representative, our ambassador, connecting the physical with the spiritual.
We fell. We rebelled. We turned our back on our creator and the image we bore.
Our ancestors sought knowledge of good and evil on their own terms. And this shaded our sight.
God in his growing concern over humanity chose to preserve creation through one family, Noah. The entire world turned from God and sought knowledge that was not intended for them at that time. They gained this knowledge through deeper rebellion; they made pacts with the beings of darkness. And these beings brought deeper darkness into the world. They brought greed, jealousy, fear, and violence. It is not that we were not capable without them, but we wanted greater power over those that could come against us. The growing disillusion between us threatened creation, and we became our greatest enemy. So, God chose to initiate a system reboot, by sending a flood.
God started over with Noah, but eventually collective humanity once again desired to rise. We wanted to be equal to God instead of mere bearers of His Image. God provided an answer to our heart’s desire. Our desire was to be our own god. He divided the nations and confused our languages. We scattered though the whole earth, creating cultures and societies. But when our nations met, we were driven by fear and hatred. Just as in the days of Noah we began striving to create tools to give us the upper hand. We were trapped in an endless cycle of violence and death.
Scripture tells us that the nations of the world were divided among the sons of God, but The Most High God chose one nation from among them to be his inheritance. Through this one people, he would initiate redemption and reverse the corruption and failures of our most ancient of parents.
God did not choose the greatest nation. He did not choose the one with the most resources, or the strongest army. God chose one man who at the time did not even have an heir. It is through Abraham that God would conduct his redemptive work. To this one-man God promised to make a great nation. Through this one-man God would shine light into the darkness and draw all the nations back to himself.
This is God’s plan, but the shades of disillusion veil our sight. We became incapable of seeing the one beside us as being a fellow bearer of God’s image. Instead, we see race, nationality, gender. We see the things that divide instead of the beauty of Eden’s Garden.
This disillusion becomes more skewed, and our fears grow. Eventually even the people who called by God’s name began to act in the manner of the kingdoms of men. They too desired wealth, power, and security. They, like each of us, sought what was best for themselves. Generation after generation we drifted away from the God that continuously called to us. We allowed the darkness to envelop us, and death took control.
These are the warnings that Isaiah gave to that generation of Israel before their exile. He showed them how they had fallen away. How they had become the very thing they opposed. They wanted to follow God, to be the light to the nations, but they, in their righteousness, and their greed began to snuff out the glowing embers of light God called them to feed.
What is the result of our rebellion? We often sit and wonder why God would allow evil, why God would allow dreadful things to happen to people. The reality is that we have all sinned, we have all missed the mark, we all fail. We live within cultures that perpetuate ideas that harbor greater divisions and jealousy. We ask why does God allow terrible things to happen? The answer is right here in this very room.
We allow it. We allow it through our own understandings of good and evil. We allow it because we often look at our good at the expense of the good for others. We can become the evil that haunts others’ lives. We can become the instruments promoting injustice for others. We can even, in our righteousness, be blind to our own apathy and desires.
Isaiah knew this. Isaiah saw this, experienced it. Isaiah watched as these things occurred in the royal courts. And he knew where it would lead because we all are caught in these cycles. Cycles of wealth and greed. Cycles of power and violence. He spoke out against what he saw. He told the people that that life and lifestyle will lead to destruction, but his own people failed to listen.
Yet even when we reject the wisdom and leading of God. God remains. He continues to work things together for those who love him and participate in his kingdom work. He works, even when he is seemingly nowhere to be seen.
God is working, and Isaiah reminds us that God will complete his work.
“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, Of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.”
Last evening, our family celebrated this day. We celebrated by eating our signature Kansas City Barbecue. We had ribs, burnt ends, beans, cheesy corn, the works. This is what I imagine Isaiah is speaking of. The English Standard Version translates it as rich food, but more accurately it would fatty food. This is not speaking about chocolate cake, even though I would take a slice of that too. This is speaking of USDA Prime cuts of meat. Well marbled and cooked to perfection. It also speaks of marrow. Marrow in ancient times was considered a delicacy. It was rich in nutrients and abundant in flavor. Today we do not enjoy this as much, but we can go to the store and purchase bone broth. The marrow provided favorable seasonings. This feast, this banquet holds nothing back.
Then there is the wine. We as Friends are not as fluent as some regarding wine. In the ancient mid-East wine was part of every meal. But this wine is not normal everyday wine, this is well-aged well refined wine. This is the wine that saved for the best of days. This banquet on the mountain is that type of day. One to remember.
“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples.” Lord of hosts is an interesting phrase and one we may not fully explore. The term host usually refers to a large assembly of troops gathered and ready for battle. But there is another way to look at this phrase. Hosts can also refer to celestial bodies like the sun, the moon, and the stars. Today we see the stars as gigantic masses of incandescent gas and the moon we know as being a sphere of rock and dust that reflects the rays of the sun. In ancient days, these heavenly hosts were seen as spiritual entities. The lord of hosts is the Most High God over heaven and earth. And when the nations were divided among the sons of God, God did not relinquish ownership of the peoples of the earth. He limited himself to one nation. Waiting for the moment where he could once again gather all the peoples of the earth to him.
On this day, this very day we celebrate that gathering. He swallowed up the mountain. He destroyed the covering that had been cast over all peoples. He ripped the veil that shaded the truth from our sight. When our first parents first rebelled against God, we were separated from life. God is the source of all life; he is the one that sang the world into existence. Separation entered the world, and the tune of creation became faint, muffled as our ears and eyes were veiled. This separation from the life giver is death.
“He will swallow up death forever.” The use of death here, is not how we often regard death. Death is the absence of life; it is separation from life. But here we are not speaking of death in an abstract concept. Here Isaiah is speaking of death not as an event at the end of life instead he speaks of Death as a personality. In most Old Testament poetry, Death, or Mot, is personified. Mot is present in the religious pantheon of Ur though not worshiped as a deity. Mot was regarded as the enemy of the gods. In Ur, the Most High God is El, which is the name Abraham knew as God because it was from Ur God had called him. And Ba’al was the son of El. Ba’al was the one that brought life and fertility. Mot brought sterility. Ba’al provided the rain for abundant crops. Mot brought heat and drought. Every good thing that Ba’al brought, Mot provided the opposite. Mot was the consumer of gods and men. His tools were bereavement and widowhood, and his children were disease, disillusionment, and famine.
I know we get a bit queasy when we speak of Ba’al in a seemingly positive light. But these stories were the ones that Abraham grew up hearing it was often through these lenses that our patriarchs of faith viewed the world. Yes, they believed in the Most High God, but other spiritual entities were also present. These are part of the veil that covers us. In the mind of Isaiah, death was not the end of life, death is a person.
For many years this was one of the areas of faith that caused me to struggle. We sing songs of faith that claim that death no longer has power over us, and yet death has always been and remains part of life. We say that Jesus has conquered death, and yes, he rose from the tomb in the fulfillment of his glory. But many people of faith, inspiring people, saintly people die.
But when we look at death in a personified form things take a turn. The Christian view is that the wage of sin is death. Death is everything and anything that separates us from the giver of life. Death is a person. Death is an entity. Death is the diseases that cause us to question our faith. Death is the fear that causes disillusion, and the famine that caused by wars and disasters.
I contemplated this concept the past few days. I looked at the idea of death not as the nature end to life, but as the outcome of our actions. We bring about death, we cause much of the suffering those within the world experience. We, not necessarily us directly, but we as peoples of the world. It is the nations of the world that start and perpetuate war. It is we as the peoples of the world that grow food and lock it away in silos while people throughout the world hunger. We as collective humanity in our pursuit to do good by one group, cause harm to another. We may not see it or understand our place within that cycle but that is because a veil is spread over us. Muting the cries and skewing our vision.
“The Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth.”
As I contemplate the death that I have participated in, I then sat with these statements. The Lord will wipe away the tears. The lord will provide comfort to those that have suffered under the scepter of bereavement and widowhood. The lord will remove the indignity and dishonor so many have experienced through the various actions of the kingdoms of men. The lord will reverse the influence passed down to us from spirits of rebellion and death. God himself will swallow all that separates us from life and will renew a right spirit in us. He will split the veil, so we can see each other once again. He will open our ears, so we can once again sing along with the songs of creation.
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
The kingdoms of men want us to live in fear. The spirits of this world, the spirits of rebellion and death want us to stay engulfed and trapped within the shadow’s veil. They want us to think that there is not enough. They want us to believe the lie that some peoples are different than others. They want us divided and bound in the grip of death. We see it in the news. We hear about it in every commercial break. Our bookshelves are filled with publications, both sacred and secular, that ooze fear and disillusionment.
It makes me wonder what it is we believe.
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.’
From the initial rebellion in the garden, God has been at work among his people. He provided for his creation through the troubles that caused the flood. He chose one nation in all the earth to become a beacon of light to the all the peoples. The Torah speaks of this hope. The prophets sing of his redemption. And in the fullness of time God came to this earth born of Mary. He lived among a family within a community. He worked with his hands alongside his uncles and cousins. He grew in knowledge of man and of God. He lived with us. He showed us what life with God truly is as he made it his custom to worship with his community. As he withdrew to isolated places to pray. And as he ministered to the needs of those around him. He showed us real life as he lifted the veil and renewed the song of creation in our ears.
The crowds responded and cheered hosannah blessed is the one who comes in name of the Lord. He is with us. But death and his children are will not go quietly. Within a week the cheers and the songs were muted. The veil was lowered once again. The injustice of humanity in their attempts to keep the peace, sentenced an innocent man to die. He suffered with us, for us. He knows our tears. He knows the anxiety, the depression, heartbreak, and betrayal. He knows pain. He knows death.
Death thought it swallowed the life. Death believed that the light was extinguished, entombed, and sealed behind a stone. But we have waited. We have longed. We have hoped.
Behold, this is our God. Death could not hold him, and the sting of death can no longer threaten us. Because God is with us. God is for us. He is Risen and we will rejoice in his salvation. He is risen and we will no longer be prey to fear. He is risen, we will no longer endure dishonor and we will not participate in injustice. Because all the peoples of the earth have access to the banquet of rich and flavorful meats. Our cups are filled with the most refreshing of drinks. The veil has been ripped and tossed to the side. Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, lives so that we can live with him!
He lives. Do we truly believe? Do we live in that reality or are we dwelling in the shadows of death? I pray that we believe. I pray that we will become a people loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and a people living the love of Christ with others. I pray that we will live in the light of Christ and not disillusioned by the fear the world seeks to bind us in. He lives and so do we.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 05, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili John 20:1–18 (ESV) 1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church March 29, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 3: Do you attend regularly the services of your church and participate in them actively? Do you prayerfully endeavor to minister, under the guidance of the Holy…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church March 15, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Ephesians 5:8–14 (ESV) 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
February 12, 2023
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Deuteronomy 30:15–20 (ESV)
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Today we have our reading from Deuteronomy. This book is that last book of the Pentateuch, or the last of the five books of Torah. Torah in Hebrew can mean different things. We usually think of Torah as the Law, but there are other meanings. Another word that can be used when translating Torah is directive. I know that this might be mincing words, but there are slight differences. When we think of law, certain images come to mind. Some of us might get the image of the police, a courtroom, maybe even a job. But what comes to mind when we consider the word directive? It comes across in our minds just a bit less harsh, a bit less scary. The reality of the two words is that there is not much difference. They both carry authority, they both give direction. It is just one usually has prescribed consequences.
Image if we were to go to Ikea, and we make a purchase of one of their products. We open the box only to find that there is some assembly required. We are in luck because there is a booklet included that has directions. We know what we are doing, we look at the pieces and we begin to put in screws and anchors. We continue for a while only to find that all of a sudden there is a piece that we cannot seem to get in. What will we do? We open that booklet and we consult the directions. We begin to take things apart and we begin to put this product together step by step, piece by piece. This the concept of directives. It gives a clear and concise method to get the desired results.
What would happen if that little booklet was considered Law instead of directives? This is how I want us to consider Torah today. There is a point where the directions listed in the Ikea package do become law. This is when something goes wrong and we call customer service to demand a replacement. They could examine our construction and determine that the directions were not followed and therefore they are not to be held liable for whatever failure may have occurred. When the directives are not followed, we are responsible for the consequences. We do not face a fine or a potential jail term when we overlook step five in the directions, but we also cannot accuse Ikea of a defective product.
We often look at scripture from the perspective of legality. This is not wrong because there are consequences to actions. But how does this affect our relationship with God?
Deuteronomy is in many ways a reteaching of God’s directives. The word Deuteronomy is from the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, and literally means copy or second law. When we read the other four books of Torah, we read about how we got to this place. Genesis speaks of creation and God’s purpose and mission for life. It continues to speak of human failure. But there is hope in Genesis because God does not give up on humanity even though it grieves him. We are deceived in the Garden of Eden by the serpent, or if we look at the word for serpent it could be translated as shining one or burning one. The word is like serpent because of the burning pain one receives when a person is bitten by a venomous snake. But these serpents of ancient days were often used to depict the ferocious power of God’s throne guards so in many ancient religious beliefs, the Serpent takes on a supernatural form. Adam and Eve were not just deceived by a snake, they were deceived by a shining one. They were deceived by a supernatural being that they believed to be a servant of the Most High God, but this servant was in rebellion and by its deception we skipped a step in the directions of God and faced the consequence of death. The curse of Adam is not original sin, but death. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, we are told, and the wage of sin is death.
Genesis continues. Humanity failed yet God does not give up. Two more times humanity rises and falls, the result of these failings were the flood and the confusion of the languages. And even through these failures, God remains true. God does not give up on humanity, instead God calls out of the nations of the earth one man through which God will reverse the failures of the Kingdoms of Men and restore what was once lost. From this point the Torah leaves the nations behind and focuses on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. From this point on God’s revelation comes not to all people but his directives are given to one nation, Israel. And Israel is given the task of being the light to the nations. They are given this task not because they are great in themselves, but because God chose to restore all people, all tribes, and all nations through them.
Genesis begins the story. Exodus continues the story. Leviticus, the book we often skip, we regard as being filled with a myriad of laws, but if we consider the teachings within those directives, we might be able to see them not as law, but as a conversation between a teacher and a student. Then there is the book of Numbers. The title of the book is a bit misleading, because it is not about math, but is instead, this book takes us from the mountain where God made a covenant with the nation of Israel, to the banks of the Jordan where they will soon enter the land promised to them.
The first five books of scripture are not merely law, but teaching. They teach us true humanity and direct us to live with and within creation. They direct us. And Deuteronomy is, in many ways, Moses retelling Israel their story, it is Moses encouraging the people of Israel to remember what they experienced and carry that into the next stage of life. Deuteronomy is the commencement address. You were once children in primary school, you moved on to secondary school and now that you are an adult you will face challenges and struggles. Remember what you were taught and embrace life.
In today’s reading Moses tells the people, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil” I find this verse interesting. Moses does not say I set before you today right and wrong, correct and incorrect. Instead, he says life and good, death and evil. We can interpret it as right and wrong, but does this really tell the whole story?
Life is a state of being, but it is more than being alive, it is a process. It is thriving. Death is also a state of being and a process. Death is the opposite of life both in the state of being and in the process. If life is thriving, death is withering. I rested on this verse a bit as I approached interacted with these words in prayer. And I considered these states and processes. I reflected on my own life, as I must come to grip with the reality that I am now encouraged by my doctor to watch what I eat. Am I still part of life or am I withering?
I am thankful that I have the background that I have. I grew up on a farm, I know livestock and plants. I know that the young heifers are full of life and energy. They are this weird mix of a calf and an adult cow still wanting to play and yet big enough to cause damage. They are full of life; they are thriving and yet their offspring are rarely the most desirable. Then there are the old cows, sometimes they are barely able to move. They look as if in any moment they just might fall over and break, yet these old cows will often produce wonderful offspring. We look at them as being at death’s door yet they thrive.
As we age, thriving takes on different forms. We might not have the energy we once had when we were teenagers, but that does not diminish our value. We often contribute more than we ever could. Moses begins this section not by saying I set before you right and wrong, but he says life and death. Thriving and withering. It is as if he is telling them, we have embarked on a journey together and now it is time for you to take the lead. If you continue as I have taught you, you will thrive, but if you are distracted and walk a different path, you will begin to wither.
Moses continues, “If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God , by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.”
If you obey the commandments. After is sat in prayer, contemplating the state of my life. I then began to reflect on the commandments. Throughout the Torah there are six hundred and thirteen laws or commandments. As I sat and considered all these laws, I mind was drawn back to a memory from when Kristy was in school. Kristy, as many of you know, is an artist. And artists often look at things in ways that people like me do not. When Kristy was in school many of her classmates were in their studios working on various things. During the studio time of their day I would often spend time with Kristy and her friends. We would talk and laugh. But I remember one of Kristy’s friends was working and I walked by and stopped. I was drawn into this work of art, captivated by it. It was a chair, a large formal chair. A chair that you might see sitting at the front of a church. And this ceremonial chair was covered with cones made from pages of a book, little spikes all over it. This friend, knew who I was and my back ground, she knew that I was a pastor, and she got a bit nervous when I took notice of her art. And I began to ask questions. She had cut pages out of the bible and curled them into these spike and glued them onto this chair, a chair that many members of the clergy would sit upon on a Sunday morning. I loved it. If I had money at the time I would have offered to purchase the chair from her but I was broke. This chair captivated my attention, and I remember asking her which book of scripture she used and begged her to tell me Leviticus. And I asked her how many spikes she had glued on, and she asked me why it mattered. This piece of art, a piece of art that was created to express the negative aspects of religion became a touchpoint where we could have a conversation. I encouraged her to try to get as close to six hundred and thirteen spikes as she could because that is how many laws there are in scripture. And we laughed.
I mention this chair because it looked horrific. It looked like a seat of torture, and yet there was beauty in it. Life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God…
We can use scripture as an instrument as death instead of life. This is why I encourage you to look at scripture as directives instead of law. It is not that I am encouraging you to sin, or to disregard the commandments but I want you to learn and be encouraged by them instead of tortured. If you were to look through the six hundred and thirteen laws, at first you might become overwhelmed. But there is beauty in them. They teach us how to live our lives together. They encourage us to live our lives in balance with nature and with our neighbors. The law, no, the teachings of God if we read them from the mindset of life instead of death can allow us to thrive.
I would love at this moment to go through each of these laws, all of them and explore them. But unfortunately, my son would like to eat sometime today so I will have to leave that for later. We know many of the laws though, we see them blasted all over social media. But have we actually stopped to consider what God is telling us through them? You might be surprised that most of the laws are not actually about sin. You might think of the kosher dietary laws because that is usually a group that we all remember because we do not follow them, but did you know that even though these were part of the law, it was not a sin? Uncleanness was not sin, but exactly what it sounds like health and hygiene. Most of the six hundred and thirteen laws of scripture are the equivalent of the CDC asking us to wash our hands during flu season.
But then there are some laws that seem more important than others. When we think of the law or the commandments what are the first things that come to mind. If you have been to church for any amount of time or if you are a fan of Charlton Heston then the Ten Commandments is the answer. I took a class when I was studying for my master’s degree that explored the ten commandments in depth. To most of us we look at these as a bunch of rules that tell us what we should not do. And yes, that is true, but there is a beauty to them. It might surprise you but the commandments, those ten commandments start a conversation, one that Jesus himself continued in his sermon on the mount. The command not to murder goes beyond the taking of a life, but it speaks to honoring and protecting life. And this is not simply life as the pro-life proponents might say, but life as Moses speaks in today’s passage. The command to not murder is a directive to engage in all the things that will encourage growth. We should not kill, but there are more steps involved, we should protect. We should protect because the person next to us as annoying as they might be, is a bearer of God’s Image. And to take their life is to say to God that we do not respect what was pronounces very good.
As Moses urges us to obey the commandments, he is telling us to stop focusing on ourselves and our own pleasures and passions, but to use those passions to promote continued growth within our communities. “Then you shall live and multiply.” When Jesus was being tested by the various religious leaders, he was asked what the most important commandment is. Jesus replied and said that We should love God with everything we are and all that we have. And to love our neighbor as ourselves. He went on to say that all the law and the prophets are built upon this. All the law hinges on that one teaching. Do not murder, because it is not loving your neighbor as yourself. How should we love our neighbor then? We to start, don’t kill them. But the next step is to encourage them. But how should we encourage them? This takes many forms, and it depends on who they are.
Moses urges us to obey the commandments and we will thrive, but he explains something else too. “But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish.” I want us to stop and think about this for a moment. Consider the command that Jesus gave us. What happens when we do not love our neighbor as ourselves? What happens when a husband does not love his wife as Christ loves the church? What happens when we fail to regard those around us better than we do ourselves? We begin to see things differently. They never give me what I want. They never do the things that I want to do. My needs are not fulfilled. And the list goes on. We begin to argue, we begin to fight. We begin to take people to court demanding that we get what we deserve. This is not always wrong, but is it thriving? Is it promoting life? It sounds a bit shriveled, dry, and dead. It sounds a bit like a chair of spikes instead of a love seat.
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days.”
Imagine, Moses standing on a hill above the valley of the Jordan. Imagine the entire camp of Israel looking at the lush land below. They are peering into their future, a land flowing with milk and honey. A future filled with hope and security. And their leader stands before them with possibility as a backdrop, and he says set before you is life and death, blessing and curse. You get to choose one as you journey forward. You can choose Life or death. Thriving or withering. Blessing or curse.
We can look at the Torah as God’s law or we can look at it as his directives. They both have authority, but they have a different approach. One dictates and the other converses. One discourages and the other encourages. One brings death and the other promotes life. Paul speaks about the law in his letter to the Romans. He says that he would not have known what it is to covet apart from the law, but once he knew that law, sin seized the opportunity and produced in him all kinds of covetousness. And he says, “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” How can the commandment promise life but instead bring death?
We choose. Will we encourage, or be consumed with fulfilling our own desires? Will we demand, or will we bless? Close your eyes for a moment and look over the valley that is the promised land. The future, your future is right there within your grasp. Israel walked into that promised land. They claimed it and took possession of it. And they almost immediately turned from the God that brought them out of the land of slavery. They cycled through blessings and curses and have their entire history. And the prophets cried out that it is not sacrifices but justice that God desires. So quickly we turn what is beautiful into something of torture. And why? We are deceived, and we are misguided. We want to be right so badly, that we forget to live. And suddenly a chair that brought rest, becomes a throne of pain. We are standing on the hill overlooking the promised land of our future. Each of us will walk into that land, but we will each have a different experience.
Shortly after Moses spoke these words to Israel, he turned to his friend Joshua and said, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in… Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Moses then turned to all of Israel with Joshua at his side and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers…It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
We are looking over the hilltop into the future. What will our future hold? Life or death, blessing or curse, thriving or withering. The choice is ours. While we were still enemies of God, Paul tell us, Christ died for us. While we were living under the dominion of deception, Christ, God incarnate, took on human flesh, lived a complete human life and took our penalty. He suffered injustice, ridicule and shame, for us and with us. And he did it so that we could walk into our future without fear. Because God so loved the world that he gave his only unique son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Eventually each of us will pass beyond the veil of life, and meet death, but that does not mean we cease. We can thrive even as we die. We can be an encouragement, even as we breathe our last breath.
As we leave this meeting for worship, as we move back out into our community and our homes, we are taking steps into that future we have just gazed upon in our mind’s eye. We go into that land with everything we need for the future we have chosen. That does not mean that we can conjure up the power to claim the riches of the world as a blessing for ourselves. No. that is not what Life with God is about. We have everything we need to live the life we choose. We can leave here today, as an instrument of God’s blessing to others, or we can exit these doors and embody the curse. Which will you choose. Will you love God, embrace the Holy Spirit, and live the love of Christ with others? Or will you walk into that future set before you with fear?
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
July 11, 2021
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Mark 6:14–29 (ESV)
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter 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 to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
This past week I have thought a great deal about life. I was back on the farm helping my dad. When making various trips and while in the field the farm life allows for a great deal of introspection. When you are traveling at a top speed of twenty miles per hour, you have time to think.
King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. This phrase had stuck out to me this week. Why would anyone even mention it? Of course, Jesus’ name was making its way across the land and into the local seats of power.
As I was making the various slow trips across the plains of Kansas, I began thinking about Herod. We know him as a king, and when we hear the word king our mind begins to come up with mental images that are filled with grand extravagance. But I want us to consider what Herod was the king of.
To call Herod a king is a bit of a stretch and I think the gospel writers used that term as much in jest as anything. This particular Herod is Antipas, the son of Herod the Great. Herod the Great was an actual king. When Herod the Great died his kingdom was divided among various heirs because Israel, while being semi-autonomous, were under Roman authority.
Herod Antipas wanted to be king. At one point in time, he was the sole heir of the entire kingdom of Herod the Great but his desire for power proved to be his undoing. Herod the Great, was by all secular accounts an effective ruler. He had the support of the people and when necessary, he would stamp out rebellion quickly and efficiently. The problem was that he had too much influence. Israel has never been large, yet when they have a ruler that is wise, they have had influence that far exceeds their size. Herod the Great had a great deal of influence. That amount of power in such a small area under Roman jurisdiction posed a threat to the influence of Rome, so when he died the only accepted transition of power was to divide the territory into smaller parts. Herod Antipas was given Galilee and Peraea.
This is interesting. If you were to look at a map Antipas was given a decent inheritance, but the areas he ruled were not continuous. The area known as the Decapolis was in between Galilee and Peraea. This division was purposeful, because the politicians in Rome knew Antipas could have been as effective as his father in ruling Israel.
But how did the Herodian dynasty get power in the first place? Herod the great was Idumean, or an Edomite, not Jewish. He became the governor of Galilee because he had great connections. He used his influence to spread the influence of Rome, as well as honoring the people. He would use brutal force to stamp out rebellion, but quickly after he would bring in wonderous building projects like expanding the Temple. He also used his influence and connections to gain greater influence in Israel, by marrying into the Hasmonean family. This family was recognized as the royal family of the Jews because their ancestors were able to Israel to gain their independence from the Greeks. The Herod family although foreigners, became converts to the Jewish faith to some degree. They were able to use religion, might, and political cunning to maintain relative peace.
Some in Israel accepted their rule, while others still saw them as foreigners, and this is why there is a group of religious leaders known as Herodians. They agreed with how Herod and his family used religion and government to accomplish what is necessary.
This method of rule had its problems. It is impossible to govern in both spheres completely. At some point you will offend religious leaders because you are too secular and you will offend those not of similar religious faith by giving in to the religious.
King Herod, the want to be King Herod heard of Jesus’ growing influence, and it caused him concern. It caused concern because of how Herod lived his life.
Antipas used whatever was necessary to ensure his influence. When he wanted to be seen as religious, he would act pious. He had scholars at hand to assist him in speaking to the religious, but he was not too concerned with living a pious life.
Today’s passage begins with Jesus’ name, but then it goes into something else. It begins to speak about Herod’s guilt. If we were to look at a historical timeline of ministry, Jesus and John the Baptist ministered at approximately the same time. John began and built his influence, and shortly after Jesus began his public ministry, John was arrested and executed. It would almost appear as if Jesus did not fully engage in ministry until after John was executed. I think this is important because it gives us a fuller understanding of scripture. We know John as the forerunner, as the witnesses, as a prophet like Elijah. All these things have messianic and apocalyptic meanings.
When Jesus’ name was becoming known and some began to say that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead, and that Jesus could also be Elijah, or a prophet. Antipas had his own understanding. He said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” We are then told the circumstances of that execution.
Herod Antipas, although accepted as a Jewish leader by many, was not the greatest example of piety. Antipas had a problem; he was married to his brother’s wife. The whole Herod family is a bit twisted. The wife in question was not only his brother’s former wife but was also his niece. Herodias was the last living member of the Hasmonean royal family, the daughter of Antipas’s half-brother. Since she was the last member of this family, who she was married to could claim to be the ruler of the Jewish people. We are not told exactly why the divorce happened, but we can infer that Herodias was a power seeker. Her first husband Herod the second was the one that was to inherit the kingdom, but when Herod the second got caught in a scandal he was removed from the will. Then suddenly Herodias divorces and marries the most likely son of Herod to unite the kingdom again.
It was not the fact that she was his niece that caused the problem, but that she was the wife of his brother. John the Baptist did not mince words in this. He referenced Levitical law to support his stance. This law states that a man should not marry his brother’s wife because it will reveal his brother’s nakedness. The wording of these laws confuses us because they use wording that we do not understand. Nakedness does not necessarily mean what we think, it can mean something like honor and dishonor, so to marry your brother’s wife dishonors your brother by publicly revealing his lack of honor. When John condemned the marriage, we could see it as being a condemnation based on honor and respect. Philip, or Herod the second, was removed from the will and by Antipas taking his wife adds more dishonor to him by dishonoring of his brother.
To dishonor his brother, is to dishonor God. Throughout scripture we are told that God places people in or allows for positions of power. When Herod the second lost his position, it was God’s will. Antipas by marrying Herodias while her husband, his brother, lived was not only dishonoring his brother but was joining his brother in God’s displeasure. It could be seen that God did not want the continuation of the Hasmonean linage of power, so when Antipas married Herodias, they were attempting to circumvent God’s will.
There are other interpretations to this Levitical law as well. Some scholars believe that Leviticus was not written as law for all people of Israel, but for the priests and kings. When a leader of God’s people participated in actions condemned by Levitical law, it was a sign that they did not have the integrity to be a leader of the people. Antipas married his brother’s wife; therefore, he was condemned from holding the position he desired. He could not be king.
The point I am getting at is that John struck a nerve in Herod’s life. Antipas wanted to be king, he wanted to be the king of the Jewish people. He married a woman whose linage would give him greater standing in that area, but issues remained. He wanted to be seen in one manner, while living another. He sought to silence the voice that was calling out his hypocrisy. Just when he thought he had silenced that voice, another name is heard. Another voice proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is at hand. When the name of Jesus comes to the courts of Antipas, he is struck by guilt.
We all have areas of hypocrisy. Our leaders have areas of hypocrisy. What do we do with this? Antipas sold out. His desire for power and influence trumped his faith. And ultimately his quest for power lead to his complete loss of power and exile, and he died with nothing. Another king in Israel’s history also used his power to gain things that were not his. A king by the name of David. David’s lawless actions were also called out by a prophet of God, but the story ended differently. We do not look at the name of David with the same disdain as we do Herod even though David was just as bad as Antipas.
David committed adultery, and as a result he committed an act of murder to cover up his indiscretions. The difference is Herod killed the voice and David repented. David was willing to accept any judgement God bestowed on him and Herod tried to outmaneuver God. Even though Antipas respected John’s righteousness and believed that John was a holy man, he was willing to kill to silence that voice. And when Herod began to hear the name of Jesus, Herod Antipas was plagued by guilt and fear because he realized that the voice of God was still speaking out against his actions.
What do we do when we are faced with our own sin? What do we do when it is revealed to us that our actions and our words do not reflect the life we claim to live? How do we respond to those among us who are living hypocrisy in their own lives? Are we willing to sell out our faith for power or are we willing to lay down our power for the sake of our faith?
We all sell out. Antipas sold his life and reputation for power and influence, and he lost both. And he died with nothing. David sold his power and influence to gain a restoration of his life and reputation. We all sell out. We are all willing to give our lives for something. What are we giving up and what do we gain? John cried out to those in the wilderness to repent. Jesus also encourages us to repent, to turn around and walk on a different path. Jesus shows us what that path is.
He made it his custom to worship God, in the community. He withdrew often to pray in isolated places. And he ministered to the needs of those around him. He called and commissioned his disciples to Love God in worship, to embrace the Spirit in prayer, and to live the love he showed with other. Jesus is calling us to walk a different path. But he does not call us to do it on our own. Antipas sought to gain everything on his own and in the end he lost. We will lose too without Christ. Jesus came to show us what life with God is like, and he also shows us what life without God is like. Antipas wanted to silence Jesus as well, He participated in the execution of Jesus on the cross. The wages of sin is death. Each of us will eventually have to pay those wages. But death could not hold Jesus, he takes on our death and restores life to those who entrust their lives to him. Antipas sold out. He sold his life for fame and fortune. Jesus calls us to sell out too, but he is calling us to something greater. Life with Jesus does not end with death but we will live with him, for he is the resurrection and the life. How will we respond?
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