Where is God?

          Where is God when these things happen? Where is God when your building collapses into itself in the middle of the night? Or when storms threaten, fires consume, pandemics linger, children are shot right in your car, home, playing outside? Where is God when your life takes a complete 180 from what it is supposed to be? Sure, your Bible says God is so good, but why not stop this suffering before it happens, before our hearts are wounded beyond repair?

          To be honest, there’s nothing that can be said which will give an answer you want, the kind of answer that will make everything all good again. Trite answers are hateful, centered in the self which says it wants to help but really doesn’t want to share the pain. If that’s all there is, then the kindest thing is to shut your mouth.

          Jesus knew what this was like though. Everyone knows, at least in their heads, that death is inevitable. But when it’s too soon, too horrific, too much of what you never saw coming, it’s too much. It happened when his best support was gone off on a mission and when he was not around to do anything about it. So where was God? Not there like you want God to be.

Truth to Power

          Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, had been his one-man advance team, the voice in the wilderness prophet calling people to repent, reverse their lives and passions towards that which God would have them be. The Kingdom of God he called it, and he said it was close, real close, like here and now. Eccentric though he seemed, JTB must have had a charisma that drew people into the desert to hear him speak and along small rivers to be baptized into that new kind of living. When Jesus showed up on the scene, JTB had been saying someone greater than he was coming, so great that he wasn’t worthy to untie his sandals as a servant would do for his boss. John’s baptism of Jesus confirmed for both of them Jesus as Son of God. (Mark 1:1-11)

          But John’s message of reversal wasn’t directed only to the average populace. He’d zeroed in on Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. Herod, like his father, had little to no morals or empathetic heart for others. If he wanted something, move out of the way. Yet when he’d married his brother’s wife, an adulterous act according to Jewish law, a line was drawn in the desert sand. JTB criticized Herod, which made Herod not only look bad in front of the people he ruled, but also put JTB in the crosshairs of the woman involved, Herodias.

          Understand this wasn’t just messing with religious condemnation here. John’s message of intolerance for what was outside the moral law, even as it was directed against a corrupt political regime, also did not endear him to the religious leaders. Sure, their job was to keep people in line with the Hebraic law, but everyone knew they only had position because Rome allowed it. So an attack on a political figure would not go well for them either. John was a lone ranger in this, the only one who dared speak truth to power. Call it a mistake, but it also meant he was a marked man.

Don’t Kill the Messenger, Please.

          The funny thing is, Herod kind of liked John. He saw in John a holy man, but even as he found him interesting, Herod also was disturbed by him. For Herod, John was a baffling mystery, a puzzle this weak-headed man couldn’t quite figure out. Knowing though he couldn’t just let John’s criticisms ride, Herod placed John in protective custody. It sent a message that this outspoken censure wasn’t permitted, but it also kept him safely away from the one who really wanted JTB dead, Herodias. The mechanisms of government worked as they were designed, for the benefit of those with power.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, Right?

          Sooner or later, things catch up with you. It’s Herod birthday, time to party. Herod invites those who work for him, the influencers and power brokers who can get done whatever Herod wants when he wants it. At the tables are the political chiefs, the military commanders, and commercial business citizenry, all who grease the wheels of power. You know what it was like: lots of fancy food, ample wine, back-patting, slurred speech, inside jokes. Good time was had by all.

          Festivities must include entertainment. This one was a bit of a shocker. Herod’s daughter dances for the crowd. She’s young, too young to be at this kind of party. There are some differing perspectives as to what happened. Some would like to think she performed the dance she learned for her ballet recital. Let’s just say this display would not be the best for this venue, but they put up with how Herod was a proud father of his little girl’s accomplishments. Or, if you follow baser instincts, what they were given was an under-age pole dance. Either way, drunk with alcohol-fed pride and/or lust, Herod reads the room’s delight and plays Big Daddy to her with a reward of anything she wants, even to half his kingdom.

          Poor child, either too naïve or too simple to know when she’s being used, she runs and requests the advice of the original Maleficent, her mother Herodias. (No new car for this kid.) Herodias sees her chance: get John the Baptist’s head. Oh, she’s momma’s girl, rushing not only back to Herod to make her wish known, but adding to Herodias’ sick desire. “John the Baptist’s head, right now, on a platter!” Herod delivered.

Evil Has Its Day

          So that’s where you leave it. JTB dies for the stupidest reason you can find. The good die young is probably your best take on this, right? This Kingdom of God is a fairy tale, a mirage, a ploy to keep the lid on things so when all hell breaks loose, people can say there’s a reason for it. You don’t think anyone will see through that when this happens all around us?

          Recognize what it is. Herod protected John until it was more important to protect himself. Backing away from his promise would not only make him look bad in front of people he needed to keep in his pocket, he needed to show he wasn’t afraid to eliminate any who challenged him. JTB was an easy target for that.

          But the bigger story here is how dysfunction, pride, power-centered positions feed into the kind of evil that dismisses what must be done as unfortunate. When the real state of a building’s condition, the impact of a virus, the costs of lifestyles on climate, or the right to own firearms despite access to the criminal are minimized, well then, these things happen. Evil is hidden in the ordinary practices of life that go unexamined except when it rears its ugliness exposed in tragedy. The kingdom of God opposes such practices and happens in the daily interchange of relationship and the love of neighbor.

An End of Innocence Paradox

          So while prophets may speak truth to power, know it also can get you killed. JTB’s story was not the first or last time a prophet of truth was eliminated. You might not like this story or how it is graphically told, but you know worst than this. If anything, the record of Jesus’ life does not shy away and only offer trite statements of faith, pie in the sky, believe and all will go well for you promises. Complications, hitches, knock-downs are part of the journey. Snipers are out there. Plan for them. When victory comes, it’s sweet. But never is it assured.

So Where Is God?

          Meanwhile, Jesus, Son of God, lost his best friend and advocate to the very system that would finish him off. John’s bloody demise only foreshadowed what Jesus would know. Their fates were intertwined.

          Evil may have its day. Foundations of security and expectations collapse. The unthinkable will happen again. Ironically, when Herod heard about Jesus, he believed John had resurrected from the dead, that one holy man followed another. He got that half right.

God always comes back even when you think all is lost and dead.

Mark 6:14-29