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A Powerful Memory

Rev. Jeremy J. Schultz
July 12, 2009

Memories are powerful. And they are something that we all possess. You may remember the thrill of catching your first fish. Or you may just remember baiting the hook. You may recall the awe of being at your first baseball game. You may remember the way your wife looked as she walked down that aisle. Whatever they are, memories sure are powerful.

Without question, the events of today will be a powerful memory in the minds of Vicar Todd and Kelly Liefer. The kindness and love of Jesus Christ that they feel through all of you will make an impression that will stay with them forever. But I want you to know that there is something that our new vicar and I share...and that is memories. You see, God has in His wisdom seen fit to give us a Vicar who is from my hometown and my home church. My dad was his pastor and I'm sure that means that 22 years ago I was at his baptism. Now Vicar Todd remembers a sermon that I preached 11 years ago at my first parish. That must have been a good one! I remember seeing your sister, Melissa, perform in the spaghetti dinner plays that the youth group used to put on. And though Vicar, you are too young to remember the Cardinals World Series title in 1982, I know you remember their victory in 2006! Memories are powerful.

Today's Gospel reading recalls the powerful memory of a very weak man. King Herod has heard about the activity of Jesus Christ because the name of Jesus has become so well known. Now everybody is saying the same thing about Jesus. They're saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead." And Herod is saying that too. But there's one more thing that Herod adds. Herod says, "John the Baptist, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead." Thus our reading takes a detour away from the preaching and teaching and sending work of our Lord here in Mark 6 to this powerful memory of the King.

The news of Jesus brought it all back. Herod had sinned greatly in taking his brother's wife as his own. Can you imagine? John the Baptist couldn't. And John preaches against this very visible sin. Now John's preaching didn't so much rile as it did intrigue Herod. Herod was curious about John. But his new wife couldn't stand it. So seizing her opportunity for weakness in her husband, she had her daughter dance seductively until in front of all the court he promised her up to half of his kingdom. And that's when Momma made her move. "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." And that's what he did. He did not want to, but he did it anyway. That's because Herod remains faithful to his own word instead of responding faithfully to the saving word of God that was being proclaimed through John.

Thus John has lost his head, but gained the kingdom; Herod has saved his face, but lost his soul. And Herod is haunted by this powerful memory of sin.

Our memories are also powerful. And they come back at unexpected times. Walking the hallways of your old high school might suddenly bring back memories of bullying that you now regret. Hollering at your children might bring back the memory of a mom or dad hollering at you. There are times when, like Herod, we have sought to silence God's word in favor of our own and it has produced memories that are hard to forget and even harder to live with. So our sin can haunt us as we recall that one moment of weakness, that one word we cannot take back, that one night we lost our purity, that one day we lost our temper. These memories are powerful. And the thought of them make us tremble before the Almighty God.

Yet in the midst of such haunting memories, there is the stirring story of Christ. This detour into the memory of King Herod is only that – a detour. Mark's Gospel has just described the sending of the 12 with the authority of Jesus to preach and heal and it will soon continue with the return of those disciples and the report of all they had done and taught. But locked in the middle of all this is King Herod and the account of His past transgression. Undoubtedly it's a day that he'd like to forget but can't. If only he would see Jesus for who He truly is then everything would be changed – everything would be different. Because you see what's so much greater than the mind that vexes and perplexes is the redemptive work of Christ that will set one free! This trouble of King Herod is placed right in the middle of the work of Jesus Christ as He is on His way to the cross. He will soon feed five thousand, cast an evil spirit out of a foreign woman, heal a man who is deaf and mute. He will restore sight to the blind, show Himself to be the fulfillment of all the Scriptures and eventually go to the cross where the memory of sin will be wiped clean away.

Know today that Jesus is continuing this work among you. Although it's a sad and unfortunate thing that Herod completely missed this powerful work of God, the glorious fact is that you do not. Regardless of what sin you bring with you today. No matter what memories may haunt you. You have come into a place where the redeeming love of Christ is being held out and given to you. The Bible says in Romans 8, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Christ was crucified to the cross in your place. He was set there because of your transgressions. And because He has, you have been set free. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." What a profound new memory this now evokes.

Christ says in the Psalms, "As far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed your sins from me." The Lord says through the prophet Isaiah, "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sin no more." You see – we tend to remember. We remember the past troubles and sorrows that our sins have caused. But Christ does not. He calls you to repentance. He listens to your confession. He forgives you your sins and then He takes them as far away from you as you could possible imagine and shuts them up in the grave from which He came!

Vicar, as a pastor someday, you're going to get to help Christ's people remember these things. And already as a Vicar, you're going to get to distribute the Lord's Supper as a means of grace in remembrance of Him. May God bless all of you, His precious people, so that you are continually awakened to the memory of sins forgiven and hope and salvation in Jesus Christ! There's nothing more powerful. Amen.