The Disguise of Evil
As
if the image of John the Baptist’s head on a platter isn’t startling enough, I
thought I’d recall an image from the Revelation of John to sort of kick things
off this morning! While we are at it,
might as well swing for the fences, right?!
I would imagine that
the most memorable image in the Book of Revelation are the four riders of the
apocalypse. There is a rider on a white
horse, a red horse, a black horse, and a pale horse. The red, black, and pale horses represent the
horrible evil our world accommodates—war, pestilence or disease, famine, and
death. And then there is the white horse who represents Christ the King. Revelation talks about the white horse riding
out to conquer the evils of this world.
One biblical
commentator, Eugene Peterson, suggests that the white horse is ripping the
disguise off of the evil powers of this world.
I believe Peterson is suggesting that humanity has normalized or
sanitized evil and has become immune to how ugly it is on the inside no matter
how alluring on the outside. We cover
evil up with quick fixes and temporary solutions—we indulge ourselves in the
false promises of this world that seem tempting on the front end but only leave
us empty in the end.
We do these things
because we have this idea that our problems will go away if we can’t see, hear,
or smell them. It’s kind of like trying
to cover up cigarette smoke with perfume and gum. It just doesn’t work. The only person you are fooling is
yourself. And if we are really good at
covering up or hiding evil, then we start to normalize that kind of behavior
and justify our actions.
And I strongly believe
that without the good news of Jesus Christ, we will continue to normalize and run
and hide from evil living by the illusion that we can escape the evil powers of
this world. But like Jesus says in a
parable, we are only setting ourselves up to be caught unprepared when the
bridegroom comes like a thief in the night.
Like John the Baptist
says, the first step in recognizing that the kingdom of heaven has come near is
recognizing the things that are preventing us from living in this new
world. The first step is recognizing how
much we depend on evil and sin to survive in this often cruel world. And so in the Book of Revelation, we see that
Christ is doing us a favor by helping us recognize the horrors we bless and
depend on for survival.
Perhaps an example will
help. Peterson refers to the black horse
and says it like this “we disguise sickness or disease with technology.” He cites evidence that says with the rise of
technology there has also been a decline in our heath. He also states a startling truth that says
that the nations with the greatest access to medical care are the sickest. We have a pill or a procedure for everything
and ultimately delay the dealing with the fact that we are damaging our bodies
beyond repair like an athlete who destroys himself with steroids.
Ultimately, the good
news is giving us the courage to name honestly those things that distract us
from putting our life and health and salvation in the hands of Jesus
Christ. Christ is helping us see that
living a life according to sin is destructive not only to oneself but to the
entire community.
As I have needed in my
own life, Christ has put people in my life to help me rip the disguise off the
sin I have normalized or sanitized. And
the good news says there is a way to live beyond the evil we give so much power
to, evil that is ultimately powerless before Christ the King. In the end, I believe the only power evil has
is the power we give to evil. Evil can
only survive if we feed the beast. So
stop feeding the beast, right? If only
it were that simple!
In today’s Gospel
lesson, we see how hard it can be to resist feeding the beast especially when
you are the one with all the power. King
Herod throws himself a birthday party and because his daughter dazzles the
crowd with her dancing, Herod promises her whatever she wants—even half of the
kingdom, he says. But when Herod’s
daughter Herodias (or Salome) announces she wants John the Baptist’s head on a
platter, Herod becomes conflicted.
For starters, Herod
likes having John the Baptist around. He
is kind of like the king’s rabbit’s foot—his good luck charm. But even more, a part of Herod likes to
listen to John. A part of Herod, as
pathetic as he is, desires to know the truth of God as spoken through John. But will these things contend with competing
interests?
First of all, king or
no king, Herod is a father whose daughter is a princess. And like any father, he will do anything for
his daughter. Even more, Herod is a
politician and must follow up on his promises (enter silent joke here). Herod can’t let the crowd down now. He must be true to his word. It is all about who has the most power.
So Herod, when you boil
everything down, has two choices. He can
go on living like he has always lived and sacrifice one more innocent person at
the expense of his power trip. Or Herod can
completely upset everything he has ever known.
He can lose his throne, his wife, his daughter, and his power all to
save one wild haired hippie who doesn’t seem to know when to be quiet.
I don’t have to tell you that Herod chose to
feed the beast. He continues to satisfy
his insatiable appetite for power. While
I doubt any of you have been presented with this level of conflict, I do
challenge you to consider how Herod’s dilemma looks like your own dilemma. How is your craving for power getting in the
way of you hearing the truth of God?
Think of it like this. What idols are you prone to worship? Tim Keller defines an idol by saying, “It is
anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you
seek to give you what only God can give.”
So what in your life is consuming you more than the love of God? Work? Money? Success? Family? Sports? Gossip?
People pleasing? Food? Drink? And how
has worshiping these false gods become normal or sanitized by you and/or
society?
Well, I have bad news,
worse news, and good news. The bad news is
that if you admit to worshiping false idols and turn to God, then you have
before you a spiritual journey that will be a little messy and chaotic—you may
even lose people and possessions you love but you can only go up from
there. But there is worse news, if you
don’t admit to idol worship or don’t admit that it is destroying life, then
your luck will soon run out and you will be left as no better than a beggar.
But there is good
news. Jesus is telling us that we don’t
have to live worshiping dumb idols, we don’t have to set ourselves on a path to
eventual destruction. We can put our
trust in something that lasts—even if that means upsetting the way our life has
always been.
But again there is good
news, we are promised that even as heaven and earth and reality as you know it falls
apart, the eternal truth of God’s Word will never fade away. And we can trust the eternal truth of God’s
Word because the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, died and has risen to new life.
There is more good news
(I feel like I am running an infomercial).
Jesus is revealing to you that you don’t have to hide or minimize
evil. In fact, you can stare evil and
sin in the face and say, “you are powerless over the love we know in Christ who
has defeated even death and the grave.”
You can stare evil in the face and have confidence to say, “Do your
worst. Christ is my health and
salvation.”
The good news is that
we don’t have to feed the beast.
Instead, we can let the eternal truth of God in Christ feed us and make
us whole. We can let the one who has
defeated the beast once and for all feed us and give us a life where power
comes not from our mortal hands but from God Almighty.
Ultimately, the good
news gives us mortals the perspective we need.
The good news of Christ helps us see the bigger picture, helps us see
that war and famine and disease and death do not have the final word. God has given us reason to endure and
persevere; God has given us the bigger picture in the person of Jesus Christ
who rides out victoriously beyond the powers of this world that threaten our
livelihood and leads us into a world where the power of temptation cannot hold
a candle to the power we are given in eternal life through Christ Jesus our
Lord. Amen.
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