WEBVTT 00:01.100 --> 00:05.200 Grace, mercy and peace to you from God, our Father and from our Lord 00:05.200 --> 00:06.800 and Savior Jesus Christ. 00:07.500 --> 00:08.000 Amen. 00:09.700 --> 00:13.800 When Christ calls a man, he bids him 00:13.800 --> 00:14.400 come 00:15.700 --> 00:16.700 and die. 00:18.300 --> 00:23.100 So began the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "The Cost of 00:23.100 --> 00:24.400 Discipleship." 00:24.900 --> 00:30.600 And on this first day of class, as we welcome you to the Seminary, 00:30.800 --> 00:36.000 we're hearing a little bit about death in the death of John, the 00:36.000 --> 00:43.400 baptizer, welcome to Chapel. But I would submit to you this morning 00:44.600 --> 00:45.900 that, that's why you're here. 00:47.300 --> 00:51.200 That's what you've come to learn to do. 00:53.000 --> 00:55.000 To listen to Christ bidding 00:56.100 --> 00:58.400 and to come and die. 00:59.300 --> 01:04.400 There were lots of moments for me when I began Seminary. 01:04.500 --> 01:10.500 And some of those moments continue even to this day of coming and 01:10.500 --> 01:17.100 dying. But one of my favorite memories is especially brought to mind 01:17.100 --> 01:24.700 this morning as we hear this story of John, the Baptizer. I was is I 01:24.700 --> 01:29.900 was a second year Student in the class of the now sainted, Dr. 01:29.900 --> 01:37.000 Norman Nagel, it was the class on holy baptism. And Dr. 01:37.000 --> 01:43.100 Nagle had this, this tradition in his class. He would call students 01:43.200 --> 01:48.300 one by one over the course of the semester to hold what is called 01:48.300 --> 01:55.100 protocol. To stand before, once classmates and to summarize the lesson 01:55.300 --> 02:01.700 that came in the previous class session and perhaps perhaps provide 02:01.700 --> 02:03.000 some way forward 02:03.000 --> 02:11.400 for today's classroom discussion. The best students, we're simple. 02:12.400 --> 02:17.400 They just summarize the class session before them and and they made 02:17.400 --> 02:19.200 points from the profound 02:19.200 --> 02:22.700 but simple small catechism. 02:23.700 --> 02:29.000 Nagel loved the Small Catechism because it revolved around Jesus. 02:29.700 --> 02:34.100 And yet I decided I was going to get a little fancy. 02:35.900 --> 02:41.400 I decided that I was going to put a ton of work into my presentation, 02:41.500 --> 02:43.800 oh it was going to be brilliant. 02:43.800 --> 02:47.900 There would be something for the exegetes and a little something for 02:47.900 --> 02:49.800 those more systematically inclined. 02:49.800 --> 02:53.300 There'd be a little history and of course, plenty of practical 02:54.100 --> 02:55.000 flourish. 02:56.500 --> 02:59.300 Well, I finished my brilliant presentation 03:00.600 --> 03:01.900 and there was silence. 03:03.700 --> 03:07.000 Doctor Nagel stood up from the back of the classroom. 03:08.300 --> 03:15.600 Slowly deliberately one foot after another back 03:16.000 --> 03:19.600 bent, eyes closed. 03:20.600 --> 03:23.100 And then he spoke. 03:25.100 --> 03:31.100 What was our brothers fatal flaw? 03:35.100 --> 03:42.800 Little death, the right then and there. All of my pride shriveled up 03:43.500 --> 03:46.000 popped, punctured. 03:47.000 --> 03:49.900 What was our brothers fatal flaw? 03:50.200 --> 03:54.400 Oops, guess I didn't get an A for this assignment. 03:55.800 --> 03:59.700 Maybe you've had such an experience in the classroom. 04:00.800 --> 04:05.800 You thought the answer that you had when you raised your hand or the 04:05.800 --> 04:09.500 paper that you had submitted was brilliant. 04:10.700 --> 04:16.700 Only to find out quite the contrary. In our text this morning that was 04:16.700 --> 04:17.500 just read. 04:17.500 --> 04:22.500 It seems to me that there are at least two kinds of death that take 04:22.500 --> 04:23.000 place. 04:23.200 --> 04:27.600 The more obvious one is the one that happens to John the Baptizer and 04:27.600 --> 04:29.200 we'll deal with that one momentarily. 04:29.200 --> 04:35.000 But first I want to focus on Herod. Herod, 04:36.400 --> 04:40.100 you know the story, you heard it just a moment ago, but a quick recap. 04:40.100 --> 04:41.300 Herod had imprisoned 04:41.300 --> 04:44.800 John and John had spoken truth to power. 04:45.100 --> 04:49.100 John had told Herod that, it was not lawful for Herod to sleep with 04:49.100 --> 04:55.100 his brother's wife Herodias and this enraged Herodias, but Herod, 04:55.100 --> 04:58.700 evidently had a soft spot in his heart for John. 04:59.400 --> 05:04.700 Mark, the Evangelist records quote when Herod heard John, Herod was 05:04.700 --> 05:05.800 greatly perplexed 05:06.000 --> 05:09.700 and yet he heard him gladly. 05:10.800 --> 05:14.100 So it was that after Herodias daughter had aroused Herod 05:14.100 --> 05:19.400 and his guests. Herod stupidly, pledged to give her anything up to half 05:19.400 --> 05:20.500 of his kingdom. 05:21.300 --> 05:24.900 When Herodias goaded her daughter to ask for, John's head on a 05:24.900 --> 05:25.600 platter. 05:25.900 --> 05:27.500 It says in our Gospel. 05:27.500 --> 05:29.300 Listen to these words about Herod. 05:29.700 --> 05:34.100 The King was exceedingly, sorry. 05:36.000 --> 05:41.400 He had an opportunity, an opportunity to die to self. An opportunity, 05:41.400 --> 05:44.400 to heed the word of John and to repent. 05:45.100 --> 05:52.600 Instead, what died that day was what little faith Herod had still in 05:52.600 --> 05:57.400 The Baptizer's words. The scene of an erotic dance for some cheap 05:57.400 --> 05:59.800 thrills that resulted in the beheading 06:00.000 --> 06:05.800 of a man that many had held to be a prophet is a tragic, but very 06:05.800 --> 06:08.800 real picture of what Dr. 06:08.800 --> 06:16.300 Voelz in his commentary calls, life outside the reign and rule of God under 06:16.300 --> 06:19.000 the fallen and resistful 06:19.000 --> 06:22.300 rebellion of man. 06:24.200 --> 06:26.400 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ. 06:26.400 --> 06:32.200 It doesn't take long for you and me to look at our lives to look at 06:32.200 --> 06:37.900 our thoughts, our words, our deeds, and to realize that they are not 06:37.900 --> 06:44.100 in line with the rule and reign of God. Maybe like me in Doctor 06:44.100 --> 06:44.900 Nagle's class. 06:44.900 --> 06:47.700 It's your pride that swells up 06:47.900 --> 06:51.900 as you raise your hand to make some brilliant point. 06:53.100 --> 07:00.000 It's amazing how people who are studying the almighty one and only 07:00.000 --> 07:06.900 true God how quickly they can forget his first commandment to put no 07:06.900 --> 07:08.900 other gods above him. 07:10.700 --> 07:16.800 The fallen and resist full reign and rule of self, is the opposite of 07:16.800 --> 07:23.200 the self-giving, gracious rule and reign of God in Christ Jesus. 07:24.400 --> 07:27.000 Maybe it's not your pride in the classroom that must die 07:27.000 --> 07:31.800 but rather you are mistaken, thoughts, and beliefs. Part of the 07:31.800 --> 07:36.700 Seminary is, raising your hand in class or writing a paper 07:36.700 --> 07:43.400 and only, then realizing that you've committed, a fatal flaw. The next 07:43.400 --> 07:49.900 years in the classroom are your opportunities to be dispossessed of 07:49.900 --> 07:53.800 all your favorite heresies. Try stuff out. 07:55.000 --> 07:56.400 Say stuff out loud. 07:57.000 --> 07:57.500 Write 07:57.500 --> 07:59.300 what you really think. 08:00.700 --> 08:02.900 Better for you to die to self 08:04.000 --> 08:08.100 and hear the fatal flaw in your answer, then to be exceedingly, 08:08.100 --> 08:14.600 sorry, with Herod. And it's not just your pride or your bad theology 08:14.600 --> 08:17.300 that Christ bids come and die. 08:17.900 --> 08:21.300 You know, the many other ways that your life does not present a 08:21.300 --> 08:24.100 picture of the reign and rule of God. 08:25.300 --> 08:32.100 Here in Chapel you will regularly hear the call to confess to repent, 08:32.700 --> 08:38.000 to put to death daily the old self and all its wicked ways. 08:39.200 --> 08:45.500 And daily the Lord and Giver of Life will call you forth from those 08:45.500 --> 08:49.600 baptismal Waters to live a new life. 08:50.200 --> 08:55.700 The spirit will breathe the risen life of Jesus in you as we gather 08:55.700 --> 08:59.500 around that font out there in baptismal 09:00.000 --> 09:05.800 remembrance. The spirit will blow life into you as you hear the word of 09:05.800 --> 09:09.500 Jesus preached from this pulpit. 09:10.800 --> 09:17.000 The Lord will give you his very life as you kneel to receive his body 09:17.600 --> 09:24.900 and blood. Seminary is a place indeed where Christ calls people to come 09:24.900 --> 09:28.800 and die to their sins of thought, word and deed 09:28.800 --> 09:30.700 and to be raised to New Life. 09:32.000 --> 09:36.500 But I also want to go back to the text for a moment to talk about this 09:36.500 --> 09:42.200 more obvious death of John the Baptizer because it is a picture of 09:42.200 --> 09:44.300 what it means to follow Christ. 09:45.300 --> 09:49.900 In our text, John doesn't die for his own sins. 09:51.500 --> 09:57.500 But rather because that's how the gracious rule and reign of God comes 09:57.500 --> 10:04.600 about. Dying, is evidently a picture of what it looks like to follow 10:04.700 --> 10:05.600 Christ. 10:06.500 --> 10:10.600 Let me explain more. Right before our text earlier 10:10.600 --> 10:19.500 in Mark chapter 6, Jesus Calls the apostles to him. He calls the 10:19.500 --> 10:20.200 apostles 10:20.200 --> 10:27.100 It says, He begins to send them out, are ersato outuse apostele. 10:27.900 --> 10:33.700 He Apostles the 12 to go out and to do all things that Jesus had been 10:33.700 --> 10:36.100 doing with authority. 10:36.400 --> 10:40.200 Jesus had been casting out unclean spirits. 10:40.500 --> 10:43.800 And now, the apostles will cast out these Devils. 10:44.200 --> 10:48.900 Jesus has been calling people to repent and believe the gospel because 10:48.900 --> 10:50.200 the kingdom is come near. 10:50.200 --> 10:54.400 And now the Apostles will go out and call people to repent. 10:54.400 --> 10:56.300 Jesus comes on the scene 10:56.500 --> 11:01.700 healing people, Peters mother-in-law the cleansing a leper, healing a 11:01.700 --> 11:07.000 paralytic, the man with the withered hand and so the 12 are also 11:07.000 --> 11:11.000 apostello to go out and to heal the sick. 11:12.800 --> 11:17.300 So as Mark is telling the story of the Apostles going out, he does 11:17.300 --> 11:18.600 something very interesting. 11:18.600 --> 11:24.900 He interrupts the story before we hear of the Apostles returning to 11:24.900 --> 11:31.700 report all that it happened, Mark tells the story of the death of 11:31.700 --> 11:38.400 John, the Baptist. He inserts this story of the martyrdom of John, the 11:38.400 --> 11:40.200 Baptist in the text. 11:40.400 --> 11:42.900 And I think it's because he's up to something. 11:42.900 --> 11:45.600 I think it's because he wants us to see something. 11:46.400 --> 11:52.400 He's showing us what it really means to follow after Jesus. It's not 11:52.400 --> 11:56.200 just preaching repentance, casting out demons, praying for the healing 11:56.200 --> 11:57.200 of the sick. 11:57.200 --> 11:59.800 Mark is showing us that when Christ calls a 12:00.000 --> 12:04.900 person Christ bids the person come and die. 12:06.500 --> 12:06.800 Dr. 12:06.800 --> 12:09.600 Voelz in his commentary points out the similarities 12:09.600 --> 12:14.100 in both the death of John the Baptist and the death of Christ himself. 12:14.700 --> 12:15.100 First 12:15.100 --> 12:19.200 the end comes at what is called an opportune time. Then comes the 12:19.200 --> 12:25.800 arrest and the Binding whether John or Jesus. What they say, puts them 12:25.800 --> 12:31.500 in danger and yet the hero is innocent of all, evil activity. 12:32.100 --> 12:37.200 The leader who has John or Jesus in custody Herod or Pilate tries to 12:37.200 --> 12:42.200 save the person but the hero is hated by an implacable foe. 12:43.400 --> 12:47.200 So, the leader yields to pressure to destroy the hero. 12:47.600 --> 12:52.500 And finally, the details of the burial are given especially burial by 12:52.500 --> 12:53.800 their own followers. 12:54.700 --> 12:58.900 But the point here isn't how unique John, the Baptizer's 12:58.900 --> 13:02.000 death is. How it's uniquely 13:02.000 --> 13:04.000 like Jesus death. 13:04.100 --> 13:06.100 That's not Mark's point. 13:06.400 --> 13:12.600 The point is that all followers of Jesus are called to follow to come 13:12.600 --> 13:15.100 and die like John had. 13:16.200 --> 13:19.500 The story of John's martyrdom comes in the middle of Jesus, calling 13:19.500 --> 13:23.000 the apostles to show us readers what it looks like. 13:23.200 --> 13:27.000 For those who would follow after Jesus in a life of proclaiming, the 13:27.000 --> 13:30.900 kingdom of God, calling people to repentance, casting out demons 13:30.900 --> 13:33.300 praying for the sick. As Jesus later 13:33.300 --> 13:38.900 says, in the gospel, if anyone would come after me, let him deny 13:38.900 --> 13:43.400 himself and take up his cross and follow me. 13:44.900 --> 13:46.600 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ 13:46.600 --> 13:52.300 we are called in our baptism to follow after Christ. To tell others 13:52.300 --> 13:53.600 that the kingdom has 13:53.600 --> 13:59.800 come. You students here at the Seminary are here to learn to do just 13:59.800 --> 14:05.400 that. You're here because you are following Jesus, and you want to be 14:05.400 --> 14:09.500 like him. That means learning to sacrifice the self. 14:09.800 --> 14:13.100 That means learning to die to self for the sake of others. 14:14.200 --> 14:17.500 You have left things behind to be here. 14:18.100 --> 14:22.500 You realize you're not going into one of the top 10 highest paying 14:22.500 --> 14:27.700 professions, and there may be well times that simply bearing, the name 14:27.700 --> 14:36.600 of Jesus brings well scorn contempt, hostility maybe loss of friends. 14:38.200 --> 14:41.200 But there's a gift here here at the Seminary. 14:41.800 --> 14:46.300 The professor's, the staff in their offices, across campus. 14:46.800 --> 14:51.900 Your own fellow students, who are all here following after Jesus are 14:51.900 --> 14:57.700 pictures to you as they themselves sacrifice for you. 14:57.900 --> 14:59.700 They are pictures to you 15:00.000 --> 15:02.300 of what it means to follow 15:02.500 --> 15:09.600 after Jesus. The kingdom of God has come near in the person, and the 15:09.600 --> 15:14.200 work of Jesus Christ, he laid down his life for you. 15:14.700 --> 15:22.400 He sacrificed himself for you. And so, yes, welcome to the Seminary. 15:22.900 --> 15:27.300 He bids you come and die with him. 15:28.400 --> 15:29.600 In the name of Jesus. 15:30.300 --> 15:30.700 Amen. 15:32.000 --> 15:32.700 We stand.