John the Baptist and the Dance of the Seven Veils
Saint Andrew`s Presbyterian Church, Toronto
Advent Meditations. December 12, 2012
Let me begin our meditation today by reading to you the legend of Salome and the Dance of the Seven Veils.
Once upon a time there was a man named John the Baptist who spoke out publicly against the marriage of Herod Antipas. Antipas divorced his own wife to marry his niece, Herodias. Herod Antipas imprisoned John the Baptist to silence him but did not put him to death because he feared a reprisal from the masses who believed that John was a prophet from God. Herodias detested John and wanted him put to death. She had a daughter Salomé from her first marriage, who lived with her and her new husband at the palace. At a celebration for Herod Antipas’ birthday, the young and beautiful Salomé danced for Herod, his lords, and his commanders, peeling off each of seven veils one at a time until she was wearing little or nothing. Herod was so pleased by her dance that he made a solemn oath in front of all his guests to give her whatever she desired. At her mother’s prompting, Salomé asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Although Herod didn’t want to do this, he felt he needed to make good on the oath he made in front of everyone. And so he had John the Baptist beheaded and the head delivered to Salomé.
This is not the word of the Lord. So you don`t have to say “Thanks be to God”.
As I read this legend, my imagination takes me to John the Baptist, a political prisoner, alone in Herod`s dungeon, unaware that in a few minutes his head will be severed from his body and put on a plate and then hand-delivered to Salome as her reward for doing the Dance of the Seven Veils.
I suggest that like John the Baptist, we are being held captive in dungeons, some of them of our own making,
and that we are constantly being seduced by something more powerful than Salome’s dance of the seven veils. Allow me then to speak to you about John the Baptist and the possible relevance of his message to the season of Advent.
Let me begin by introducing you to John the Baptist , a prophet recorded in the Christian New Testament and the Quran of Islam.
From the Quran, we read about the birth of a Prophet named John who is known in Islam as Yahya (Peace be upon him.) It is recorded as a miracle, because he is born of a barren mother and an elderly father. His father, it should be noted, was also a Prophet named Zechariah. (Quran 19:7-9).
From the Christian New Testament we are told that John’s mother was named Elizabeth who was a cousin of Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus. The destinies of these two men will meet one day on the waters of the historic RiverJordan. Today the riverJordanserves as the eastern boundary between the State of Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
The ancient Hebrews liberated from slavery inEgyptcrossed the riverJordanled by Joshua before entering the Land of the Canaanites.
On this historic site in their struggle for liberation, John was immersing people in a ritual of purification. When asked who he was, John answered that he was not Elijah, nor was he the expected Liberator Messiah but simply “The Voice” ( Today that is a TV show with Christina, Cee-lo, Adam and Blake ) The Voice of one crying in the wilderness “Prepare the Way of the Lord make straight his paths – texts borrowed by the gospel writers from the ancient prophecies of Isaiah and Malachi in the Hebrew Bible.
John was popular in his day, (maybe not as popular as Lady Gaga with 30 million followers on Twitter) but popular enough to draw people from farawayJerusalem, the political and religious elite ofJudeato come, not to be baptized, but to survey the competition.
And then at some point John would call to accountability a government official for breaking the law. (Now this is beginning to sound likeToronto. ) That official employed by the Empire of Rome was Herod Antipas who has just built his headquarters in Tiberias, West of the Sea of Galilee, which is actually a large freshwater lake inIsrael.
In an effort to control the potential damage on his political career, by this prophet’s expose,
Herod had him arrested. Herodias his wife who also hated John choreographed the circumstances for Salome to dance and have John executed as her reward.
As we wait with John the Baptist during this season of Advent, what might we draw from this narrative other than the warning that “sexy dancing may be hazardous to your health” ?
Perhaps a look at current events might be helpful. On December 17, 2010, a fruit vendor in a street market inTunisianamed Mohammad Bouazizi in protest against police brutality and repression, doused his body with gasoline and set himself on fire. That was to me, a “John the Baptist” moment, because as a result of that one prophetic act, an uprising would travel like wildfire across the Middle East and the world, which we now refer to as `The Arab Spring`.
Communities of resistance inNorth Americause the expression “speaking truth to power” from the Quakers in the 1950’s to describe actions like this. There are gospel accounts that report Jesus saying to his followers before his own execution `You will do the truth and the truth will set you free`. Back in the 70`s Gloria Steinem a leader in the new feminist movement picked up that line and was reported as saying `The Truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.`
That certainly was what the truth spoken by John the Baptist did to Herod Antipas and his wife. And it was truth spoken atTahrir Squarewhere hundreds of thousands held vigil until they brought down the regime of Husni Mubarak inEgypt. It was truth spoken to power that led to the violent end of Muammar Ghaddafi’s 42 year autocratic reign inLibya.
The truth according to John is “I baptize you with water, but there is someone coming after me, the straps of whose sandal I am unworthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16).
The sacrament of Baptism that some of us received as children or as adults opened the gates to our becoming part of the Body of Christ in the world, a body that was broken for us, and a body that is broken by us everyday.
I see my Baptism as a call and a promise to engage this world that God so loves. This is the way “I have decided to follow Jesus” and that is the path where Spirit leads me. I believe that in Baptism, God immersed me in waters of solidarity so that from here on, I am blessed, my life is no longer just about me. I am now a member of the family of God on earth, which includes everyone. And that means everyone: people of blessing from all faiths and all cultures.
John called people to a repentance, a change of heart as they waited for the coming of that alternative community called theKingdomofGod.
In the context of the oppression and suffering of the multitudes of his time, John too waited for a society that will work fairly for everyone. He waited for that time spoken of in Mary’s song, when “Yahweh will bring down rulers from their thrones and lift up the humble, fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty.” (Luke 1, 46-55)
And that is still, what we are waiting for today. We are waiting for an Advent of the Justice of God. And when we hear that word Justice, I suggest we translate that in our heads with the word RESTORE. Following the path of God`s justice restores us to our full humanity. It brings us back to our true nature. God`s dream for the world is to reconcile it, to bring it back to balance, to restore us back to each other in community.
Now contrast that with what the dominant narrative of our culture is trying so hard to convince us through mass media and false advertising.
We are being seduced by more than seven veils over our eyes that our worth is measured by what we achieve and what we own. We are being persuaded to believe that religion is something private, between us and God and no one else.
That our faith has little to do with what is going on in our cities, our communities, our offices, our schools and our country. We are told to separate our faith and our politics. We hear people say that there is no need to work for social change because God will fix it all anyway at the end of time. The poor among us are told that although they suffer now, they will be rewarded later on in another place called heaven.
I would like to lead us into a different story, where the only measure of our worth is that God loves us.
Where true worship ( an authentic love of God) is that which leads us to show compassion to people whom Jesus called the least of these. Where our faith is intimately connected with our ethics and our politics. Where our call is to participate in God’s mission to restore the world. And where community organization, where those who are “made poor” are trained to help themselves, becomes the tool for mission.
The gospel story has Jesus telling the people: Whatever you do to the least of these… you did it to me. (Matt 25:40)
So who are “the least of these”? Who are “the strangers, the widows and the orphans”. Might they be the refugees who come to our city, the homeless and the mentally ill, the drug users and the sex workers, the racialized communities in places likeScarboroughor Jane and Finch. Our Scriptures proclaim that the test of our faithfulness as individuals and as a people will depend on how well we have protected and defended them.
The prophetic speech of John the Baptist calls us and our churches to account for the way we have become complicit with our silence, when it comes to direct action to protect and defend “the least of these”.
John the Baptist, the Voice that cries out in the wilderness, whose truth-telling and resistance led to the sacrifice of his own life challenges our narrow views of God, religion, faith, church and being Christian.
Preparing the Way is only possible my dear friends when we as a community “speak truth to power” on current issues like climate justice, gender equity, aboriginal rights, immigration and militarism inCanadato name a few.
Truth-telling today is an uphill struggle in the face of the immense powers of government and big business.
And that is why we need you to become the new voices in the wilderness that will tell those in power: We will not be bullied. We shall not be intimidated.
What repentance requires of us is that we declare with our actions that indeed another world is possible and that together we can make it happen. And the meaning of Christmas does not begin until there is at least a willingness on our part to repent and prepare the way and do the truth.
This Advent we remind ourselves that it is the grace of God that creates, redeems and sustains the work of restorative justice and social change.
And I am aware of how challenging this must be for some of us personally, me included. When much of our lives are already taken care of , when there is food in the fridge, and money in the bank, when there is a paycheque that comes in twice a month, and extended medical for heath care and equity building up on our homes, when there are credit cards and credit cards … and credit lines to back us up just in case, it is difficult to have a lived experience and a felt need to cry out in the wilderness and speak truth to power.
And yet, in the silence of your hearts, I know that you want to practice kindness and offer service to those who do not have these privileges we have just described. I applaud you for taking time out from your noon break to be here.
This meditation is in many ways an appeal to that which is true and alive in you.
I invite all of us gathered here to become the new voices in this wilderness we callToronto, that will speak truth to power and keep the fires of justice burning.
Joy and Peace be with you this Christmas. May Jesus be born in you.
Amen. May it be so !
©2012 Rafael VallejoTorontoCanada
