Year B Proper 10 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 Mark 6:14-29

David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim.

Today we are treated to another glorious story of the young King David. The Ark of the Covenant has been taken from Israel in battle with the Philistines, but while it is in their possession, the Philistines have endured a terrible plague, which they blame on the Ark. They are, therefore, more than willing for it to leave their territory and return to Israel. We pick up the story today as David and all the people with him set out to bring the Ark home.

There is no separation of religion and state in David’s world. The identity of the Children of Israel is their faith, and the Ark of the Covenant is the Ark of God – containing, according to tradition, the stone tablets given to Moses, and signifying God’s presence in the midst of His people. For the children of Israel, to receive the Ark back from their enemies is a cause for rejoicing.

In verse 6, which was omitted from today’s lesson, we learn: David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals. In other words, the people were overflowing with joy and they threw one very large party to express their happiness. David makes sacrifices, of an ox and a fatling, clothing himself only in an ephod, a skimpy garment, something like an apron, which covered only the front of the body and not a great deal of that. And David danced before the LORD with all his might.

In today’s reading David is filled with abandon, he is dancing his heart out with joy, and all Israel rejoices as the Ark of God returns to them. However, not everyone approves of David’s exuberance.

As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.

We don’t know exactly what Michal’s problem was. She was the daughter of a King, of Saul, and the wife of David. Perhaps, as David entered Jerusalem, she looked out at her husband and saw him “making a fool of himself”. We can imagine her thoughts as she tells herself that surely her father would never have danced and jumped about half-naked in front of a wooden box, no matter how important that box might be. Not only that, she is well aware that the women along the route are all getting a good look at her young husband in his nearly nude state. David’s actions mortify her, and make her despise him.

Here, as the Ark of the Covenant, the most holy of objects returns, there is pride both of the positive and negative kind. Michal’s pride is offended by what she sees as extreme foolishness on David’s part, and by his public display of his nakedness. David is proud because he has won the battle to return the Ark – but also, on some level, he must have been aware of the lovely women along the way and of how they admired his body.

As he grew older, it would be his personal pride that would overcome his ecstatic attachment to God, and while we are at first dazzled by his joyous response to the return of the Ark, our attention is then drawn to the darker side of his dancing, his pride in his naked appeal to the ladies.

Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee.

In today’s Gospel we’re invited to a celebration very different from that of David’s and the Israelites, and are entertained by a very different, though equally naked, dancer.

This party is what would today be one of those black tie, invitation only affairs held in an exclusive location, where guests have to pass through metal detectors before entering. At such modern affairs we know what to expect, and Herod’s guests also knew what to expect at his party. Herod’s birthday party would have openly involved too much food, too much drink and probably a good deal of illicit sex. There would be entertainers of all sorts, and the guests would eat and drink and debauch until they passed out. For them, this was considered a very good time indeed.

Sometime before his birthday, King Herod has married his brother’s wife, Herodias. Unfortunately for Herod’s spiritual health, his brother is still alive. Because Herodias is not a window, John the Baptist has spoken out against this union and pronounced it adulterous. Herodias is furious about this, and is just waiting for the opportunity to get back at John and, if possible, to silence him forever. Herod’s party will present her with her chance.

Herodias has a gorgeous teenage daughter, and knows for a fact that her new husband, King Herod, would like nothing better than to see the young girl, clad in little more than a few pieces of silk, dance a seductive dance. So the mother, with a plan already in mind, tells the youngster to do just that. Dance for King Herod, and dance she does.

Up to this point, Herod has done his best to protect John the Baptist, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man. Herod has locked John away to satisfy both his and his wife’s anger at the prophet for condemning their marriage, but Herod would never kill a prophet, not unless he was somehow tricked into doing so.

When the daughter of[c] Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

Of course she did, especially the men. It probably wasn’t that she was such an excellent dancer, but more likely that because she was so scantily clad her dancing aroused passions in both the guests and in the king. And so, without considering the possible consequences, and blinded by the heat of the moment, Herod said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.”

We know what she asked for – the head of John the Baptist, and we know that Herod did not refuse her. Why did he not let his conscience guide him? Because he had sworn to her in front of all his guests that he would grant whatever request she made, and he did not want to lose face in front of all those who had heard him make this promise. As a result, a holy and righteous man dies, so that a lustful king can keep his pride intact.

All the players in our Old Testament and Gospel readings except, perhaps, the daughter of Herodias, who is a pawn in her mother’s scheme, have one problem in common, their pride. David is proud of his victory over the Philistines, proud to be returning the ark, and proud to show off his manly body to the crowd. David’s wife, Michal, is the proud daughter of a king, and feels demeaned by her nearly naked, dancing husband. Herodias is proud to be married to Herod and furious to have some prophet say her marriage is unlawful, while Herod, though respectful of John, is too proud to break a sworn oath that he now realizes will result in John’s death.

Pride is the great sin, but it is also the most subtle. In today’ readings we can easily see it at work, but in our own lives, that is often not the case. When we lose our temper because we are annoyed or irritated by someone or some situation, or refuse to cooperate with friends or family, when we want things done our way, which we often call “the way it was always done”, when it is all about us and not about love, there is the sin of pride at work in our heart.

We are called to be loving and humble, and it is most obvious how far we fail in this when in any situation we feel humiliated. That is our pride being pricked – a reminder of just how proud we are and how much we need our Lord and His salvation. St. Mother Teresa once said, “If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own power.” So, we might add that in any situation when we trust in our own power, we are driven by our pride.

As Paul reminds us today, we are God’s children by adoption through Jesus. Children are strong headed and prideful, but they know when they need to apologize and what they need to do to make amends. And then, having returned to the good graces of their parents or guardians, children learn and grow from their mistakes. How often has our Lord told us we must become like children? Thus we repent and ask for guidance, and learning from our mistakes, we struggle forward on the way that leads to true humility.

Without repentance and striving for humility, without faith and trust in Jesus, we are destined to fall victims to our pride. It was Robert Frost who equated human passions to fire, and Gordon Lightfoot who sang, “Those who put their faith in fire in fire their faith shall be repaid - Oh God the pride of man broken in the dust again.”

Let us pray:

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like yours. From the desire to be esteemed, honoured and praised...Deliver us. From the fear of being humiliated, or held in contempt. Deliver us. From the fear of suffering rebukes, of being slandered, of being ignored, insulted, or wronged...Deliver us. Jesus, grant us the grace to desire only that we might become the holy people you are calling us to be, the courage to surrender to Your will, and the grace to appear with joy before your throne. All this we ask for Your love and mercy’s sake. Amen