The cost of faithfulness

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Oh, there is so much richness in this morning's lessons:

"Righteousness and peace have kissed each other."

"Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people..."

"King David [was] leaping and dancing before the LORD."

But the most dramatic lesson involves the beheading of John the Baptist.

Here's a brief reflection I found on this event:

Here faithfulness and violence, not faithfulness and steadfast love, go hand in hand. This very disturbing scene raises difficult questions for anybody and any community that lives “against-the-cultural-grain.” Should John have said nothing and self-protectively kept his objections to himself? After all, the chances of Herod and Herodias changing their ways just because a locust-eating prophet criticized them were not high. Would silence have been more prudent as well as self-preserving? Or would it have been cowardly and unfaithful, an opportunity to address a significant issue lost? How do we discern which is which?

Just lately, I've had occassion to be very disheartened by the silence and self-preserving prudence of a number of church authorities. It's understandable, of course. (No one wants to get his or her head chopped off!) Still, isn't the Christian faith all about cultivating the fidelity and courage necessary to live out our baptism even when that involves real risk?