Pasadena Presbyterian Church Sermon Text
July 13, 2003 

"Motivic Development"
Preached by The Rev. Gregory Norton

(Gregory Norton is Minister of Music at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.)

Scripture:  Mark 3:1-12

In these few verses, we hear a story of infidelity, judgment, a sexy dance, a vengeful killing and political intrigue.  It is no wonder that over the years it has inspired paintings and various kinds of retellings, reaching a summation in Oscar Wilde's play called Salome.  That is the name that tradition has given to Herodias' daughter - although you noticed that she is not named in scripture.  Oscar Wilde's play caused a stir in the late 19th century when it was first written and produced.  In fact, he wrote the play in French in an attempt to sidestep the censors of England. 

Soon after came German composer Richard Strauss to set Wilde's version of the story to about 90 minutes of turgid music in what is probably Strauss' most popular opera.  And this story is certainly operatic - divas abound and somebody dies at the end!  So, of course, I'm delighted that it is the Lectionary text for today.  I had hoped that in lieu of my preaching, Anita might sing for us the closing scene from Strauss' opera, in which the soprano, Salome, sings luridly and at length to the gore-covered head of John the Baptist on a platter.  But Anita said no.

Among the things that make this story irresistible are the motivations of the characters involved.  Motives are powerful things.  The dictionary says a motive is something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act.  The motives of some of this story's characters are quite easily understood.  And some, we will see, are a little messy.

Let's start with John the Baptist, or John the Baptizer, if the denominational language is too hard to ignore.  This is the same John that we encounter each Advent.  We remember his voice crying out from the wilderness, telling us to "Prepare a way for the Lord."  We also remember his fashion sense and his culinary taste:  the prelude to Mark's gospel tells us that he wore a garment of camel skin and that he lived on locusts and wild honey.  We remember that Jesus came to this man for baptism in the river.  And the image from today's lesson, of his head on a platter, is also unforgettable. 

But the main thing we remember about John, and his main motivation, is summed up when he said:  "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

The main motivation of John the Baptist's life was to point to Christ, to announce the Messiah.  He spoke the prophetic word unapologetically, without compromise, no matter who was upset by it.  He was no people pleaser - you could say he was a fanatic.  So it is not surprising that the likes of Herod and his wife Herodias took offense.

And what about the motives of this Herodias, the king's wife?  I think they are easy to understand.  She was formerly the wife of Philip, Herod's brother, so Herod had broken up that relationship in order to take her as his wife.  This was the act that the prophet John had judged "unlawful." 

But Herodias must have liked her new arrangement, at least enough to defend it, because we are told that John's judgment made her furious.  Given how the story progresses, we might imagine that Herodias probably had more than a small role in the machinations that were necessary to bring about her move from Philip's house to Herod's palace. 

The society she lived in was male-dominated, and she and her daughter were regarded in a way similar to property.  Even her name is derived from that of her man... from Herod she takes the name Herodias. 

But that's not to say she was without power.  She understood the power of her sex and how it could be used to manipulate the men who controlled her world.  She had power that came from her beauty and her cleverness.  She was motivated to use this power to change her circumstances, to be queen.  In addition, she was motivated to exact revenge on this religious fanatic nobody - John - who would dare to criticize her new arrangement. 

Herodias' daughter, Salome, is not even given a name in the Bible; she seems to be a mere appendage to her mother.  In some versions she is, confusingly, also named Herodias. 

What were her motivations?  To learn the powerful secrets that had served her mother so well?  We aren't told what all her "dance" at Herod's birthday party entailed, perhaps more than a polite person should describe from the pulpit of a Presbyterian church.  In later depictions of the story, this was the infamous Dance of the Seven Veils, a sort of strip tease. 

There is no denying that her performance had a powerful effect on Herod!  Salome suddenly has the most powerful man she knows swearing an oath to her:  "name it," he says, "and it's yours!  Anything, even up to half the kingdom."  Ever her mother's daughter, she runs out of the room to get some advice.  (I picture the treacherous Herodias waiting for her in the hallway.)  And, when it comes, Herodias' answer is hardly surprising: ask for the head of John the Baptist.  Then Salome seems to enter into the appalling spirit of outrage and revenge by adding the "on a platter" part herself; is the head is to be a symbolic "last dish" of the banquet?

Which brings us to the motives of Herod the King.  Here things get interesting because they are not so clear cut, not so easily grasped. 

This is Herod Antipas, the son of the King Herod we know from the nativity story.  That older Herod was threatened enough by rumors of Jesus' birth that he killed thousands of innocent baby boys to eliminate the threat. 

Strength and nerve were admired qualities in a mid-eastern ruler in the time of the Herods.  So this younger tetrarch is motivated to also appear strong and "kingly" in his actions.  He has taken a new wife, boldly flaunting social convention in the process.  When some lunatic from the wilderness has the nerve to criticize it, imprisonment is the least punishment he can expect.  But the text tells us that Herod knew John to be a good man, and that he was fascinated by him, "when he heard him speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him."  So John's imprisonment, which at first blush seems motivated by Herod's need to appear kingly and strong, in fact becomes a way for Herod to protect John from the wrath of Herodias. 

But all Herod's good intentions are up for grabs later at the birthday party.  After a few drinks and a lot of rich food, after a few veils hit the floor, Herod is ready to promise Salome anything.  And Salome's demand for John's head puts Herod's two motivations into conflict: Herod's private motivation to protect John is pitted against his need to appear kingly and decisive.  And all the most important men of his realm are watching him.  The deference they show him by attending his banquet is as intoxicating as the wine.  He cannot appear weak in front of them.  After swearing such an extravagant oath in their presence, it is not possible for him now to say, "oops, just kidding, Salome! what's your second choice?"

The word "motive" has two definitions in English.  The most common one is the one that I've been talking about so far.  But there is a musical meaning too.  A motive is a recurrent musical phrase or theme that is developed through the course of a musical composition. 

When a composer creates a primary motive, then that idea in some way drives the way the rest of the piece will be created.  There is still much possibility for creativity, of course.  The motive might be restated in lots of different ways.  There may even be more motives created to contrast with the original one.  But by settling on a main musical motive, the composer has limited the universe of possibilities for working out the rest of the piece.  That one idea, that primary motive, leads to another, sometimes in logical ways, and sometimes in unexpected ways. This technique is called motivic development. 

The same sort of "development" happens in the other kind of motive too, the need or desire that causes a person to act.  The primary motives in our lives can "develop", sometimes in logical ways, and sometimes in unexpected ways

Herod's primary motive was to appear powerful, to be kingly.  What makes the story interesting is that, unlike the motives of John or Herodias, Herod's motivations get conflicted and messy.  They didn't seem that way at first.  It probably seemed like a great "win-win" solution to Herod when he figured out that by imprisoning John he could serve two motivations:  protecting the Prophet whom he knew to be a good man, while outwardly appearing kingly and severe. 

Most of us don't want to be as single-minded as John the Baptist or Herodias.  We're more like Herod.  We live in a world where we, too, are called to reconcile competing motivations, big and small.  For instance, the motivation to be accomplished in our career is pitted against the motivation to be a loving parent.  The motivation to try a new path is pitted against our motivation to be safe and "practical."  The motivation to be a "team player" and collaborate with others is pitted against the motivation to be in control and have everything our own way.  Sometimes it is possible for conflicting motives to co-exist.  Sometimes the reconciliation of motives is necessary and life giving.  At such times we speak of "the art of the compromise," of leading a "balanced life," or of "win-win" solutions. 

But there are times when what is at stake is larger.  There are times when we are called to have pure motives, like those of John the Baptist, pure motives like those in a well-crafted piece of music, motives that lead seamlessly from one thing to another.  We call these by many names: principles, beliefs, elements of character.  They are primary motives that become part of us - needs or desires that cause us to act.  They limit the universe of possible options for us.

What are our primary motives?  If we are motivated to work for justice and peace, we cannot also be motivated to preserve the economic status quo in which the world's goods are so unjustly distributed among God's children.  The United Nations Development Program reports that the richest five percent of the world's population receives 114 times the amount received by the poorest five percent.  In the year 2000, 1.1 billion people in the world lacked access to something as simple and necessary as safe drinking water. 

What are our primary motives?  If we are motivated to love one another, even as Christ has loved us, then we cannot also be motivated to support the systems and structures that make basic health care inaccessible to so many. 

In this country we spend the most on health care per-capita, yet the number of our citizens who live without the security of health insurance exceeds that of every other developed nation.  In the year 2000 the uninsured numbered over 38 million.  Fully half of these brothers and sisters of ours are employed, but in low-paying jobs in which their employers cannot both offer health insurance and make a profit.

What are our primary motives?  If we as a church are motivated to be a place that is open and that practices hospitality, then we cannot also be motivated to spare the feelings of those who are too afraid to say so openly.  It is sad to realize that the mass-marketers of Madison Avenue are now unafraid to aggressively and intentionally reach out to gay and lesbian people with their slick advertising campaigns, while we in the church continue to debate the prudence of naming these folks in the list of whom we welcome.

John the Baptizer was God's unique and uncompromising instrument announcing the advent of Christ.  His motive was pure; it led seamlessly from one thing to another.  It led him from the wilderness, to the confrontation of power, to an unjust death sentence.  The shape of that story seems familiar doesn't it - isn't it Jesus' story too?  Wilderness / Herod / Platter is very similar to Desert / Pilate / Cross.  John's story is Jesus' story.  And we who claim the name "Christian" are, of course, called to make it our story too.

Thankfully, few of us will be called to martyrdom, like John.  But all of us are called to "lose our heads" in some way for Christ.  As we do Christ's work in our time and place, it becomes our motive, the need or desire that causes us to act.  The motivation to point to Christ in our daily walk will limit the universe of paths we may choose.  The way of our Lord is, for us, the primary motive, like that of the composer, from which everything else seamlessly follows. 

As we embrace the call of Christ it may lead us to unexpected places.  It may even lead us to confront power, to name evil, and to make some people uncomfortable or angry.  There may be sacrifices, large or small.  But the Good News in John's story and in Jesus' story is that opposition and even an unjust death sentence will not silence God's truth. 

That assurance is ours as well.    Whenever the truth is spoken in love, even if the result is that others are calling for our head, God is still God.   And that Source of all that is will never be silenced by human evil.

Thanks be to God.  Amen.

(c) Copyright 2003 by Gregory Norton.  All rights reserved.  Permission granted for non-profit use with attribution.