Dancing Fools—sermon for 12 July 2015

What is your dance?

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July 12, Proper 10:

2 Samuel 6:1-5,12b-19 & Psalm 24
Ephesians 1:3-14, Mark 6:14-29

Today’s sermon was offered by Sarah Brock. Sarah is a former high school chemistry teacher with a B.S in Chemistry. After a few years in the field, she left her teaching career in Upstate New York to pursue her call to ministry. Upon completing a Master of Divinity at Bexley Hall Episcopal Seminary in Columbus, OH, Sarah came to Boston as a member of the Episcopal Service Corps. She lived, worked, and prayed for nine months as a monastic intern at the Society of Saint James the Evangelist in Cambridge. She hopes to pursue formal discernment for ordination in the Diocese of Massachusetts.

 

Draft text of the sermon, please do not cite without permission.

 

He danced.  He danced with all his might, with reckless abandon.  He danced before the ark of God.  He danced before the LORD.

She danced.  She danced to please, to curry favor.  She danced before her step-father.  She danced before her king.

Two very different kings.  Two very different celebrations.  Two very different dances.

Herod is celebrating his birthday and he throws a party for his court.  Nothing too out of the ordinary here.  We’ve all thrown and attended parties to celebrate a milestone — birthdays  graduations, weddings.  His stepdaughter dances, and for the pleasure she brings Herod and his guests, she is offered the reward of her choosing.

We are given very little detail about the particulars of this dance.  It may have been the dance of a master seductress seeking to curry favor with the powerful king.  It may simply have been an innocent daughter seeking to please her father.  Either way, her dance is a part of the culture, a part of the system.  Regardless of its motivation, her dance reveals bitterness and resentment, ultimately becoming a means for revenge.

David is transporting the ark of God to the City of David.  He’s scantily clad and his dance is one of reckless abandon.  Free, simple, joyful, appearing quite foolish, an act of prayer and praise to God.

Yet, rather than receiving applause, this dance is met with scorn and judgment.  This is not a dance of the system, but rather a dance of the heart.  Seeking not favor or approval, but offered as a gift without regard for the opinions of others.

Two very different kings.  Two very different celebrations.  Two very different dances.

Which is your dance?

Do you, like David, dance out of pure joy, looking like a fool?

 

OR

 

Do you dance only within the system, to receive recognition and approval from others?

 

It makes me sad to admit it, but, if I’m really being honest, most of my dancing is confined by my desire for approval.  I worry a lot about what others think of me — my superiors, my colleagues, my friends.  I want their approval.  I want to be applauded.  I participate in systems like racism and classism because I’m afraid to be viewed as a fool if I stand up and speak out.  Sure, I have my moments of reckless abandon, of not caring about the opinions of my peers.  But, they seem few and pretty far between.

 

Perhaps, you’re a little like me in that respect.  Perhaps, like me, you would like to do more joyful, reckless dancing in your life.  Perhaps, like me, you’re thinking, ‘I really hope I don’t have to get up and dance right here, right now!’  Perhaps, like me, you’re thinking, ‘how do I do that?’

 

David’s dance is a dance of gratitude.  Gratitude for all that he has been given.  Gratitude that is rooted deep in the heart of God.

 

Gratitude seems like a pretty good place to start.

 

As you may know, about a year ago I spent nine months as an intern at the Society of Saint John the Evangelist in Cambridge.  Living and working alongside the monks, I learned several new spiritual practices.  One discipline that the brothers speak of frequently is the practice of gratitude.  They take time to give thanks daily whether they feel like it or not.

 

In fact, we all participate in this when we come together to celebrate the Eucharist.  The Eucharist, the name coming from the Greek word for gratitude or thanksgiving, is a way to thank God for all of the gifts we have received.  It’s a time to give thanks for every moment, because each moment is a gift from God — each movement, each breath, each new day.

 

The Eucharist is itself a dance, and we look pretty foolish to anyone who is unfamiliar with it.  Singing, processing, bowing, shaking hands…  And, these vestments look pretty silly, if you really think about it.  Just maybe, there is more foolish, joy-filled dancing than I realized.

 

But, what about the rest of the week?

 

We are so busy — rushing between work, school, meetings, housework, committees… the list is endless.  It’s hard to make time to practice gratitude.  It’s hard to find time for reckless dancing.  Often it’s hard enough just to make time to dance in church once a week!

 

So, why make time for gratitude?  Why make time to dance like David?

 

David dances into the city, with a whole parade of people joining in his foolish joy.  Imagine what commotion he and the thirty-thousand me of Israel made shouting and dancing to the sound of trumpets and a whole band of instruments.  And, yet, it is the single voice of derision that is mentioned in this story.

 

Initially, David isn’t aware of his wife’s reaction.  But, even when he’s directly confronted with her contempt, just after our reading left off, he doesn’t accept her reprimand.  Instead, he defends his gratitude.

 

Gratitude, like love, originates in the heart of God.  God is thankful for us, for all that we are and all that we’re becoming.  We give thanks because we are created in the image of God and, therefore, it’s part of our nature.  Practicing gratitude is good for us, we need to give thanks.  It draws us deeper into the heart of God.  Even if it’s just for a moment, a brief pause in the middle or at the end of the day.  A moment to refocus, recognize God in our work, to remember to dance with reckless joy.

 

So, I ask you, which will be your dance?  Will you take time to practice gratitude?  More than just once a week in church?  Will you, like David, dance out of pure joy, and risk looking like a fool?

 

My answer is YES!  And, I hope yours is, too.  Maybe not every day, at least not right away.  Because, let’s be honest, it takes time to develop a new practice.  But, I intend to work at it.  And, I hope you will, too.

 

Because, maybe, if we start to spend more time dancing like fools, dancing like David, maybe, just maybe, we, like David, will have thirty-thousand people following us, dancing, shouting, and making music looking foolish right along with us.

 

After all, to quote Kid President (and if you don’t know who that is, ask the Great Google — after church of course),

 

“It’s everybody’s duty to give the world a reason to dance.  So get to it!”