AN AGENDA WORTHY OF DANCING, PART II

Scripture Lesson: 2 Samuel 6: 1-23

Dr. Matthew S. Brown

July 30, 2006

The sanctuary had the unfortunate look of those structures designed and erected in the 1960’s, a non-descript rectangle with a sprinkling of stained glass, lest one mistake it for the county agricultural extension office. And yet, the severe architectural restraint did nothing to diminish the expectation of the gathered congregation. Elders and pastors from Charlotte to Kannapolis to Rockingham had come to C.N. Jenkins Presbyterian Church, a thriving traditionally African-American congregation just outside the shadows of our uptown office towers, for a meeting of the Presbytery.

Oh, there would be the usual number of tedious reports and a preacher or two… or twelve would yet again find the allure of a microphone irresistible, but our dread of the inevitable tedium could not choke our anticipation as the choir filed into their loft. There was just this sense that the nails and screws that secured the roof trusses to the walls were about to be severely tested. The choir members had the look and the confident strut that proclaimed: “You’d best secure your seatbelts and place your pews in the forward and locked position because this place is about to rock!”

Rev. Jerry Cannon just smiled and pronounced, “God is good.” To which the congregation instinctively responded, “All the time.” And then the Rev. said, “Cause all the time.,” and the gathered people said, “God is good.”

The drums started thumpin’, the bass started slappin’, the organ started vibratin’, the choir members set their volume level on 140%, and that sanctuary was on its way to becoming a convertible. Heaven was surely not going to be kept out of that party on that night.

It was a powerful moment of worship, in spite of some unavoidable confusion in the congregation. You know how you fumble and stumble when you are attending a worship service different from that to which you are accustomed? You try to follow but you don’t know whether to stand, sit, kneel, fall out in the aisle or run down to the front.

As the choir picked up speed, the beaming and grinning congregation of prim and proper Presbyterians tried to clap along, only about 35% of them managing to clap on the beat. But you could tell they were moved. Their spirits were lifted; their hearts were beating faster.

And then this one poor fellow near the back, a colleague in ministry I believe, a rhythmically challenged colleague in ministry, started feeling it and he stood up there in the pew and started dancing. It looked something like a cross between the Macarena and the Hokey-Pokey. What is it you say down here? “Bless him, Lord.” (A note to all transplants. When you hear those words, it’s not a compliment.)

Anyway, it was quite a sight, probably a bit too much of a sight for the poor person seated behind him. He was just swaying back and forth, not quite with the music, oblivious to those around him, and our elder representative who was seated a few rows in front of me, looked back to me with a look that said, “What in the world is that?” (Or words to that effect, if you know what I mean.) And I tried to smile in a way that said, “Yeah, that seems a bit odd, at least to me.”

That evening the glory of the Lord had surely entered that space through the angel enhanced voices of that choir and the Spirit-empowered words of the preacher. And as we witnessed with the boogie-minded clergyman in front of us, the glory of the Lord evokes many different kinds of responses. A panorama of the congregation revealed a variety of emotions and expressions: smiles, bowed heads, lifted faces, silence, humming, tapping feet, clapping hands, and yes, a couple of candidates for Dancing With the Stars. But, in the end, I would not be in any position to say that any of these expressions of worship were less than authentic.

Whatever the style, whatever the form, worship is to be our response to the glory of the Lord. Our Book of Order (the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church) proclaims that “Christian worship joyfully ascribes all praise and honor, glory and power to the triune God. In worship the people of God acknowledge God present in the world and in their lives.. As they respond to God’s claim and redemptive action in Jesus Christ, believers are transformed and renewed… The Spirit of God quickens people to an awareness of God’s grace and claim upon their lives. The Spirit moves them to respond…”

Worship is our response to the presence, to the power, to the grace revealed in the glory of God. And that is what distinguishes David’s second effort to bring the ark to Jerusalem from the first.

If you were with us last week, you’ll remember (or should I say, maybe you’ll remember) that following Saul’s death, David began the process of consolidating his kingdom under his authority. A united Israel. A new capitol was chosen – Jerusalem. And in a savvy political maneuver David brought the ark of the covenant out of mothballs and began moving it to Jerusalem as the star in a grand, meticulously rehearsed, precisely choreographed parade complete with dancers, bands and banners.

The ark of the covenant, containing among other things the very tablets of the ten commandments given to Moses, represented for the people of Israel the power and presence of the Lord. With the ark in Jerusalem, the people would recognize Jerusalem as the legitimate capitol and David as the legitimate king.

Yet, as we saw with the strange, sudden, and sobering death of Uzzah, God will not be managed or manipulated and God takes a rather dim view of being used for political purposes. The highly orchestrated parade that David had assembled came to a sudden halt and David is reminded that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The ark was put back in storage and David takes some time to reflect on whether God was to serve David or David was to serve God.

After three months, David again leads a procession bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. But, there is a different atmosphere this time – a little less highly orchestrated presidential inauguration parade, a little more C. N. Jenkins Presbyterian Church. It was no longer about orchestrating an event to impress the people and legitimize the rule of David. It was now about celebrating the presence of the Lord and affirming God’s reign and God’s power. After only six paces they stopped and had a “prayer meeting.” The main focus now was not David’s reign but God’s reign.

O, the joy that comes when we cease our orchestrations and recognize God as the conductor of the symphony. O, the unbridled joy that rushes forth when we finally get it – We don’t take care of God. God takes care of us. That is when worship happens, when we loosen our so called grip on the world and recognize the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of the world. Listen again to that definition of worship in our Book of Order:

“In worship the people of God acknowledge God present in the world and in their lives.. As they respond to God’s claim and redemptive action in Jesus Christ, believers are transformed and renewed… The Spirit of God quickens people to an awareness of God’s grace and claim upon their lives. The Spirit moves them to respond…”

And so David danced, and I mean he danced with the wild abandon of someone who finally got it., every fiber of his being acting out the doxology we sing – “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”

I love what Frederick Buechner says about worship. He says that one way that you worship is “to do the things that [God] needs to have done – run errands for him, carry messages for him, fight on his side, feed his lambs, and so on. The other way is to do things for him that you need to do – sing songs for him, create beautiful things for him, give things up for him, tell him what’s on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in him and make a fool of yourself for him the way lovers have always made fools of themselves for the one they love.

A Quaker Meeting, a Pontifical High Mass, the Family Service at First Presbyterian, a Holy Roller Happening – unless there is an element of joy and foolishness in the proceedings, the time would be better spent doing something useful.” (Buechner, Wishful Thinking)

Yes, the presence of God “quickens people to an awareness of God’s grace and claim upon their lives” and moves them to respond in many ways.

We respond in silence and awe – As it is written in Habakkuk: “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

We respond in music – “Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day,” writes the Chronicler.

We respond by proclaiming the Word – As Isaiah says, “The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of the Lord shall stand forever.”

We respond in prayer – “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name…” says the prophet.

And sometimes we dance – “And David danced before the Lord with all his might.”

The presence of the living God, moves us to respond in many ways, and whether it’s silence and prayer or happy feet, there are those who will look upon what we do with confusion, or like Michal, with disdain. But our goal is not to impress them, and if our goal is to impress them we’d be better off, and David would tell us we’d be safer, sleeping in. No, in worship we seek not to impress our neighbor but to respond to the glorious presence and power of our living God revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

I remember a point in time when I was feeling particularly unsettled and discouraged.

Have you ever felt unsettled in your life? Have you ever experienced discouragement, you know, the whole “sometimes I feel discouraged, sometimes the shadows fall” time of life when you’re just in a general funk? You don’t know if you’re doing the right thing in life. And whatever “the thing” is, you’re fairly confident you’re not doing it very well. You’re not sure how others perceive you. You’re singing the old blues song to yourself at the start of too many days: “Nobody loves me but my momma, and she may be lyin’, too.” You ever been in that place? No? Bless ‘em, Lord!

You know, if I’m honest, it was a time when I was probably trying to manage my life too much; holding onto the wheel too tight; vainly trying to manage God in the process, and though I was avoiding Uzzah’s fate, I’m not so sure I was getting anywhere. O, I was going through the motions, and I remember going to a church event. I can’t remember if it was a hymn sing or a special service. Like I mentioned, I was just going through the motions.

Anyway, I remember our organist began playing this beautiful hymn. God, Who Made the Earth and Heaven. It’s not a hymn I grew up with and it’s not one that has graced our hymnals, but it has certainly become one of my favorites. Our organist had just gone through an unbelievably traumatic experience in his life and this was his first time back at the organ, and coincidentally, this was also one of the hymns he himself had played at his mother’s funeral about a year earlier. And standing there thinking about those events and my own general funk, I suddenly felt enveloped by the presence and embrace of Christ. Suddenly, I was no longer managing, mismanaging, or going through the motions. No, suddenly I was in worship.

And you know, I didn’t shout and didn’t dance, because, well, for me there’s a fine line between being a fool for Christ and just being a fool. And yet, a rare emotional force welled up in me, and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t stop these unfamiliar tears from streaming down my face. It surprised me as I’m sure it surprised Donna. She’s always said I’m a bit too much of a… well I can’t use that word. How can I put it? She may have intimated now and then that I possess a “hardened posterior.” But as I grow older, particularly during those special hymns that that impress me with God’s presence, I find this welling of emotion happening more and more. I can’t explain it and it certainly may not make sense to anyone else, but many times that’s what worship is.

Our responses to the presence of the living God are many and varied. We flip through the cable channels and are as confused by the worship services broadcast there as they would be by what we do in here. I guess it’s not so much a matter of how we do it, as it is why we do it. If our impulse is to impress others and package, box, and manage God according to our agendas, our efforts lead to nothing or worse (Remember Uzzah!).

“The Spirit of God quickens people to an awareness of God’s grace and claim upon their lives.” “The Spirit moves them to respond…” So let us sing; let us pray; let us proclaim; let us offer; let us tear up; let us dance, but whatever we do, let us do it as unto the One revealed to us in Christ and made present to us in the Spirit. Whether we gather in silence, pull out the tissue, or break out the tap shoes, to God alone be the glory. Amen.

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