Saugatuck Congregational Church, UCC
©Rev. Alison J. Buttrick Patton
July 11, 2015
Scriptures: 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 & Isaiah 55:11-13
It’s a vivid image: young David, the sheep-herder-turned-monarch dancing before the LORD, wearing little more than a loin cloth and sandals on his feet. David has a lot to celebrate: He has just ascended to the throne of Israel – been anointed king of both Judah and all the northern tribes. He has defeated the Philistines “from Geba all the way to Gezer,” and established Jerusalem as the religious and political center of his kingdom. In the wake of his victory over the Philistines, he rallies an army to retrieve the sacred ark from the town where it has been kept for many years, almost forgotten, in order to transport it to the newly established, “City of David.” Returning home from their quest, they make quite a site: a parade of folks singing and playing and leaping with glee – and David there in the lead, dancing before the LORD with all his might.
Now, David is neither the first, nor the last Biblical character to let loose before God like that. There’s the prophet Miriam, who, along with Moses and Aaron, led the Israelites out of Egypt where they had been slaves, and then through the desert. In the wake of their extraordinary crossing of the Red Sea and escape from the Egyptians, Miriam gathered the other women at the edge of the water. [In Exodus it says,]
“. . .and the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to Yahweh, who has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider Yahweh has thrown into the sea.’” (Exodus 15:20-21).
Just imagine the dozens – maybe hundreds – of Israelite women converging on the shore, dark hair flying and robes swirling, arms flung wide: celebrating their freedom, their emancipation from slavery; praising God for their miraculous escape – dancing before the LORD with all their might!
Ecclesiastes assures us, “there is a time to dance;” (Eccl. 3:4) and the Psalmists sing, “Praise the LORD! … Praise Yahweh with tambourine and with dance!” (Psalm 150: 1, 4). Throughout Scripture, we find people dancing with wild abandon, people who have known and been touched by God in so profound a way that they cannot contain their joy. It bubbles over. And so they dance.
I love these stories, but I realize that we don’t all think of ourselves as dancers. Particularly not in the context of church. Worship, for so many of us – especially in the mainline Protestant denominations – is a primarily internal experience, a private something, a quiet space, a peace away from our daily chaos. “I’m on my feet all week – the last thing I need in church is more ruckus.” Does that sound like you? Or are you the one who can’t sit still through service, the one who taps a foot during the hymns, always wishes the tempo would pick up a pace? Is that you? Do you seek out dynamic worship spaces with lots of hubbub, or do you prefer the silence of a Quaker meeting?
In white, mainline churches, dance makes only an occasional appearance – although we did have several children and adults dancing up and down the aisles and waving red ribbons just a few weeks ago, on Pentecost (check out the photo on our website!). But most of the time, we sit in the pews, stand for the hymns, sit again. What might it mean, today, for us, for the Church, to dance before the LORD with all our might? What would that look like – in our worship, and in our lives?
I’ve seen what it looks like to literally dance before the LORD: that image of David leaping and dancing, of Miriam, of tambourines and voices and dancing bodies, is easier for me to conjure up since I spent a year in Chile, South America. The Pentecostal Church of Chile, my host and a United Church of Christ global partner, fills its worship with song and dance. Imagine if you will, a full choir of men and women, accompanied by half a dozen guitars, a couple of accordions, a snare drum – and tambourines – sometimes dozens of tambourines. These were generally played by young children, who tied colorful ribbons around the wooden rims so that the ribbons danced in the air as the children played.
Those tambourines set the rhythm and guitars struck up a tune, then someone behind me would cry out exuberantly, the sound of clapping would fill the sanctuary and young and old women, moved by the Spirit, would shuffle out into the isles – dancing before the LORD with all their might. Like David before the ark and Miriam by the sea, these women could not contain their joy: the Spirit of God filled them up until it bubbled over.
But dance isn’t always joyful – it may also be a way to express grief, release pain or expose injustice: Not so very long ago, the women of Chile danced like that: During the dictatorship of General Pinochet, from 1973 – 1989, thousands of Chileans were “disappeared” – taken away in the night by the death squads, never to be heard from again. As father after son after husband disappeared, the women gathered to protest in city squares and in front of government buildings. They wore pictures of their lost loved ones pinned to their clothing; they stood in endless, fruitless lines to inquire after missing persons – and they danced. In protest, they danced. They danced the national dance, the Cueca, which is a courtship dance usually performed in pairs. But these women danced alone, danced with the invisible, the missing, the dead: “Where is the person who should be here with me?” Their dance asked. “Why is he not here? Where is he? Look: he is missing…” In anger and in anguish, they, too, danced before the LORD with all their might.
The women of the Pentecostal Church of Chile danced because they could not contain their praise; the Mothers of the Disappeared danced because they could not contain their sorrow. David and Miriam danced because they could not contain their joy. It bubbled over. In each case, their dance became a witness – to the presence of the Spirit; to the disappearance of the husbands; to the devotion of God.
These were sacred dances, and they were not safe. David’s public display provoked the anger of his predecessor’s kin Michal, daughter of King Saul (whom David was replacing). And of course, any protest during the Pinochet regime put one in danger of being kidnapped and murdered oneself. Making a scene is risky business, for there are always those who would prefer that the News not be spread, those that would squelch the dance. But David and Miriam and the women of Chile danced none the less. That, I think, is what it means for us to dance before the LORD with all our might. It means being brave enough to take risks; accepting God’s invitation to dance, maybe even becoming a dancing church, filled with Davids and Miriams. What would that be like?
For starters, a Dancing Church is a liberated church: unfettered and joyful – like the Israelites delivered out of Egypt by Yahweh. A Dancing Church freely exalts – and freely grieves – assured that God is in our midst, participating in our joy and in our pain. A Dancing Church freely proclaims the gospel, because it cannot contain itself. It is not bound by fear; it doesn’t mind a little awkwardness; it won’t be held back by worry about what someone else might think. It is willing to say, “God has done something amazing, or challenging, or transformative in my life. Let me tell you about it. Let me show you.” The dancing church doesn’t hold back. As the Rev. Molly Baskette preached at our national gathering, General Synod two weeks ago: “If you know you look a little ridiculous when you dance, say amen. And if you know you look a little ridiculous when you refuse to dance, say amen. So you might as well dance!” A Dancing Church is a liberated church.
A Dancing Church is a sweaty church; a church with achy muscles; a church with well-worn feet, a healthy church with a pumping heart. Because along with being free, we are also called – called to dance for justice and called to dance for peace. Young King David reminds me: we live out our faith through our bodies. So we take up the hammer or grab a paint brush; we walk to fight hunger and bike to find a cure for AIDS. We raise our hands, we write our elected officials, we play with children, we go on field trips to meet our neighbors next door, in prison, or on the boarder; we labor in the garden, we march – we dance. We become a sweaty church.
A Dancing Church is a witnessing church. A church that declares, like the Mothers of the Disappeared: Look! Someone is missing, someone is suffering, someone must be heard. I know a young Korean woman, Young Soon, who performs a heart-wrenching Dance for the Comfort Women. Her dance dramatizes the horror and pain of Korean sisters, kidnapped and forced to serve as prostitutes for the Japanese army during World War II; she dances to bring their hidden sorrow to light. A Dancing Church must be a witnessing church, calling out the gaps between the world as it is, and the world as God yearns for it to be.
Finally, a Dancing Church has partners. This is not a solo gig, it’s a ya’ll come affair – because we are better together. When I was a kid, by parents brought me to contra dances at the town hall in our tiny town. Although I was the youngest one there, I was always welcomed in the circle; someone invariably swept me up into the dance and taught me the steps as we went. We all knew: the more the merrier; the circle can always be widened, and more fun is had by all. So it is with the dancing church: we need partners; we learn new steps from those we meet; every partner contributes to the dance.
So, what do you think? Would you want to be a part of a dancing church? Yours might be an exuberant romp, or a quiet shuffle; it all counts and it’s all good. If you still think you are not a dancer; if you feel uncertain, or anxious or shy, then consider this: Like the Chilean women dancing out their anguish before the prisons, we each have an invisible partner: his hand is outstretched and he invites us to join him. He has been called by many names, including Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, and Lord of the Dance.
“He came down low then he leapt up high, I am the dance that will never, never die.
I’ll live in you if you live in me. I am the Lord of the dance said he.
Dance, then wherever you may be: I am the Lord of the dance, said he.
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be; I will lead you all in the dance, said he.
That is the Good News this day: Christ Jesus is our dance partner; he will lead our dance; he will teach us the steps as we go. Like David, leaping, like Miriam, spinning, we have much to celebrate – and much yet to accomplish for God’s Reign. So, come, Saugatuck Church: Make a joyful noise! Come! Grab a hand, kick up your heels, share your story, summon your courage, take faithful action, wade into the fray… join the dance!
Scriptures
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 – New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2David 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. 3They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart 4with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. 5David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
…So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; 13and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. 14David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. 15So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. 16As 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. 17They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. 18When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, 19and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
Isaiah 55:11-13 – New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.