Sixth Sunday After Pentecost Year B 2009

06 Pentecost B 09
July 12, 2010

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
1 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 David 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. 3 They 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 4 with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. 5 David 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; 13 and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. 14 David danced before the LORD with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

16 As 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.

17 They 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. 18 When 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, 19 and 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.

Psalm 24
1 The earth is the LORD's and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
2 for he has founded it on the seas,
and established it on the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.
5 They will receive blessing from the LORD,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6 Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is the King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory.

Ephesians 1:3-14
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.

Mark 6:14-29
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some were saying, "John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him." 15 But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised."

17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. 18 For John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22 When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it." 23 And he solemnly swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." 24 She went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the baptizer." 25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." 26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

Party Time

I remember as a young teenager, just starting to get interested in girls; it was a different time. The coolest dancer I ever saw, though I wouldn’t admit it to my friends, was Tom Jones. My mother was like a teenager watching him. Mom was, I figured, a female. Her reactions might reliably be a guide to the reactions of the younger females running around at school. If she got visibly agitated watching Tom Jones gyrate, then if I gyrated like old Tom, why the girls at the dance might get agitated too.

So when nobody was at home, I’d put my mother’s Tom Jones albums on, and get down with my bad self. In my mind I could see the girls standing around, transfixed with desire. Of course, if anyone had walked in on me I would have simply died of embarrassment.

What I eventually discovered of course was that dancing felt good. It just plain felt good. I got pretty good at it and one of my first theater experiences was as lead dancer in the musical Kiss Me Kate. I went to acting school in the late seventies and was brutally trained in tap, jazz, modern and ballet. But the real dancing we did were in the bars and clubs of Pittsburgh. It was the time of disco, the time of three-piece white suits with big collars, not a good time. Few of us were disco junkies. No, we sought out the sweaty, loud and smoky clubs where bands like the Pretenders were playing this weird new-sounding stuff that would come to be called “punk” and “new wave.” We wore retro fashions with lots of leather, dyed our hair weird colors.

And the dancing, well, it was out of control. We were dancing with all our might.
Dancing is primal behavior. Oh, sure, we can dress it up, tame it with steps and routines, but even when we do that, the goal is to let the movement just well up out of your deepest center. It’s natural to living things to dance. Birds do it, bees do it. We come out of the womb dancing.

You ever see a baby flapping his arms and laughing her head off? Who knows what they’re really thinking, but a lot of development people think the baby is just plain delighted to be moving. She’s like, “I have arms! Woo-hoo! Look at this! Look at what I can do! I am rocking and rolling here!”

Of course, dancing is usually done in public. This is why a lot of people don’t do it. Maybe they don’t move well, they’re not very coordinated, they don’t look graceful. They don’t dance in public because they don’t want to look stupid. Others don’t want to let go of their control. Dancing with all your might is an out-of-control kind of thing.

I was blessed enough to be able to hear the MGM Choir at the Christian Music Festival. I remember at a certain moment, when the choir was just totally letting loose with that hard-core funky piano, the pulsing beat of the drums, the wild shouts of the singers, and I was there, well, you know, clapping.

But I could feel the music creeping into me. I could feel it calling me. It was saying, “Go on, Mike, get down.” It’s like some kind of crazy infection. It starts way down deep and it wants out.

But I was clapping. I restrained myself. I maintained control. I kept my cool.
Behind me there was this young woman, and she was just rocking. The hips were going, the arms were going, her eyes were closed and she was gone. Now, there was nothing lascivious about what she was doing. It was a totally different vibe. She was worshipping. And her dancing called to me too. It said, “Come on, Mike. I know you love the Lord. Get funky.”

But I just kept clapping. I remained a good little white boy.

That primal thing is kind of scary. To give up control, to go at it with everything you’ve got, well, that’s just plain undignified. I’d look like an idiot. People would be rolling their eyes.

David was the newly installed king of Israel. God, through him and his men, had enabled Israel to reclaim their most sacred object, the ark of the covenant, which, if you don’t know what that is, well, it’s kind of a throne. Instead of having a statue representing God, Israel had a beautiful empty throne. Unlike all the other religions of the day, Israel looked for a God who really existed, one they didn’t make up themselves. God had told them to make the throne and promised to ride on it with them, wherever they carried it.

Well, that throne had been captured by the Philistines during the troubled reign of David predecessor, Saul. But they had problems with it. Bad things happened to the people that kept it. So they gave it back. “Get this poisonous thing out of here,” they told David.

So it was a day of great joy when the throne of God was brought into the City of David, Jerusalem. And David put on a priestly vestment and danced with all his might before the Lord. He got down with his bad self. He got the funk. He was shakin’ and bakin’.

And the people of God around him, all the plain people who worked the fields and herded sheep and cleaned the houses of the rich and powerful, thousands of them, watched their king, watched him make a fool out of himself for God. “Look at him,” they said, and laughed. “He’s out of control.” And they said, “Yep, that’s that way we feel about it too.” And they danced too. They lost it. Just went crazy.

And they were just like that baby, flapping her arms and laughing. “Hey, God, look at me! You gave us life and love and work and food, you set us free from the slavery in Egypt, you fed us in the wilderness, and we thought we’d lost you, but you came back, just like you said you would! Woo-hoo! Watch this one, Lord! I got the moves for you!” They were hopping up and down and shouting and singing and the trumpets were blowing and it was a party, I’m telling you.

But there were people, of course, who were not pleased. We heard about Saul’s daughter. It’s pretty certain, given how gracious David had been to Saul and his family, that Michal was well taken care of. She had been a part of the royal family and David allowed her to continue in the life to which she’d become accustomed. House full of servants, nice piece of real estate, close to the temple, bright sunny rooms. And she was looking out her big window, the one with the good view, watching all this commotion. “That’s pathetic,” she was thinking. “That’s totally inappropriate. What kind of king makes a fool out of himself?”

And all the rocking and rolling before the Lord led to something quite amazing. The king fed all the people. All of them. A rich and luscious gourmet meal, the kind only kings generally got to eat.

If you read a little farther in Second Samuel, you’ll find that same Michal running out of her house and confronting David. “That was totally inappropriate for the king of Israel,” she scolded him. “Dancing like that half-naked right in front of the maids.”

And David said, and I quote, “I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in my own eyes; but by the maids of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.”

What kind of king makes a fool out of himself in front of God and everybody?

Herod was also a king of Israel. And he wasn’t dancing. He was the kind of king that didn’t dance. Oh, he liked to stand on the sidelines, tap his foot a little. He was quite a fan of old John the Baptist, liked to listen to him, was even willing to admit he came from God.

A lot of people had that attitude about Jesus. “What a good speaker! I like listening to him.” And then they went home and forgot all about him. Jesus even said at one point, “We play the flute, but you don’t dance.” Someone said, “You can be a fan of Jesus and not be his disciple.”

No, Herod didn’t dance. Other people danced for him. Now, that’s a king, don’t you think? That’s the whole idea of leadership, isn’t it? Making other people do what you want them to. A reward here, a punishment there, and people get in line.

In this story, Herod was invited to dance. He had the opportunity to do like David did, to look silly in front of everyone. He had the opportunity to say, “I blew it. I should never have promised such a stupid thing. Of course, I’m not going to execute John. He’s from God.” It’s the dance that John himself had invited him to dance. The dance of repentance. The dance of turning in a new direction. But Herod said no, no, he’d have to sit this one out.

And just as David’s dance led to a meal, so the dancing at Herod’s court leads to a different kind of meal. Not cakes and meat, but the head of a prophet on a platter.

In our congregation, in every congregation, I’m willing to bet, are people who are dancing with all their might. They’re filled with the spirit of thanksgiving for what God has done in their lives and continues to do, and they don’t care who knows it. There’s more and more of such people at Philippi. It’s something to behold. They are getting down with their bad selves. They got the funk.

And their dancing calls others to the dance, and it all leads to a wonderful meal, where everyone gets fed. It’s the dance of life for the God of life. Yes, it makes us a little uncomfortable when people just lose it like that. It’s a little scary, that loss of control. Who knows where it will lead?

It’s not a big difference, it doesn’t seem, between tapping your foot on the sidelines and dancing with all your might. But the meals that come after sure are different, aren’t they?

The way of the world calls for leaders that inspire fear and obedience. But the people of God need a leader who is dancing with all his might before the Lord.
We have such a leader, an eternal king. He danced his way through the land of Judah two thousand years ago. And they nailed him to a cross to stop him. But they couldn’t. He’s dancing still.

Amen.