II Samuel 6:1-19

II Samuel 6 :1-5, 12b-19

6 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.

¹² 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.

Year B

July 10-16

July 12, 2015

Cross~Wind UMC

Title: Shall We Dance?

Going deeper

II Samuel 6 :1-5, 12b-19

II Samuel 6:1-23 is an account of bringing the Ark to Jerusalem. The assumption is that the Ark is still at Kiriath-jearim, seven miles south-west of Jerusalem. The whole chapter pictures David as ready to serve the Lord, humble yet powerful.  Jerusalem is the center of political and religious life. Saul could not accomplish the political, military, and religious unity because he never achieved enough independence from the Philistines. The net effect is that, as David has united political and military power in Jerusalem, he must now unite religious forces in Jerusalem. Prior to the construction of the temple (which David sought but was unable to build), the ark was the most important religious artifact in Israel, symbolizing the Lord’s presence on earth among his chosen people.

6 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. [English translates two Hebrew words are translated as “ark.”  The first, teva, is used to describe only two objects: the vessel of woven reeds in which the infant Moses was floated on the Nile (Exodus 2:3, 5), and the wooden vessel in which Noah and his family and menagerie survived the great flood (Genesis 6:14, etc.). The other Hebrew word, ‘aron, is used almost exclusively to describe the sacred box or chest which held the two tablets of the law. (Apart from this usage, the word is used only to describe Joseph’s coffin, Genesis 50:26, and the collection box for offerings in the temple, 2 Kings 12:9-10.) This rectangular object, approximately 45 x 27 x 27 inches, was made of acacia wood, overlaid (according to Exodus 25:10-16) with gold leaf inside and out, and gold molding. Poles inserted through rings attached to its sides allowed people to transport the ark, and priests and Levites carried it in Israel’s most solemn processions. The ark was an object of great veneration, surrounded by an aura of sanctity that precluded all but the specially authorized from coming into contact with it. It appears that the chest of the ark was flanked by cherubim (fearsome sphinx-like creatures, not the chubby babies of later Christian paintings who bequeathed us the word “cherubic”), whose outstretched wings met above the lid of the ark.  The resulting throne-like structure was understood to be the throne (or, possibly, footstool) of the invisible “LORD of [the heavenly] hosts,” Israel’s divine patron. As was customary throughout the ancient Near East, when the image of a deity was carried into the city designated as that deity’s domicile, a procession of instruments, singing or chanting, and dancing, along with sacrifices, accompanied the entrance, as indicated here. It was destroyed in 568 BC.  It disappears from history.  The next mention of the Ark is in Revelation 10:19, "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple..."] 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.

[Next, we have the disturbing story of Uzzah steading the Ark, as it appeared it would fall, but “the anger of the Lord” moved against Uzzah and he died. David was angry with the Lord. He gave the place a new name, Pe'rez-uz'zah. People would have pointed to the new name for the place with horror.  He was also afraid of the Lord. The Ark stayed there for three months. After blessing the place, David brought it to his city.]

¹² 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. [The dancing involved rotating and skipping.  He wore a linen ephod, similar to what the priests wear.  This was a short article of clothing. He made several burnt offerings, blessed the people, and distributed the food. Michal objected on grounds of modesty rather than David’s presumption in donning priestly livery to the latter garment.] 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.

[When Michal expressed her displeasure, he says he acted the way he did in celebration that the Lord appointed him as prince over Israel. “I will make myself yet more contemptible than this.” The response that God chose David above Saul must have hit her hard.  The maids Michal is concerned about are closer to him than is Michal.  The final sentence one could interpret in two ways. One could view it as the Lord rejecting her view of these events.  One could also view the net effect of Michal’s disapproval was David shunning her, resulting in her childlessness (v. 23) and the perpetual separation of the line of David and the line of Saul. Most significantly, Jerusalem, newly under Israelite control, becomes the religious and political center of Israel. The consolidation of power and authority was one of his great achievements.]

Introduction

Suzanne and I like to dance. We met dancing. Would you like to see us dance? We are not very good because we do not get to do it very often. We have a few steps that are part of the swing type of dancing. One thing about dancing is that the man leads. Suzanne is very good at reminding me of steps I have forgotten. She is also very good at noticing little pressures on hand or side to let her know what we are going to do next.

Dancing With the Stars. It has been a wildly popular TV show, number one in its time slot.

So You Think You Can Dance? is another hit show, with a collection of young dancers competing in a rapid-fire series of traditional and contemporary dance styles. Combine these shows with the movies Dance With Me, Take the Lead, Step Up, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Flashdance, Shall We Dance? and you have a genuine dance sensation sweeping the nation.

            What is surprising — even shocking, given our couch-potato tendencies — is that Americans are not simply watching these shows. No, we are actually hitting the dance floor ourselves. Tango, swing and ballroom dancing have been on the rise for more than a decade, pre-dating the TV dance craze. Studios are seeing a 30 or 40 percent increase in students during the past 10 years, despite the fact that dance lessons can cost up to $100 an hour.

            So we are not only watching dance, we are doing dance. Or trying to, anyway. And with the rising popularity of reality-TV dance shows, this white-hot trend shows no sign of cooling off.

            One thing that stops us is that we think other people are watching. We get self-conscious. We are afraid that, like David in II Samuel 6, someone will react with disgust. In that case, it was the wife of David. Yet, in that case, a large group celebrated and worshipped, to the point where David was willing to do something more contemptible than this if it meant worship.

            The point is, to learn to dance, you cannot be too worried about what people think. Even Mikhail Baryshnikov once said that he does not try to dance better than anyone else does. He only tries to dance better than himself.

            When we dance, we have to focus upon the moment. The joy that can come in dancing is so refreshing. Problems you have had do not disappear, but you can gain some perspective. James Brown once said that one could solve any problem in the world by dancing. He was going too far, of course, but I find it amazing how much better I feel when I have had chance to be around people who are dancing.

            Bishop Woodie White brought dance to Indiana at a pastor and spouse event during the years he was bishop in Indiana. Yes, it was a great time for Suzanne and me.

Application

Most of us do not want to dance in worship. However, that is a cultural matter. Having gone to some other cultures, however, dance is often part of worship, and it can be part of the offering, as people joyfully bring their offering to the altar. For us, it feels awkward, embarrassing, inappropriate. As the woman said, “Don’t bring it into my sanctuary.” NIMS. Not in my sanctuary.

So, shall we dance? Many of us would rather not. We much prefer the work of Paul Taylor, the innovative American dancer and choreographer. He once contributed a modern dance solo in which he simply stood motionless on stage for four minutes — he just stood still, not moving a muscle.

Now it is hard to know what to say about such a dance, but one reviewer for a dance magazine responded appropriately: His review consisted of just four inches of white space. He wrote nothing about nothing.

The dancing we do in church tends to be quite similar to Paul Taylor’s solo. What we do is nothing — we just stand still (if indeed we are standing) or sit still, hardly moving a muscle. Our worship of God involves our minds, our hearts and our tongues, but rarely our whole bodies. Michal, David’s wife, would certainly approve.

There is a serious problem with this, and it has nothing to do with whether we actually allow dance in worship or not. The dancing question is a distraction; the real issue is much deeper. Our main problem today is a lack of enthusiasm. We have become so concerned with feeling awkward, embarrassed and inappropriate as Christians that we have choked much of the enthusiasm out of our service to God.

            Here is the real tragedy: If we are not enthusiastic, we are not en theos, in God.

So how do we get back into God? An excellent start is to learn the steps to good dancing and apply them to Christian discipleship. These include teamwork, breathing, studying and being willing to have fun.

Step one: Teamwork.

Dancer Janet Neumann makes the point that “square dancing can really work only when there is teamwork.” The same is true of our service to God. Notice that King David did not perform a solo in front of the ark, but “David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord” (v. 5,). That is teamwork, and it is essential to real success — whether you are dancing in a group, singing in a choir, building a Habitat for Humanity house or participating in a small-group Bible study. When you are working as a team, there is very little chance of awkwardness or embarrassment. In II Samuel, the only one who despises David is Michal — and notice that she is all alone, looking out her window, outside the circle of dancers.

Step two: Breathing.

Ballet dancers will tell you that breathing is an essential part of dance and that you will never make it through a performance unless you learn how to breathe. Hold your breath and you will tire out quickly because your muscles will not get the oxygen they need. As Christians, we need the breath of God to fill us if we are going to do the work that God wants us to do. Remember that Adam was lifeless until the Lord “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7), and the people of Israel were dead bones until “the breath came into them, and they lived” (Ezekiel 37:10). In the same way, we cannot serve God well unless we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit and breathe deeply in prayer. It is only when we ask for the Lord to fill us that we will be inspired — a word that means “to breathe into” or “fill with spirit.” David was breathing deeply as he “danced before the Lord with all his might” (v. 14), and God gave him the energy to bring the ark all the way from Baale-judah to Jerusalem.

Step three: Studying or practicing.

As everyone knows, there are good dances and bad ones. However, to discover the difference, we have to study. Mark 6:14-29 tells the story of how a certain dance was used not to praise God but to put John the Baptist to death. One cannot answer the question “Shall we dance?” with an easy yes or no. Study of Scripture reveals that dance is good if it is truly enthusiastic, truly “in God.” Our Lord certainly wants us to feel passion, as David did, and to be willing to “lose it” in joyful praise and thanksgiving. Nevertheless, watch out: Dance can be dangerous if it becomes a human-centered form of entertainment, cut off from God — one that causes us to “lose our heads.” Herod was so captivated by the beauty and passion of his daughter’s dance that he lost his connection to God, and, in the end, he participated in the killing of an innocent man. King David was God-centered, and his dance was heavenly. King Herod was human-centered, and his daughter’s dance created hell on earth. The critical choice is to keep God at the center of whatever we say, think, do and feel.

            Step four: Have fun.

You cannot dance well unless you are willing to cut loose and have some fun, and the same is true in lives of Christian discipleship. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you,” says Jesus to his disciples. “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:9, 11). As people who are secure in the love of Christ, we can step out in faith and have some fun — Jesus wants our joy to be complete.

Conclusion

So cut loose. Share the love. Feel the joy. By combining teamwork, good breathing, careful study and a willingness to have fun, we will be able to serve the Lord with the enthusiasm of King David before the ark.

            We will be en theos, “in God.” 

Sermon to go

Key Points

Step one: Teamwork.

“David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord” (v. 5)

Step two: Breathing.

the Lord “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7)

the people of Israel were dead bones until “the breath came into them, and they lived” (Ezekiel 37:10).

he “danced before the Lord with all his might” (v. 14)

Step three: Studying or practicing.

She we dance? Mark 6:14-29

            Step four: Have fun.

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you,” “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you,” “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:9, 11

Ideas for Exploration

1. II Samuel 6 relates the Ark coming to Jerusalem. Israel and David danced before the Lord, while the wife David, Michal, isolated herself and found what her husband did was despicable.

2. Ephesians 1:3-14 is a powerful reflection upon the blessings we have in Christ.

3. Mark 6:14-29 relates the beheading of John the Baptist, but stimulated by a party and dancing.

Let’s Live It

Psalm 24:

¹ The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,

the world, and those who live in it;