Lord of the Dance 2 Samuel 6:12-19 Trillium United Church Caledon July 15, 2018

 King David was told, “God has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the Ark of God.” So David went and brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to Jerusalem; and when those who carried the ark had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fat calf. He danced before God with all his might wearing a linen ephod. David and all the house of Israel carried the Ark with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. As the Ark of came into Jerusalem, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked out of the window, and saw David leaping and dancing, and she despised him. They brought in the Ark of God, and set it inside the tent David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being. Then David blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, both men and women; to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.

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Back in the 70’s and early 80’s, as a liturgical revolution took place, liturgical dance began to make a reappearance. There was a lot of controversy about dancing in church. Many thought it ‘unseemly’. Yet dancing is a biblical form of worship. In the Hebrew Scriptures, folks pushed the tables back and got the instruments out for weddings, funerals, bar and bat mitzvahs, birthdays  – just about any occasion.

In terms of Biblical reference to dance, well – we have today’s story of David dancing as the Ark of the Covenant is brought into Jerusalem. David danced ‘with all his might’. Psalm 149: 3 “Let them praise God’s name in the dance; let them sing praises with tambourine and harp.” Psalm 150 is the one text in the Bible which gives directions for public worship:

“Praise God! Praise the Holy in the sanctuary; praise God in the mighty heavens!
Praise God for mighty deeds; for surpassing greatness!

 Praise God with trumpet sound; with lute and harp!
Praise God with tambourine and dance, with strings and pipe!
Praise God with clanging cymbals, with loud clashing cymbals!”

Well, we in the church have had a problem with our sense of propriety and restraint, haven’t we? When was the last time you danced for God? It’s just not dignified, is it, to do the Charleston, or the Twist, or even a waltz, every time we pray? Yet David danced ‘with all his might’. Take a moment – try to imagine a parade  - King David and all his retinue – wending their way along a road toward Jerusalem, King David dressed in a linen loincloth, hardly royal clothing – dancing with ‘all his might’. All his might……

When I was young, some members of my extended family did not wear makeup, go to movies, and for sure they didn’t dance in church – I suspect (though I don’t know) they didn’t dance at all. In some churches people were taught that dancing was actually "worldly" and Christians could not do worldly things - no matter how much fun they were. In fact, the more fun they were, the more ‘wordly’ (read ‘evil’) they were. Well, being a rebel – and my parents were too, thank goodness -  I love to dance, anywhere, any time. Dancing is good and right.

So this morning, David is dancing before the Lord, because God’s presence is being paraded into Jerusalem. He’s got plenty of reason to dance. His kingdom is united - the north and the south are finally glued back together. He’s got a neutral city – Jerusalem - that allows both groups to gather. But we need to step back just a tad, in the story, so the reading makes a bit more sense.

As this little parade gets closer to Jerusalem, someone tries to steady the ark with his hand, and he falls down and dies. The dancing and the parade stops. The Ark of the Covenant isn’t going any further. God’s presence and holiness is dangerous.

So the Ark gets stashed away in the garage of Obed-edom. But Obed, rather than dying, prospers, and his 60-something wife suddenly gets pregnant. Obed’s weed-infested fields are covered with flax. Good things are happening in Obed’s life, and it seems they must be somehow connected to the box containing God’s presence that sits in Obed’s garage.

So David decides he is going to bring this unusual box back to Jerusalem after all, knowing that one person has already died. His risk pays off  -  and he has the promise that God is again present with the Israelites. Excited by the success, David dresses in something called an ephod – a linen winding garment reserved for priests (perhaps like a loincloth), which leaves little to the imagination when one is dancing. David puts on an ephod and begins to dance around the Ark, capering and skipping – and of course is critised by his wife Michal for being undignified – a king should not do such things.

Is this just a story about dancing in church? About maybe loosening up a little and throwing out a few hallelujahs here and there, about movement and celebration? Is it about breaking loose from our Methodist-Presbyterian-Congregational ethos as a denomination – forged in serious social justice, and determined long face? Or is there more to it? Is it possible to dance with the devil on our back? When the diagnosis of cancer is terminal, with only a few months to live? When head injury at 13 causes interminable seizures which get worse and worse, until by 18 you have lost all your high school and can’t function. Or when the one you’ve loved for so long has been unfaithful, and there is a rift in the marriage which cannot be repaired? Or an only child has died in a tragic automobile accident? Or a family endures a third suicide? Is it possible to dance with the devil on your back?

Maybe David discovered that God calls us to the dance floor not because things are going well for us, but because of who God is. Maybe David could dance when no other officials would be caught dead doing it, because he became truly aware of God’s presence – in both the good times, and ill times – and that was really what mattered. In the face of suffering dance becomes an act of deep conviction that, in the words of our New Creed “we are not alone, we live in God’s world. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone."

In writing the lyrics to the hymn "Lord of the Dance" in 1963, Sydney Carter was inspired partly by Jesus, partly by a statue of the Hindu God Shiva in the dancing pose Nataraja, which sat on his desk, and also partly to give tribute to Shaker music – the tune is called “Simple Gifts”. He later stated, "I did not think the churches would like it at all. I thought many people would find it pretty far flown, probably heretical and anyway dubiously Christian. But in fact people did sing it and, unknown to me, it touched a chord ... Anyway, it's the sort of Christianity I believe in."

He wrote:

“I see Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is calling us. He dances that shape and pattern which is at the heart of our reality. By Christ I mean not only Jesus; in other times and places, other planets there may be other Lords of the Dance. But Jesus is the one I know of first and best. I sing of the dancing pattern in the life and words of Jesus.

Whether Jesus ever leaped in Galilee to the rhythm of a pipe or drum I do not know. We are told that David danced, and as an act of worship too, so it is not impossible. The fact that many Christians have regarded dancing as a bit ungodly does not mean that Jesus did.

The Shakers didn't. The first Shakers came from Manchester in England where they were sometimes called the "Shaking Quakers". They went to America in 1774 and established celibate communities - men at one end, women at the other; they met for work and worship. Dancing, for them, was a spiritual activity.”

And he wrote “Sometimes, for a change, I sing the whole song in the present tense. 'I dance in the morning when the world is begun...'.

Lord of the Dance (present tense version)

I dance in the morning when the world is begun,
I dance in the moon and the stars and the sun,
I come down from heaven and I dance on the earth,
at Bethlehem I have my birth .

Dance, dance, wherever you may be,
I am the lord of the dance, says he,
and I lead you all, wherever you may be,
and I lead you all in the dance, says he.

I dance for the scribes and the Pharisees,
They will not dance, they will not follow me
I dance for fishermen named James and John
They come with me and the dance goes on.

I dance on the Sabbath, and I cure the lame,
some holy people say it is a shame;
they rip, and they strip, and they hang me high
and leave me there on the cross to die.

I dance on a Friday when the world turns black ,
it's hard to dance with the devil on your back;
They bury my body, they think I’m gone,
but I am the dance, and the dance goes on

They cut me down and I leap up high,
I am the life that will never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me
I am the Lord of the dance, said he.

Have you danced lately? Danced a dance in God’s honour, danced for joy? Danced out of your grief? We are called into a dance with the one we follow, Jesus, who says "May I have this dance with you?" May we be able to dance, in all ways, in all times, and all places – for the love of the One who calls us out, onto the dance floor of life. Amen.

Sources:

1.      ‘And David Danced With All His Might’ based on 2 Samuel 6:12-19 by Rev. Thomas Hall   

2.      Lord of the Dance – Sydney Carter 1963, and writings by Sydney Carter.

3.      A New Creed, United Church of Canada. 1968  23^rd General Council. Amended 1980 and 1994.