Rev. Tom Lenhart

Sermon July 6, 2008

“Will We Ever Dance With God?”

Romans 7:15-25a and Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30   

Let us pray.

O God you are behind us and before us. Lay your hands upon me as I utter these words. And may we all feel your presence in our souls. Amen 

 To paraphrase today’s scripture text from Matthew “[he] played the flute for us and we did not dance.” When I thought about our text for today I keep coming back to the dance metaphor. Now the text is about how the Jews and others of Jesus’ day rejected both John the Baptist and Jesus -- John because he was too sober and ascetic, inviting no one to religious meals, and Jesus because he was too open and inclusive inviting everyone to the Sabbath table. The refusal to dance is simply a metaphor for this rejection of God’s Son. And yet I think the dance metaphor is profoundly apt -- the call of faith is like a call to dance with God.  

As far as I can tell the world is divided into two groups-- those who like to dance and those who don’t. In my experience the latter category --those who would rather be caught dead than on the dance floor - -is much, much larger than the former and, if anything, is populated more by men than by women. Why don’t some of us like to dance?  For some it is because they don’t know how. No one has ever shown them the basic dance steps or techniques. And they don’t seem to have a natural affinity or sense of rhythm. For such folks to get out on to the dance floor is to risk being seriously embarrassed. And so they don’t accept the invitation. Others don’t do it -- not because they aren’t capable -- but because to dance means to let go.  

People who love to dance – whether good or not – will all explain that dancing involves letting go of self-consciousness and in some almost inexplicable way allowing the melody and rhythm of the music to take over and guide one’s movements. Many of us do not want to give up control anywhere -- let alone on the dance floor.  There is a member of my family who – though a world class athlete – looks (and no doubt feels) awkward on the dance floor. He doesn’t enjoy it and will dance only when there is no polite way to avoid it. Likewise, there are some who just can’t be bothered. There are other things they would rather being doing and they don’t need to dance. And then there are those who simply say I don’t like music or dancing. I think these people are espousing disinterest or dislike must likely because they don’t want to be embarrassed and just can’t let go. Aren’t the reasons we decline God’s invitation to dance often similar. How many people feel unworthy – that they are not up to the demands of faith and so decline to join the dance. Here is the true story of one such person – a young woman.

She was brought by ambulance to an emergency room after having been stabbed in a drunken brawl. “When the doctors had done all they could and the case was diagnosed as beyond all hope, a nurse was asked simply to stay with the young woman until the end came. As she sat looking at the girl and thinking what a pity it was that such a face should be marred by such hard lines, the girl unexpectedly opened her eyes. ‘I want you to tell me something and tell me straight,’ she said, ‘Do you think God cares about people like me?’”[1]

There are in our world far too many who -- like this woman -- feel unworthy of dancing with God.  Think of those in our inner cities, in Appalachia, on the Indian reservations of this nation, but equally those living in privilege and with plenty who believe that no one loves them -- that they are unlovable. The nurse in our story -- after some thought --replied “I’m telling your straight: God cares about you and ...  forgives you.”[2] God’s arms are open wide to all -- inviting each and everyone to the dance floor. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

For most of us our reluctance to dance with God comes less from a feeling of unworthiness and more because we need to feel we can take care of ourselves. Like my family member who does not want to release himself to the music, we do not want to acknowledge that we are not totally in control but that God is.  To acknowledge that there is a power bigger than that of human reason, capability and ingenuity is difficult. Many feel that everything is going OK in life. We are in control. We have a good family, a nice house, and resources to do most things we want.  Life is going well.  

But is it? Do we really feel fulfilled? Are we making a difference in the world by what we do and how we live? We are so busy that we don’t ask ourselves such questions very often.  But, I think, if we did we might find some emptiness -- some lack of meaning in our lives.  And, of course, for some of us the illusion of control and of the good life will be challenged by those unexpected things we do not control. The list of such things is long:  illness that hits us or a loved, the unexpected loss of a job, or a loved one cut down in the prime of life.  It is in those moments that we realize that we do not control life or death. But again God’s arms are open to us in those times -- arms to lovingly embrace us as we dance away our anxieties and fear and sooth our grief, trusting in the promise of God’s love.

The passage from Romans in Paul’s unique language highlights the challenge we face. We stand on the edge of the dance floor at times engaged in an internal debate. Do I go out on the dance floor or not. “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” (Romans 7:19) And why in Paul’s words do we fail in these inner debates – it is the sin that dwells within us. As I have said on other occasions for me “sin” is placing something other than God at the center of our lives. It is trying desperately to keep control whether by acquiring things or by relying solely on our efforts to avoid or to deal with disappointment, suffering and grief. But such efforts are doomed to failure. To accept the call of faith is to dance with God -- not to dance by ourselves. And so Paul rightly says that we are rescued from our endless unsatisfactory debates by Jesus Christ. Why -- because in and through him we see what it means to be one with God -- to put ourselves in God’s hands and dance.

I like the dance metaphor for the call of faith for a second reason; namely, because it captures the power and magic of faith. On the one hand dancing demands discipline and hard work.   To dance effectively and gracefully requires that you hew to the music. That you reflect in movement the rhythm and the melody of the music played. This is true whether one is doing ballroom dancing, modern dance such as that done by the Alvin Ailey Company or classical ballet as done by the Royal Ballet. As one who took dance lessons for six years I can attest to the discipline required and the difficulty sometimes in getting it right. So too with faith – there is a discipline required -- Great Commandments to be followed even when they are difficult -- to be followed when we don’t want to love our annoying neighbor and to be followed when we don’t want the last to be first. Faith asks us to give up that new painting or a new set of golf clubs because the children of Dafur need clean water and food. Yes, the demands of faith can be difficult and require practice just like dancing -- things like service, prayer and hospitality.

And yet dancing to the music is liberating and joyous beyond measure.  In the words of a song from the 70s (not one of my favorite musical periods) “You can dance, you can jive having the time of your life.”[3]  I confess that I like to dance. Perhaps the biggest complement I received at my old law firm was when an African-American secretary told me “you are the best white dancer in the firm." Now, I know you are thinking that this is not perhaps the highest compliment of my dancing skills. But I will cling tenaciously to what I can get.

Why do I like to dance – it is because I love music, and being connected to it while dancing fills me with energy and joy. Next time you see people dancing – really dancing whether ballet or modern dance or hip hop look at their faces. I bet you -- they will be smiling suffused with a joyous glow. For you see dancing requires discipline -- control of one’s movements – yet that paradoxically is also liberating. There is a connection with something beyond oneself and that is joyous. So too in dancing with God -- in those moments we too are connected to something beyond us – a reassuring sense of love and an empowering promise that love does prevail.  But that connection is not confining. Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fontaine and Gelsey Kirkland danced the same ballets but they were never exactly alike. To dance is to be liberated to find your true self and to pour yourself into that moment. So too for faith! Sure there are demands and sacrifices involved but also liberation. In dancing with God we each have the potential to be the best we can be. We are made in God’s image but each of us is also created as a precious and unique part of creation.

Let me leave you with these slightly modified words from a song of the 60s “Save the Last Dance for Me,”

                        You can dance [with God],

                        Go and carry on [joyously]
                        Till the night is gone
                        And it's time to go.[4] Amen