I Don’t Dance, Week 11 Day 5, 2 Samuel 6

I Don’t Dance, Week 11 Day 5, 2 Samuel 6

I don’t dance.  Very few people have seen me dance.  They are probably all still in counseling.  My apologies to those poor souls.

But I guess that doesn’t matter.  David, now David could dance.  When they were bringing the Ark from the house of Obed-Edom to Jerusalem, they offered a sacrifice.  Then David danced.  He danced before the Lord.  He danced with all his might. He danced with all of Israel amid shouts and trumpets.  And everyone loved his dancing.  Well, except…

David’s wife, Saul’s daughter, Michal did not appreciate David’s dancing.  It says “when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.”  And  while she’s not into dancing, she is apparently pretty up on sarcasm.  “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

David’s reply, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel-I will celebrate before the Lord.  I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.  But by these salve girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

So, what’s a guy who can’t dance supposed to do?  Some would take this to mean that everyone should be willing to dance before the Lord.  But I’m not sure that’s what it means.

A while back a group from our church went on a short term mission trip to Latin America.  When they were giving a report on their trip they all said how they wished they, and the rest of us, could be more emotionally demonstrative like they were.  And I have to confess that I really struggled with that.

And while I much prefer our contemporary worship service with the drums and guitar and modern songs, I’m not really a raise your hands, dance in the aisle kind of guy.  I’ve got nothing against people who do those things.  Or who are more outward in displaying their emotions.  That’s just not who I am.

So, dance or don’t dance?  So raise your hands or don’t raise your hands?  Wear your emotions on your sleeve or keep them under the surface?

Well, I don’t think any of those questions are the right ones.  It’s easy to focus on others.  It’s easy to focus on specific actions.  It easy to say, “You should be more like them.”  It’s easy to say we should be more expressive in showing our faith.  But expression shouldn’t follow a set of rules or regulations.  Just because David danced doesn’t mean we have to.

We’ve been sharing videos in our church, the stories of our people and their ministries.  One story was Victor Wong, retired professor and dean of a major university.  Now he volunteers in our Free Dining Program.  He and his wife help each week, plating desserts, setting tables, washing dishes, greeting those who come to eat and buttering bread.  Not exactly “dean” stuff.  But they serve as humble servants, unseen by most, doing the details that care for the people who come to our Free Dining program twice a week.

The point isn’t that David danced so we have to dance.  When bringing the Ark home, a dance is an appropriate celebration.  When the call is to feed the hungry, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and butter some bread.  When it’s time to dance, if God calls you to dance, then it’s time to dance, even if you’re the king.  When it’s time to feed the hungry, if God calls you to feed the hungry, then it’s time to butter some bread, even if you’re a professor or a dean.

The point isn’t to be like anyone else.  I don’t have to display the emotions that come from a different culture.  I don’t have to bust a move like someone who actually has a sense of rhythm.  I don’t have to speak with the eloquence of a trained speaker.  I don’t have to cook like a master chef or someone who regularly feeds hundreds.

The point is to do what God calls you to do.  If God calls you to dance, you dance, even if you don’t dance.  If God calls you to feed the hungry and you feed the hungry, even if you’re not a cook.  If God calls you to share your faith, you share your faith, even if you’re not a public speaker.  It isn’t about “what” you are.  It’s about doing what God calls you to do, regardless of who you are.  And regardless of how it may look to others.

You don’t need to be like others.  You just need to be who you are.  And if God calls you to, then that’s the time to step out of your comfort zone and dance or cook or speak.  But not because someone else tells you to, but because God has called you to.

God, there’s a lot of things I’m comfortable doing.  Most of those were “new” when You first asked me to do them.  Now, they come pretty naturally.  But there’s still a lot I’ve never done, there’s a lot I’m not comfortable with.  I suppose that You’ll be asking me to do some of those things sometime, someday.  You might even ask me to dance.  Ah, okay.  You’ll need to work with me on that one.  But You are the God of miracles.  So who knows, certainly not me.  Amen

Leonard