For
childre Joy
in the Dance
©
by the Reverend Dr. Byron E. Shafer
(Rutg
(Rutgers, July 16, 2000; 15th
Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B)
II Samuel 6:1–5, 12b–19 (OT, pp. 311, 312)
Some
material and illustrations are drawn from The
Living Pulpit,
October–December, 1996.
Joy!
That’s the emotion that fills this morning’s lessons.
Joy in the celebration of the divine; joy over the felt presence of God.
First,
a psalmist sings joyfully of the world, and of its glorious Creator, and of
being among those blessed by this Ruler of the Universe. Then, King David dances for joy before God, a dance of
ecstasy at God’s wondrous power, a dance of delight and self-abandonment.
And
that which gave rise to the joy displayed in both the song of the psalmist and
the dance of David was the Ark of God, the gilded acacia-wood box being carried
in ritual procession to the sacred precincts of Jerusalem, the simple chest that
symbolized for Israel the earthly footstool for the throne of the Invisible God.
The
psalmist proclaims that everything on earth belongs to God, who is the One
enthroned in majesty above the Ark, the One and Only One who has the requisite
power to order this universe in ways that make for life.
And
who may enter into the earthly sanctuary of this Awesome God, into the presence
of this Splendrous Sovereign? Says
the psalmist: those with clean hands and a pure heart—those whose outward
deeds manifest inward purity, whose conduct attests to an inward respect for
neighbor and awe of God—those whose body and spirit are united as one.
It
is the Book of Second Samuel that narrates the very first bringing of the Holy
Ark of God to Jerusalem, by King David, an act intended to confer sacredness on
his new capital city. That very
first procession up to Jerusalem, with the chest emblematic of God’s presence,
was a boisterous, joyous one, and along the way David leapt and danced and
twirled to the beat of drums and the blast of trumpets, in an impulsive display
of euphoria. Then, at
procession’s end, David offered sacrifice, and the people feasted on meat and
bread and cakes of raisins, celebrating God’s goodness and dynamic presence,
and manifesting their joy in dance and movement!
In
dance, a person is able to express through the body one’s inner self.
In dance, a person is able to experience a holistic integration of
one’s body and spirit—the two working together, indivisibly.
In dance like David’s, inward joy is fused to outward expression in an
offering of praise that flows from spirit and body together.
David
leapt and danced and twirled in praise—David did that, but, in case you
hadn’t noticed, Presbyterians don’t! As
my mother and father taught me—not in so many words mind you, but quite
effectively nonetheless—except for bending our knees every once in a while to
stand up and sit down, Presbyterians worship from just the neck up.
We’re willing to close our eyes, and open our ears, and move our lips,
and even flex our brains. But God
forbid that we should move any part of our bodies from the shoulders down!
As my father once observed, “Elvis is not
a Presbyterian!” Well, neither
was David. And that’s too bad for
us. It’s too bad that we seem to
be more like Michal, our second lesson’s wet-blanket wife, whose response to
David’s dancing, you’ll remember, was contempt!
We
Presbyterians have listened to too many Michal’s telling us not to be
exuberant in our worship, telling us to calm down, to relax, to “behave
ourselves,” when we really should be dancing for joy over the love of God.
What
is it that happens to the wonderfully exuberant child-within-us when we “grow
up”?
Margaret
and I have a grandson named Max. He’s
now just two and a half years old, so I can still remember many of those very
early scenes of baby Max lying contentedly on his back.
When his mother or father would come into view, Max would start wiggling
happily all over, waving his arms and kicking his legs merrily in the air.
And I remember, too, many scenes of toddler Max.
He’d see something that brought him joy, and squealing excitedly,
he’d start to toddle toward it as quickly as he could, often landing flat on
his face—boom. And now there’s
two-and-a-half-year-old Max, greeting his beloved mother’s arrival home
with giggles and his own version of David’s ecstatic dance of love and
joy.
How
does it happen, then, that as we grow up we begin to clamp such a tight lid on
bodily expressions of joy? Oh, we
men are permitted to jump up and down and hoot and holler at a football game or
a baseball game, but not in church! But
is it right that public jubilation should be pretty much restricted to
touchdowns and home runs? Ought not
feasting on the presence of God be given its own irresistible celebration in
body and spirit?
Maybe
the practice of worshiping from just the neck up was one of the things Jesus was
trying to correct when he said, “…unless you change and become like children
you’ll never enter the realm of heaven.”
(Matthew 18:3)
Maybe
Jesus was calling on us not only to embrace children but also to embrace that
childlike nature that’s within ourselves—that exuberant, wiggling, squealing
self that’s tucked deep inside each and every one of us.
Maybe Jesus was calling on us to allow the energy of joy within us to
find outward, physical forms of expression.
Yes,
maybe the practice of worshiping from just the neck up was one of the things
Jesus was trying to correct. Maybe
Jesus was trying to get us to worship from the toes up!
And although we can’t transform ourselves overnight, we can begin to
change ourselves slowly, and step by step.
And
since society already gives us permission to express spirit through body in
activities like games and athletics and dance and movement, I believe we in this
congregation would do well to start the process of changing ourselves precisely
at that point, at the point of games and athletics and dance and movement.
So this fall, we shall begin to provide, in our own church building,
opportunities for persons of all ages, from pre-school through seniors, to get
to work on integrating spirit and body, on uniting the inner self and the outer.
Monday,
September 11th will be the launch date for
Rutgers Church’s new Body and Spirit Program.
It will be coordinated by one of our newest staff members, Diane Nicole,
and supervised by our Director of Educational Ministries, Cheryl Pyrch.
The various components of this program will be offered throughout our
building—in the gymnasium below this sanctuary, and in other facilities as
well.
And
here are some of the exciting activities that Diane is working to create for us
this fall.
For
toddlers: morning groups, five days a week—groups in art, movement, and music.
For
children in Kindergarten through Fourth Grade: after-school groups, two
afternoons a week—providing lessons in interactive sports like tennis,
basketball, soccer, and volleyball.
For
youth in Grades Five through Eight: after-school groups two afternoons a
week—integrative sports and exercises like taibou, which is a discipline of
energy release through choreographed movement.
For
youth in Grades Six through Eight at IS 84 (the school at 78th Street and Columbus Avenue): our gymnasium will be available
one afternoon a week for after-school sports activities.
For
children of various ages: a movement chorus, featuring coordination of voice and
movement as a group.
For
teenage parents: joint activities for the teenage parents and their babies.
For
young adults: evening volleyball.
For
Senior Citizens: daytime classes in movement, nutrition, and physical exercise.
And
we hope that these activities will be just the start of a program that will grow
and grow and grow—larger, and deeper.
The
Rutgers Church Body And Spirit Program will be designed to be different from
what you’d find at a health club. First,
the activities will be kept affordable, so persons of every economic group can
participate. Second, we will
emphasize the creation of a caring, sharing community among the participants.
Third, we will work to integrate body and spirit in such a way that
physical well-being promotes spiritual well-being and a sound body leads to a
sound moral life.
It
is our hope and prayer that beginning September 11th,
hundreds of people of all ages will find “joy in the dance” right here
through the Rutgers Church Body and Spirit Program.
And
who knows! If we get pretty good at
integrating body and spirit in that
program, we might also get better at worshiping
from our toes up.
To
experience worship that integrates body and spirit all you have to do is go to
some churches whose culture is not primarily white, Anglo-Saxon.
Go to an African-American church that isn’t Presbyterian and you’ll
find plenty of David-like dancing and Max-like exuberance.
When God’s presence is felt among them, their whole body responds, as
well as their spirit. The
child-within-them is free to express its love and joy in movement.
Now
in this congregation we often sing African-American spirituals, but somehow it
just isn’t the same! Our toes
don’t tap; our bodies don’t sway; our arms don’t wave; our hands don’t
clap. Oh, our souls may soar, but
our bodies stay put. We just
haven’t found that “joy in the dance,”and I’m the first to admit that
I’m one of those persons who have a lot of trouble getting my body to move.
I’m one of those lifelong Presbyterians who’ve been brought up frozen
from the shoulders down. No one
will ever mistake me for Elvis.
But
I’m promising you that I’m going to go to work on myself. I’m going to try to integrate more of my body into worship.
And I invite you to try to do the same.
In fact, I invite us all to get started on that project right here and
now, during our closing hymn, which is one of those body-moving African-American
spirituals!
Now,
one of the best things about this spiritual is that its words are so simple that
we won’t need to hold those heavy hymnbooks.
And if we don’t need to hold those hymnbooks, we don’t really have
any excuse at all for being unlike David, and unlike Max. If we’re free and unencumbered, then we’re able to move.
You
know the words; we’ve all sung them before:
“I’m gonna live so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime! I’m gonna live so God can use me anywhere Lord, anytime!”
See!
Without a hymn book we’re free to swing and sway and clap with the best
of them!
And
verses two through four are just more of the same simple thing.
Verse two is: “I’m gonna work
so God can use me.” And verse
three is: “I’m gonna pray so
…” And verse four is: “I’m gonna sing
so …”
“Live,’
“work,” “pray,” “sing.”
So
remember, no hymnbooks or bulletins during our last hymn!
We’re just gonna sing that song from our soul, so we’re free to dance
like David and sway like Max.
Let us pray:
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