Please see the opening paragraphs posted for June 28 for an explanation of the current sermon format (notes, rather than prose)
Also, to read the Bible passage, just click on it - it should take you to an online Bible site with that passage.
Last summer + So You Think You Can Dance
Don't like “reality”/competition shows
But, sucked into the dancers & their stories & their ability to dance
even voted more than once for favorite
Mark's gospel – Ancient version of So You Think You Can Dance...
King Herod (not really a king) having a party w/ courtiers & officials & leaders of Galilee
Step-daughter is the entertainment
Comes in to dance & steals the show
Guests call in & vote – she wins hands down - Galilee's Favorite Dancer!
Mark says Herod & guests were “pleased”
a mild word, considering what he offers as the grand prize: Anything she wants; even ½ of his kingdom (the most a woman could own was ½ of man's property)
Herodias' (also known as Salome) dance was a dance of destruction, a dance of death
the seductive dance of wealth and power and privilege
a dance that corrupts almost everyone in its path
Leads Herod into temptation;
Leads Herodias (Sr.) to act on her grudge
B/c when she goes to ask her mother, mother finally gets her revenge on JBap for speaking out against her marriage, her adultery
Asks for John the Baptist's head on a platter
& Herod, who has been trying all along to protect John the Baptist, is forced to go along w/ his promise or lose face/honor w/ his guests (word as bond)
World invites us into a similar dance
A dance that is appealing and seductive
Leads us to want things that we know aren't right; that we know aren't good for us
The lure of money and sex and power;
World tries to convince us that this dance will satisfy us;
that if we partner with it, we can have everything we want, without consequences
Temptation – to cut corners; to cheat in business, on our spouses; to live out our anger, to seek revenge, to cut down those who block us;
& think we can get away w/ it
maybe not as bad as Herod & Herodias, but it's in us all
leaves us morally bankrupt, unsatisfied, still looking for more
Examples are all around us – Bernie Madoff; Gov. of SC, Mark Sanford
Looks good, but it is a dance that leads to our downfall
We look at John the Baptist & see that he's been dancing a different dance all along
His dance doesn't look very appealing;
More like Elaine Bennis (Seinfeld):
He “appears” in the wilderness in Ch. 1
Eating locusts & wild honey & wearing clothes made of camel's hair & proclaiming a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins
Next time we see him, he's landed in jail for daring to speak out against Herod & his relationship w/ Herodias
And in this story, we hear how he died
But what's really important about this dance is his dance partner
So You Think You Can Dance – partners; different dance styles, etc.
-the right partner makes all the difference!
John's partner is Jesus
He's been leading this dance all along
Jesus' dance started before the beginning of time
a dance of love between the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit
And his dance leads, not to our destruction or downfall or death – his dance leads to new life, true life, the life that never ends!
It's the dance Jesus invites us in to
teaching us every day how to dance with him; let's us stand on his feet & hold his hands
And he gives us so much more than the world can offer
Herod promised Herodias Jr. ½ of his kingdom – Jesus gives us the whole kingdom of God!
Herod gave Herodias John's head on a platter – Jesus gives us himself, saying “Take & eat, this is my body, given for you.”
Jesus invites us to dance with him, a new dance that the world can never defeat
Hymn that kept running through my mind; couldn't find it in our hymnals – don't know why I know it
Called Lord of the Dance
The last few verses & the refrain
I danced on a Friday and the sky turned black;
It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back;
They buried my body and they thought I’d gone,
But I am the dance and I still go on.
They cut me down and I leapt up high,
I am the life that’ll never, never die;
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
Refrain
Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment