Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church
The M3 - Monday Morning Mail
Footloose?
I began yesterday's sermon with a pathetic demonstration of a four-step dance, recalling while I did it that I remember my mom trying to teach me how to dance like this when I was a kid at special occiasions like weddings. The basis for the sermon was Psalm 149:3: "Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!" I quickly transitioned to the clip from the 1984 hit film Footloose, when the main character Ren McCormack makes an appeal to the small town council to allow dancing, which has always been banned in the town to protect people from illicit behavior. In this clip Ren quotes Psalm 149 as well as 2 Samuel 6:14ff when King David dances before the LORD. He is making the point to the Bible-based ruling town council to allow dancing, quoting the Bible to them.
Building on the dancing theme I retold the story from a childhood trip to Lake Powell with my family, recounting how I remember my parents and their friends dancing deep into the night on the front of the houseboat in Dangling Rope canyon. I mentioned that the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan echoled off the canyon walls with the beauitful night sky above. It was a great time for everyone.
I then showed a funning gif-image of a middle-aged couple dancing "disco." It was funning because they just moved their hips back and forth with knees bent while snapping their fingers. I said sometimes the church dances like this: NOT VERY WELL. That is, we struggle to rejoice in the goodness of Jesus!
Yet, it was King David who dances before the Lord. At this point Israel is a small geopolitical player in their region. Yet, David focuses on YHWH and what he has done for himself and the people of Israel. His focus is not on the news of the day or himself. Rather, focusing on YHWH he lets himself be immersed in YHWH's promises. This gives him great joy and hope. So, he dances!!
I closed the sermon with a slide that asks two questions: 1) How's your dancing? and 2) What's your dance? Of course, I didn't mean this literally but metioned that it is a question of the heart. Are we dancing because of what YHWH has done for us? I encouraged us to remember our baptisms and what the Lord's Supper means? I invoked the promise that Jesus is coming again to make all things new. We dance because Jesus has danced out of hell for you and me! When these promises are our focus, there is always reason to dance way into the night!