Scripture: 2 Samuel 6:16 – “As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.” (NRSV)
This week, the United Church of Christ is holding their General Synod, the event where every two years, delegates from conferences all across the country gather to do the necessary business of the denomination, including presenting declarations inviting churches to seek greater justice in our world.
One of my favorite parts of Synod is the worship services. I grew up in a very classicist environment. I loved ancient history and poetry and classical music. I even grew up in a house which was built in 1699. So my worship tastes generally trend toward old fashioned hymns, complex harmonies, and even Bach style counterpoint. This music best fits a very classical style of worship which matches the old Congregational model: Quiet and peaceful, with no visual stimuli that might distract from the intellectual analysis of scripture.
But the worship of General Synod is quite different. It mixes musical styles from blues to gospel to bluegrass, hearing languages like Spanish or Xhosa, a language from South Africa. Worship might include drama or even dance as part of reading the scripture. This reminds us that church is more than our traditions; it also looks forward and finds new ideas in people and places that were previously ignored. At the heart of this innovation is also an emotionalism that expresses our love of God, our joy in each other, and our passion for justice. Sometimes this clashes with the traditional style that I and many others in our little white churches are used to.
But passion is just as important to our faith as intellect and propriety. When King David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, he did not watch it from a height with a dignified wave as any other king might have done in his time. He stripped down to his skivvies to leap and dance in celebration of God’s power and grace. This disgusted his wife, Michal, who found it humiliating for her husband and for the monarchy. But David did not care; he needed to dance, he needed to sing, he needed to let his body speak out his faith in ways that his mind alone never could.
So when we see new and different worship styles in our midst, let us not let our minds recoil at the emotions we see, but let our hearts open and even our bodies move to the rhythm. For God does not just want us to think about faith, God wants us to move our bodies, not just to worship, but to bring love and justice beyond our walls to those in greatest need.
Prayer: Lord of the dance, fire my heart to love you more than everything else. Amen.
コメント