7-16-2006

Celebrating the freeing, supportive presence of God. So your experience of God may become your experience of life. It is wonderful what God can do!

“The Best Reason for Joy”

July 16, 2006

King David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might with music and instruments. A few verses later this emphasis is repeated—David danced before the Lord with all his might.

I spent quite a bit of time this week trying to imagine what it must have like to have people putting “all their might” into a dance. Does that mean that the tempo is rapid and the steps rigorous? Does that mean there are unusually difficult moves that hold the potential for quite a bit of strain? Does that mean that the event is loud and rancorous?

What was the last thing that you did using all of your strength? I have a confession to make: I can not remember the last time that I did something with all of my strength. Why? Because, inevitably, it results in pain the next day if not sooner.

Dancing with all your might or with all your strength is not anything that I can easily picture. Did the writer of the Psalm mean “dance with all your concentration or commitment”? I rather doubt it, since neither of those are measurable quantities either.

I wonder if that kind of dancing resembles some of specialty dances that we see today on television and stage? You know—the ones that cause us to marvel at the gymnastic qualities of their dynamic moves. Or even the ballroom styles that we witnessed in the program, “Dancing with the Stars.”

Perhaps we need not analyze how one dances using all of one’s strength. If we look at the entire passage, we discover that whatever was going on was significant enough to be described as requiring everyone’s total output. They were bringing the ark of God to a specially prepared place. They believed that the ark of God contained the actual presence of God with them. Even though we may not know what their dancing or music was like, we do now know their motivation was a presentation of extreme gratefulness for God’s presence among them. They were clearly filled with joy.

The past generation or two really spends way too much time being spectators rather than players. Look at all the energy expended by the fans at a Bills or Sabres game! You see many people bordering on using all their strength to stand up and cheer, wave specialty items, and yell criticisms at the hard working referees.

I, too, enjoy that kind of enthusiasm on occasion, but I often wonder if God awaits an equal display of enthusiasm for faith in God? Why were we brought up to assume that God wants quiet respectfulness at all times? Our Scripture seems to be telling us that God enjoys a louder, more enthusiastic response from us for all of the good blessings that come our way.

In our reading from Ephesians, Paul says that we as Christians are “blessed with every spiritual blessing,” and goes on to elaborate on how extensive these blessings are. I have counted at least a half a dozen blessings from this passage.

Paul says, we as Christians are:

(1) chosen before the foundation of the world,

(2) adopted as children of God,

(3) redeemed by the blood of Christ,

(4) forgiven of our sins by God’s grace,

(5) obtained an inheritance of eternal glory, [and]

(6) are beneficiaries of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

For me, these last two blessings bring me the greatest joy of any blessings. The first, having an inheritance of eternal glory or eternal life, is the one that assures me that no matter what I experience in this life, it will all become a faded memory when I stand in the presence of God and am reunited with my loved ones never again to be separated.

I understand that this life is a necessary part of the preparation for spiritual and resurrected life. Having known and felt all that this life has offered me, I now look eagerly forward to an everlasting experience free from pain and illness, free from frustrations and insecurities, free from broken relationships and loneliness, and free evermore from physical death itself.

This is the blessing that offers us strong perspective as we live through both the great days and through the difficult and hurting days. This is the blessing that ought to give us the best reason for joy.

The second blessing of the last two is that we are beneficiaries of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Those are a lot of fancy words by Paul which, in a nutshell, means – we are not alone.

As we travel this particular road of life and encounter the bumps, the pot holes, the stopping and starting, the interferences that get in our way, the power of God’s Holy Spirit is continually making itself available to us for strength. God wants to carry us through the difficult times and wants to enjoy the great times right along with us. This realization is the second best reason for joy in life.

WE HAVE JOY! … because we are never alone if we make the effort to recognize or sense God’s loving presence with us directly or through others. Ignoring God or forgetting about God is truly a waste.

WE HAVE JOY! … because when all is said and done, we make the transition to eternal spiritual and resurrected life with the greatest of ease. To fear the future is truly a useless waste.

We therefore have much reason for joy! How shall we express it? Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to dance with all your might, but I will ask you to stand and praise the God who gave us great reason for joy! Will you join me enthusiastically beginning with hymn 177. Amen.