Don't Be Afraid To Dance, June 8, 2014

Don’t Be Afraid to Dance

Psalm 104:24-34, Acts 2:1-21

Pentecost

June 8, 2014

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

 

Wind, Spirit, Breath and Dancing  This morning I am going to share some thoughts about wind, spirit, breath and dancing. First, let’s look at dancing. My dancing skill is equal to my singing skill. Both are pitiful. However, there are moments when I’d really like to dance. An example of this urge took place a few years ago. On a warm summer night in August, a clergy couple and I were sitting on the patio outside an ice cream store on Manchester Road enjoying our ice cream cones. There was lively blue grass music provided by a five-piece combo. About twelve customers were seated at tables listening to the band. All of us were sedately tapping our feet to the lively music. All of a sudden, a five-year old girl set her ice cream cone down on the table, jumped down from her chair, and ran out into the area in front of the band, and began to dance with all her might. She jumped, she twirled, she clapped and ran, all in time of the music. As she did so, the adults watching her, including me, began to clap our hands in time with the music, encouraging the little girl as she danced.  And deep inside me, there was a little five year old boy wishing he was brave and bold enough to run out and begin twirling and jumping to the music. But I didn’t. I remained glued to my chair.  After all, I was a somewhat dignified senior citizen.  And a minister to boot. I must maintain some degree of decorum. What would the rest of the people in the crowd think of me if I ran out and started dancing to the music?

But the little girl wasn’t concerned about what people might think. She heard the music and responded with exuberant and uninhibited joy.

Last Time you Cheered  When is the last time you responded to an event by dancing with joy filled exuberance. When you cheered and hollered with all your might? Was it watching a Cardinal’s game when they won the World Series? If you had watched the Kentucky Derby or Preakness, you likely screamed with joy if you had placed a bet on California Chrome.

Frozen Chosen  However, I don’t hear too many of us Presbyterians yelling and screaming with excitement when we worship, do you? After all, we Presbyterians are more reserved, dignified and quiet in our praise of God. We pride ourselves in doing things “decently and in order,” and even on being known as the “Frozen Chosen.” Some outsiders who watch us claim we’ve been weaned on sour pickles.

Pentecost  Now let’s turn our attention upon Pentecost, an event involving wind, breath and spirit that took place fifty days after the Resurrection and ten days following the Ascension of Christ. As you might remember from last Sunday, just before Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his disciples and followers to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.  And so 120 of his followers did just that. They went to Jerusalem and waited for the Spirit to come. After ten days of waiting, suddenly a rush of a violent wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. Tongues of fire descended on each of them. And to top it off, each began speaking a different language at the same time.

 

         This phenomenon of speaking in different tongues was known as "glossolalia" and            occurred many times in the early church.

 

Apparently, they were so rowdy that people passing by accused them of being drunk. Obviously, the men and women who experienced Pentecost were never accused of being the “Frozen Chosen.”

Peter’s Sermon  But Peter stood up and assured the crowd that they weren’t drunk since it was only 9 o’clock in the morning. Then he began to speak to the great crowd which had gathered. In the first sermon ever preached about Jesus, Peter told them that what they were seeing was the work of God’s Spirit as predicted by the prophet Joel where God said he would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh and that they shall prophesy. Peter also said that Jesus was the Messiah for whom they had been waiting and that “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Upon hearing this, 3,000 Jews accepted Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah and were baptized and the Church was born.  

The wind I’d like to digress for a moment and talk about the wind that filled the house. The Hebrew word, Ruach, and the Greek word, Pneuma, both have the same three meanings: wind, breath and spirit. We hear it first used in Genesis where it says, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deed, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2 The wind was God’s Spirit.

Later on in Genesis it says “the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life...” Genesis 2:7. The breath of life was God’s Spirit.

And in our morning psalm we read, “When you send forth your spirit, [the creatures of the earth] are created.”

God’s wind, breath and spirit are the same thing. And when God’s spirit came as the wind at Pentecost, it breathed the Church into being.

 

The Spirit Today  As exciting as this event was, it doesn’t tell us how the Holy Spirit can dance with us sedate Presbyterians. The fact is, whether we realize it or not, the Holy Spirit is alive and well here at Grace Presbyterian. Why do I say that? Because time and time again I’ve seen the Spirit dancing you over this past year. 

I’ve seen you and the Spirit dance the waltz of healing as you called upon the sick.

You entered into the dance of holy presence as you visited our shut-ins.

I’ve seen you and the Spirit dance the dance of generosity as you collected food and gave money to alleviate hunger.

You and the Spirit did a slow dance of hugs and tears as you comforted members who mourned the death of loved ones.

I saw you and the Spirit do the Enthusiasm Two-Step when you invited someone to worship, or Circle, or Bible Study, or Men’s Breakfast.

I saw you and the Spirit dance the jitterbug of joy when Catherine made her appearance into our midst.

And I’ve seen you respond to the Spirit’s invitation to join in the dances of forgiveness and reconciliation.

You know something? You are really, really good dancers!

All we need to remember is that in every dance someone must lead and someone must follow. And the Spirit must always be the one who leads when we dance.

No matter what the dance might be, the key to dancing with the Spirit is to do it with enthusiasm! It’s interesting to note that the word “enthusiasm” comes from the combination of two Greek words: “en” meaning within, and “theos” meaning god. Thus for a Christian to be enthused means to have “God in you” or to be filled with God’s divine spirit.

Three Prospectors  Our faith should be so exciting that our enthusiasm for Christ is visible to those around us. We should be like the three prospectors who found a rich vein of gold in California during the gold rush days. They realized what a great discovery they had, and decided, "We’ve a really good thing going here as long as no one else finds out about it." So they each took a vow to keep it secret. Then they went to town to file their claims and get the equipment necessary to mine the gold. True to their vows, they didn’t say a word to anybody. They filed their claim, bought the equipment, and headed back to their mine. But when they did, a crowd of people followed them. And the reason was because the expression on their faces had given them away. Their faces were aglow in anticipation of the wealth that soon would be theirs. People knew that they must have found something very special. And since the people wanted what the miners had, they followed them out of town.

Final Thoughts  You have in the Spirit what people want and need. And by showing the joy you have in the Spirit, at home, at school, at work and at play, people will be drawn to Christ through you. And when they come they will find a caring church and a visionary church. They will find the breath of creation and wind of re-creation flowing through Grace Presbyterian. The future is bright as long as we continue to listen to the music of the Spirit. Remember, when the music begins, don’t be afraid to get up and dance because you won’t be alone. Others will join you!  Amen.

Psalm 104:24-34 NRSV

O Lord, how manifold are your works!

   In wisdom you have made them all;

   the earth is full of your creatures.

Yonder is the sea, great and wide,

   creeping things innumerable are there,

   living things both small and great.

There go the ships,

   and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

These all look to you

   to give them their food in due season;

when you give to them, they gather it up;

   when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

   when you take away their breath, they die

   and return to their dust.

When you send forth your spirit, they are created;

   and you renew the face of the ground.

May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;

   may the Lord rejoice in his works—

who looks on the earth and it trembles,

   who touches the mountains and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

   I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

May my meditation be pleasing to him,

   for I rejoice in the Lord.

Acts 2:1-21 NRSV -  When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

   and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;

     and they shall prophesy.

And I will show portents in the heaven above

   and signs on the earth below,

     blood, and fire, and smoky mist.

The sun shall be turned to darkness

   and the moon to blood,

     before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”