PROPER 10 (15) Seventh Sunday
after Pentecost Year B July 11, 2021
Once upon
a time, one of my friends used to joke, “We can’t allow kissing, it might lead
to dancing”. It was a joke about the old
ban on dancing by some denominations, the likes of which, are portrayed in movies
like FOOTLOOSE. As young adults in the late
80s and early 90s, we thought the idea of banning dancing to be ridiculous and we’d
often repeat this story, told in our scripture reading, about David dancing in
his underwear to make our point.
Now, I
always like to re-research to check I have the facts and so, let me share what
I have found;
We know
that David was dancing, dressed in a linen ephod. A linen ephod was the undergarment, or
foundational garment of the priests. We also
know, from reading later in the story that David’s wife, Michal spoke with
disdain and sarcasm to David saying, “How the king of Israel has
distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave
girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
Now, to
put this in some kind of context, think of the contradictions in appropriate
wear that we have in our society; We have super-heroes who wear their undies on
the outside…. We have beaches where we wear very little, yet if we wore the
same in the shopping centre, we’d be asked to leave. So, what is really going on with this story?
The linen
ephod was a God ordered part of the priestly uniform. It was a particular type of undergarment worn
by the priests, to ensure that they were covered, much the same as girls who dance
might wear bike shorts under their skirts.
The linen ephod ensured modesty, but it also can signify a priestly role
of dedication to God.
If you
think about bike shorts that girls wear under dance skirts, they are both worn
under skirts or by themselves…. David
disrobed his kingly attire and humbled himself by dancing in the linen ephod, and
also showed his dedication to God by doing this. Dedication to God and doing things the correct,
God ordered way was a huge part of this event in the moving of the Ark.
However, much
the same as happens in our society, everyone is a critic and there is always
going to be someone to tell you that you are doing something wrong, but imagine
dancing with all your might as a response to God, to be then told you were
vulgar and crude. That was the
experience of David. Unlike how we might
react, however, he owned it. He wasn’t embarrassed,
but knew something very important; pleasing God and humility before God, is
always more important than the accolades of humans.
Herod was a
whole different story. Herod cared what
people thought. Herod made a promise and
it was more important to him that he saved face, than that he saved a life. Herod had married his sister-in-law, and John
openly declared this to be against the law of God, so in self-righteousness,
Herod threw John into prison. We are
told however, that Herod tried to protect John, knowing him to be a holy and
righteous man, and he actually liked to listen to John. There was something about the message that
John preached that was beginning to reach Herod. Yet when his niece/ step daughter danced, he
rashly promised her anything up to half the Kingdom and then when she demanded
John’s head, he gave in to save face. He
feared the rejection of people if he did not give her what she wanted.
Just a few
days ago the Street Chaplains had their monthly meeting and it was discussed
that showing loving acceptance to the people we see on the streets is a
powerful way to show love. Acceptance is
something for which we all strive. The
opposite…rejection, is pain. Many people,
in some way or another, carry that pain of rejection like a chip on their
shoulder, and with a little alcohol in the mix, that pain of rejection is
magnified.
What I
really think that today’s message for us is all about is actually PERCEPTION
and REALITY and tied in with this is the power of acceptance and rejection. Michal’s perception was that King David
disrobed in front of the public. Others
saw the reality; their leader, totally dedicated to God and humbly being one of
them in his worship. This action of
David was very different to other Kings from the nations around them who
declared that their King was a God.
One of the
titles for Jesus is, Son of David. Jesus
like David, emptied himself of his Kingly rights, and humbled himself. Jesus was God incarnate, but didn’t claim
that equality, but humbled himself to obedience, even to the cross. He completely emptied himself of the worship
due to him as God and submitted himself to the will of God and the free will of
sinful man. The perception of most people
at that time saw this as humiliation, disgrace and foolishness. But we know the reality. We do, don’t we?
I ask the
question because rejection and acceptance are such powerful forces that you
really can not stand the rejection unless you absolutely know the truth… the
reality.
Ephesians
1 tells us the truth about what has been achieved for us through the life,
death and resurrection of Christ, and it is a lot! In fact it is everything: We are told that we are blessed in Christ,
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Can you comprehend what
this means?
The
reading continues and explains that we are chosen to be holy and blameless before
him, destined for adoption as his children, freely bestowed with his glorious
grace. Blameless…. How can we be blameless? Well the reading explains that also; We have
redemption through his blood and the forgiveness of our trespasses. This is what the cross achieved…. That thing
of disgrace and foolishness to others.
There is a
reality that this world doesn’t see.
There is a spiritual dimension and many are curious about it, some
dabble with it in new age or cult style, and others completely deny it. None of
these perceptions and ideas on the way that the spiritual world work have any effect
on the reality. Reality stands regardless
of our ideas and theories.
We have a
problem today. The problem is that many
don’t believe in reality. They believe
that reality is relative. They confuse
reality with experience… “In my experience I have found such and such to be
true.” Experience is a reference point
to know reality, but reality has to stand beyond our experiences, because our
experiences differ. Jesus has said that
He is the way, the TRUTH and the life…. He is the TRUTH – the reality.
When we
are trying to understand this spiritual dimension we come to religion. We have Christianity, but Christianity is
more than one of the many religions who try to make sense of the spiritual dimension. It is more, because Jesus Christ was an historical
figure who claimed to be God and was crucified for the claim. He proved to be God by appearing to many…. Not
only his disciples, but countless others through the generations, proved with
signs and wonders, but also through the testimony of his followers who were put
to death, refusing to deny this truth.
Jesus, the visible expression of God, God incarnate. Here is reality, absolute.
John was
put in prison because he spoke the truth.
John was beheaded because people refused to hear the truth and wanted to
deny the reality.
We will
sometimes be accepted for speaking the truth, and sometimes rejected. We hope that we won’t lose our heads for
speaking the truth and declaring reality, but the future is unknown. What we do know is that a King was despised, and
a man beheaded for their actions in response to their dedication to God, and many
in the year 2021 won’t speak up about the reality of the Gospel for fear of being
seen as not being “politically correct”, labelled as a “flat earther”, and for
fear of having someone reject us.
It is
abundantly clear to me, that we need to spend time focusing on the reality and
on the wonderful blessings with which God has bestowed on us. John openly declared the truth, regardless of
danger because the truth – the reality was important.
Our
eternal life is important. King David
brushed off the disdain of his wife because he knew God. He knew the absolute power of God. This is a man who as a mere boy defeated Goliath
because of the power of God. This is a
man who saw a person die for incorrectly touching the ark of God. David feared the Lord. He loved God but he understood the power of
God and that this was not a God with whom you compromised reality…. Not a God
you used for your purpose, to worship when it seemed acceptable and denied when
it was not…. No this God is El Shaddai…. God almighty.
Our God
loves us so much that he came as the son, to suffer and die for us so that we
might have eternal life. He destined us
to be blameless before him and he, being the author and perfector of our faith
accomplished this for us. But lets be
very clear on what the reality is; God
is God. Not a theory or idea to
manipulate to suit our ever changing world.
Yes God is love and he loves completely, but he didn’t come to us,
suffer and die for us to have us then throw out the rest of the book, forever
saying “all is good and acceptable”.
Our psalmist asks, “Who shall ascend
the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully. They
will receive blessing from the LORD, and vindication from the God of their
salvation.”
None of us
are pure, but in Jesus we have become blameless. It is a reality. This is the Gospel / the Good
News. Our Gospel begins with speculation
about who Jesus is. We need to
know. Let’s prayerfully study the word
of God to absolutely know the truth and Good News. Let’s declare with all the love and grace with
which God has shown us, proclaim it courageously and never deny it.
