Ed. Note: This meditation is adopted and modified from a message delivered at Camp Creek Church by Brother Richard Arnold.!
The Dance of Grace
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Eccl 3:1-4
Do you remember your junior high dance? If so, you can also probably remember a sense of awkwardness, self-consciousness, and utter terror. It may have been because your feet were disproportionately sized to the rest of your body, or maybe because Mt. Vesuvius had just found a home on the end of your nose, or perhaps, as was the case with a classmate of mine, your mother dressed you in a three-piece corduroy suit.
At that junior high dance, some found a dance partner and took there first steps toward a life of joined rhythm. For many though, the feeling of awkwardness never seems to go away. We are not comfortable at the dance…..
These feelings of inadequacy are comparable to the feelings that a child of God has who, after being born of the spirit, recognizes his own sins before a Holy God. The Apostle Paul felt this on the road to Damascus when God’s voice boomed saying “Saul, Saul, Why persecutest thou me?” Or, Isaiah who was moved to say “woe unto me, for I am a man of unclean lips.”
Yes, standing before the Almighty, appreciating who He really is, and suddenly seeing your own sinfulness is a unsettling and fearful thing. It can make for a awkward situation.
You know the dance of life is also like that. We are the goofy looking girl sitting alone in the corner of the gym, but the Lord chose to cross the floor, and though our feet are too big, our braces shined with the power of a halogen bulb, and our dress is made of polyester and just a little too small, He loved us. But, the fledgling child of God who understands for the first time that God both loved and chose them regardless of their infirmities can dance with that same joyful confidence.
The word dance is defined as follows:
dance
v 1: move in a graceful and rhythmical way
n 1: an artistic form of nonverbal communication
dance
n 1: an artistic form of nonverbal communication
These are not the only definitions of the word dance, but I think they are a perfect fit for describing God’s plan for leading us in our life.
While it’s cute to watch two teenagers trying to dance, it just lacks the beauty inherent in the dance of a man and woman who are truly in love and committed to each other. Whereas the teens are most likely stepping on each others toes or dipping when they’re supposed to be spinning, the couple in love seems to move as one. There is a nonverbal communication. The man’s hand in the small of the woman's back gently guides her as they dance across the floor. The woman is sensitive to the leadings of the man, and together their eyes convey the love they feel for one another. The women doesn’t need to know where they are going. It is enough that she know how to follw.!
In the Bible, we are described as the Bride of Christ. Some of the things in the scriptures can be understood better when you study the customs of that time. I believe the marriage analogy is better understood when you understand the Hebrew wedding customs.
In the old Hebrew wedding ceremony, a young Jewish man would come to the house of a prospective bride to meet with her father. They would negotiate a price. If the father accepted the offer, the young couple would drink a benediction, which the father offered of wine. The couple was then married in Spirit. Then, the groom would leave to prepare a home for them, but the bride didn't know when He would return. He went back to his fathers house to prepare a place for her. When he came back it was usually at night and with a shout "make way for the bride groom cometh" and the sound of the trump. He did not enter the house but waited in the street, where the bride and her brides maids came out and the friends of the groom surrounded them and went back to his fathers house. Then the bride and groom enter the place he prepared for her.
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Brothers and Sisters, we are the Bride of Christ. And if we are to live our lives in harmony with the Lord, we need to understand the bride’s role in the dance. Our role is relatively simple: We are to follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit and gaze adoringly up at our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that our Heavenly Father who called us with a holy calling may be glorified. If we do this, though there will be trials, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Just remember that while you are dancing, it’s important not to let anyone cut in. Of course no one can pluck us out of the Father’s hand with regard to heaven, but life on earth can certainly be affected.
Dancing with the Wrong Partner
We read of several instances where it is obvious that people in the Bible are dancing with the wrong partner. Consider the Israelites that danced around the golden calf :
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
Why a cow? Chi-Fil-a wouldn’t be around for another 3000 years! If you think about it, cows were sacrificed by the people. So, by making a golden calf and dancing around it, these people were really worshiping their own self-effort.
Don’t make your self-effort a dance partner. You will be disappointed. The Bible tells us that our flesh (self-effort without God) doesn’t produce any good works.
Or consider the daughter of Herodias who danced for Herod in Matt 14:6-8:
But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, “Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.”
Herod made two mistakes. He didn’t actually get in the dance – no, he sat back and watched. His second mistake was watching the wrong person.
Your life may be in turmoil right now. Maybe you haven’t gotten up and become involved in the Dance of Grace. Jesus is making the overture but you are sitting back.
Maybe you chose the wrong partner. You find your happiness in a relationship, a bottle, an income.
Don’t dance with the wrong partner, it always leads to problems. Dance with the One who choose you. Though I’ve fallen far short in my life, I’ve always admired and desired to be like David, who is described as being a man after God’s own heart. The heart of man is the seat of the intellect, emotions, and will. It's the center of our innermost being. It enables us to reason, feel, and to choose. David was not perfect, far from it. He committed adultery and then had a man murdered to cover his sin. But you certainly get the feeling from reading about David that he loved his dance partner.
I’m so thankful that God in his sovereignty saw fit to secure the eternal destiny of his chosen people through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Christ came to give us life and that we might have it more abundantly. It is my prayer that we all join in the dance. That we hold close to our Savior and be attentive to the non-verbal communication – the leadings of the Spirit - that enable us to move in a graceful and rhythmical way throughout our lives.
In closing, I’d like to share the lyrics of a song written by Leann Womack, which seems to pretty well sum up this message.
I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat, but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
Pastor John