“I Hope You Dance”
January 27th, 2008
2 Samuel 6:12-16 - The fourth and final principle for happiness in 2008 is “Pursue Fun with a Vengeance.” 2 Samuel tells us that “David danced before the Lord with all his might.” Do you remember the movie “Footloose.” Remember how all of the Christians were uptight and joyless. That is not what God calls us to be. He wants us to relish in the joy of the Lord, to pursue fun with a vengeance. We believe in a loving, caring God. How could that possibly be a bad thing. In 2008, I hope you dance.
2 Samuel 6:12-16
1. Today, we are concluding our sermon series “Four Principles for Happiness in 2008.”
A. Four principles means, “try to live them all.” They are separate parts of one whole.
B. Stop judging yourself.
C. Stop judging others.
D. Get connected to your truth.
E. Today, we are going to learn the fourth and final principle for happiness in 2008 - “Pursue fun with a vengeance.”
2. My first introduction to the scripture that was read for you this morning came in 1984. Does anyone remember the movie “Footloose?”
A. City boy moves to small, rural town where dancing is against the law.
B. Apparently, years ago kids went out dancing and got involved in some other things. There was a car wreck, and several kids died. And from then on dancing was forbidden.
C. Unfortunately, in this small town the local minister had a stranglehold on social policy. Because he felt dancing should be illegal, most of the town followed.
D. But this city boy - he felt a great joy missing in his life. And so he goes to the town council to see if he can get them to reconsider their position.
E. “David danced before the Lord with all his might.”
3. Why would David dance before the Lord with all his might? Was there a party that he was heading to? What was he so fired up about?
A. Just prior to this exhibition of joy, David was involved in some very serious business.
B. Continuing feud with King Saul. David had finally consolidated the kingdom of Israel. He was making Jerusalem the capital city.
C. Moving the Ark of the Covenant - the symbol of the living presence of the spirit of God - to Jerusalem.
D. This was a hard-won victory, and long-hoped for day for all of the people. While the bible tells us that David danced before the Lord, I am sure that everyone there was celebrating.
4. Everyone, that is, except Michal. She was Saul’s daughter. The bible says that she “despised David in her heart.”
A. Those are serious words. Michal wasn’t a little miffed. She wasn’t slightly perturbed. She “despised David in her heart.” Have you ever got to that point? I hope not.
B. Maybe she was angry because David had defeated her father Saul. Maybe she liked things the way they were before the capital was moved to Jerusalem.
C. Michal is like the town council from “Footloose.” Whatever her rationale, she despised David because of the joy in his heart.
D. Why would anyone despise someone else for a righteous and faithful joy?
E. I had a friend when I was in college. While I was away at Westmont, he became a Christian. And that was the last good time that we had. We never talked about baseball, or hamburgers, or girls, or anything else.
F. Life became a sense of obligation, of burden.
G. And the problem is that he did not keep that to himself. The less joyful he became, the less joyful people around him became. Do you know anyone like that? They just suck the joy right out of the room?
5. I never understood how that could happen. How can someone know the love and grace of God and not experience joy?
A. That is the very heart of pursuing fun with a vengeance. Finding joy in the life that we have with God, in actively pursuing God’s pleasure.
B. But many people still respond to the good news with sternness and austerity. They are joyless people.
C. Those folks might believe they know God, but they have not truly given themselves up to God.
D. Joy - grounded in grace and love. We relinquish control to God.
E. Those that seek to control everything are grounded in fear, not grace.
F. David understood the joy of letting go and experiencing God as God pleasures. Michal could not do that because that meant that she would have had to give up control.
G. She was as lost and fearful as the town council.
H. American poet W.H. Auden once said, “As a rule it was the pleasure haters that became unjust.”
I. That is Michal. That is the town council. That is every person that becomes more consumed with being right rather than being loving.
6. But that is not the way for people that follow Jesus. We are called to be a people of joy. We have been invited to a heavenly banquet, not a Tupperware party.
A. In 2000, country singer Leann Womack came out with a song that has since become her signature anthem - “I Hope You Dance.”
B. In that song, she basically outlines the meaning of pursuing fun with a vengeance.
C. She says, “I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance/Never settle for the path of least resistance/Living might mean taking chances/But they’re worth taking/Lovin’ might be a mistake/But it’s worth making/Don’t let some hell bent heart leave you bitter/When you come close to selling out reconsider/Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance/And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance/I hope you dance.”
7. My friends, happiness is a choice. It really is. There are obviously times in everyone’s life where we face challenges that make happiness difficult.
A. But, ultimately, we still get to decide whether we will succumb to the pull of anguish or be lifted up by joy.
B. I have outlines four principles for you this month, that if you follow faithfully, I believe will bring you into God’s joy.
C. Stop judging yourself. Stop judging others. Get connected to your truth. Pursue fun with a vengeance.
D. In 2008, I hope you come to know joy as only God can give. I hope you…
1) Experience grace and forgiveness for yourself - you realize that you’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggone it, people like you.
2) Learn to stop judging others and instead experience the joy of loving your neighbor as yourself.
3) Get connected to the reality of God’s continuing presence.
E. But, most of all. I hope you dance. I hope you dance before the Lord with all of your might. Amen.
Sermon delivered 1/27/08 at Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church, Anaheim Hills.
