Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, October 24, 2020
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I’m sorry, but I can’t read this without thinking of the movie Footloose. There’s a scene where Ren confronts a committee of conservative Christians who have outlawed dancing with this passage from 2 Samuel as proof that God loves it when people dance. Of course, it doesn’t work. Dancing remains forbidden. No one likes to be called out on their unfounded intolerance.
The same thing happens with David’s wife, Michal, in the story. David was dancing very publicly and basically naked, and supposedly making a fool of himself, or so Michal told him. David’s response was something like, “I’ll make a total fool of myself and worse to show my love for God and there’s nothing you can do about it!”
Are we ever embarrassed about showing our love for God? Are we intolerant when others do so? Are there times when it feels safer to keep quiet (or quiet others) than to proclaim God’s goodness and mercy in exuberant ways? I know my faith tradition tends toward the more staid, and when people are more active vocally or physically in worship, we get a little uncomfortable. Maybe it’s time to dance before the Lord with all our might.
When do I think it’s okay to be exuberant in expressions of my faith?
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