Let Her Dance!
I was sitting in church today, and there was a little girl in front of me, probably five or six years old. When the lights dimmed and the band started playing, she hopped up and started dancing through her row. As we sang Great are you Lord, she danced. She twirled and flowed, extending her arms, looking toward heaven, and dancing uninhibited as the picture of innocence and grace.
I saw her mom doing that thing we do as mothers, watching, waiting, trying to determine when to intervene. And, secretly, I prayed that her mom would just let her dance. Toward the end of the song, I noticed her mom getting a little fidgety, glancing over at her daughter more and more often. By the end of the song, her mom had leaned over and whispered for the little girl to sit down. “No,” I thought, “let her dance!” As the second song started, the little girl glanced over at her mom and noticed she wasn’t paying attention, so up she sprang again, and her dancing continued. Again, it was beautiful as she flitted through her row uninhibited, exemplifying exactly what I picture true, unadulterated praise looks like. Again, I saw her mom start to intervene, and I prayed she would let her dance. Finally, mom must have given up and decided not to choose this battle because the little girl continued to dance throughout the rest of the worship service.
I sat behind them and let my tears flow as I wrestled with my emotions. While I was in prison, praise dancing was one of the ministries. I loved the ministries in prison anyway because there is nothing quite like women who have hit rock bottom but encountered Jesus while they were down there praising God with their talents. But, there was just something about the praise dancers, these women who were literally using their entire beings as vessels for worship that just moved me every time they ministered. So, to see this little, innocent girl dancing with all of her being brought back such intense emotion. My heart had already been heavy this week for the ladies celebrating Thanksgiving behind the fence, but this little girl, today, was a reminder that God is working and moving through them regardless of where they might be in life right now. Not only is good moving in them, but they are offering their entire beings as worship to God, just like this little girl this morning.
And I think that’s a good reminder for us all.
Undignified
The Old Testament stories of David are some of our favorite Sunday School Stories. We talk about his friendship with Jonathan, his patience with Saul, and of course, his slaying of Goliath. But, I think there’s another story of David we should pause to remember. In II Samuel 6, David went to the house of Obed-Edom to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the city, and he went “with rejoicing.” “When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets” (vs 13-15). David began his worship before he even arrived at the place where the ark of the covenant was, but he was dancing before the lord with all his might when he was in the presence of his God. He had stripped off all his titles, all of his royalty, and was dancing in his linen ephod--humbling him to the level of a common man in the presence of his God. Can you even imagine what that must have been like for David and his people. Here was the King, the very man anointed by God, the very man referred to again and again as a man after God’s own heart, stripped bare before them and God, so that God could become more and he could become less in his worship of his creator. And when he was confronted by his wife, Micahl, Saul’s daughter, for appearing as a commoner before his people and specifically slave girls, David responds, saying: “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” Wow. David understood the praise and honor God deserves. David understood his reputation, his honor, and his status was nothing in comparison to the power and glory of God. He was not ashamed to become less than, to become undignified in the eyes of his wife and the royals, in order to honor and elevate his God.
What might our worship look like if we strip ourselves bare of our pretense, image, reputation, and dignity for the sake of glorifying our God?
What might our worship look like if we quit worrying about who’s around us, whether we should stand or sit, and what people will think if we raise our hands?
What might our worship look like if we commit to becoming even more undignified than David so that God can become more and we can become less?
What might our worship look like if we truly understand our reputation, honor, and status are nothing in comparison to that or our God?
Maybe it’s time for us to become just a little more undignified in our worship, to be just a little more free in our praise and adoration of our creator, and to use our whole beings as vessels of worship for our Lord and Savior--
No matter where we are.
No matter what our circumstances are.
No matter who is around us.
No matter who is watching us.
No matter who is judging us.
No matter who thinks they are better than us.
No matter who thinks they are more righteous and holy than us.
No matter what we have done.
No matter how holy we are.
No matter how much power we have.
No matter what.
Dancing in Your Underwear:
I would be lying to you if I said church has been easy for me for the past three months. I had such freedom worshipping behind the fence with a congregation of broken women marginalized by and on the fringes of society. There were no pretenses, no reputations, no judgments there. But, organized worship on this side of the fence after being behind the fence has been a challenge for me because I’ve been the person too concerned about who is around me, too worried about what people will think if I raise my hands, and too distracted by everyone around me. My attitude has been more like Michal’s than David’s. But, today, I am declaring that it is time for me to become even more undignified than this, to strip off all that is keeping me from humbly and reverentially worshipping my creator, even if it means that I will be humiliated in my own eyes like David. And, I pray that this becomes your attitude as well.
What about you? What’s holding you back? What do you need to strip off in order to worship your creator unhindered? I pray that as you walk into worship next Sunday, you will walk in rejoicing, just like David did when he went to retrieve the ark of the covenant, and I pray that when you enter God’s presence through worship, you will dance before the Lord with all your might, just like David did before his God and his people, just like those women did when I was behind the fence, and just like that little girl did in front of me this morning.
**I don’t suggest dancing in your underwear during corporate worship--unless you’re trying to end up behind the fence**
Until next time, my friends...
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