Beloved of God,
The New Year is here—wanna dance? I certainly feel like it! What gets me there? Lots of things. There’s that old Fred Astaire film we watched over Christmas break (how does he make it look so easy?), and the Celtic jam sessions that have us jumping and whirling regularly on our family room floor; there’s the glee on Naomi’s face at her 3rd birthday party New Year’s Eve, and that rare, sun-kissed bicycle ride on New Year’s Day. And then, dear friends, there’s your response to December’s CLOSE THE GAP invitation—a response which left me (again) humbled by the abundance of God filtered through the generosity of God’s people (you all) for extraordinary ends (God’s mission).ABUN-DANCE…it’s right there in the word. A DANCE that ABOUNDS…that’s what God is about. Doesn’t it make you want to dance, too?
The 55th chapter of Isaiah is one long lyric of abun-dance, beginning with the shout-out in verse 1— “HO! EVERYONE WHO THIRSTS COME TO THE WATERS; AND YOU THAT HAVE NO MONEY, COME, BUY AND EAT!” —to the closing verses where all nature sings, dances and claps in celebration of God’s abundant graciousness. Such a DANCE may not be where some of us naturally tend to go…but it’s where God goes in Isaiah, and it’s where God ends up in Jesus—the Lord of the Dance—who “left it all on the floor” and invites us to do the same.
In a recent synod article, Bishop Chris Boerger shared the experience he and his wife DeDe had during their sabbatical sojourn in South Africa last summer. Listen to his story: We had occasion to worship at the Lutheran Church in Edendale… This was the shortest 3.5 hour service of worship I have ever experienced. There were no musical instruments in the building, but the singing was in four-part harmony and was amazing… The point of this story is to reflect on the eleven offerings that took place. It should be noted that Edendale as a township is a place where the poor live. At the time of the offering, plastic containers were placed in front of the congregation. The church council was invited to come forward with their offering while the congregation sang an African song. As the music started, the council danced forward to give their offerings. After the song was finished the next song was announced and the Sunday School children danced forward with their offering. Each group was accompanied with a different song. The older men, then the older women, the young men, young women, those who worked in the service industries, those who had a job, those who had a car, the youth of the congregation and finally those who wanted to help pay for the bread and wine used in communion danced forward with their offerings. This was an act of worship. It was the community joyously sharing, dancing at the opportunity to share in the work of God in their lives, their community, and their church… I learned anew the fact that our offerings are part of our worship. In these days of economic uncertainty, we too often treat our offerings as a business transaction or a bill to pay. The church is just another way we use our discretionary income. For the people of this congregation in South Africa, the offering was part of their worship experience. It was their turn to respond to what God was doing in their lives. We have much to learn from our sisters and brothers in South Africa. The joy of sharing in God’s work is just one of them. Shall we dance?
“You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy!” – Psalm 30:11 During the final month of the year, as we celebrated the advent of the Light of the world—our fiscal slog through red ink was transformed into a dance; an ABUN-DANCE. Amazing. So how does it feel to be an instrument of God’s work? Wanna dance? Pastor Erik
What does this mean?