A Sermon
for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost (RCL B) 7-15-2012
Offered by
Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry
Texts: 2
Samuel 6:1-5,12b-19; Psalm 24; Mark 6:14-29
Themes: the
ark, David, dancing and singing before the Lord
Title: Heaven’s
Joy on Earth
It is impossible for most people of my
generation to think about the ark of the Lord without bringing to mind one of
the epic movies of my youth: “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
I know it is a great movie, because it
is in the Library of Congress as “an item of social and cultural significance”!
You will remember that at the end, the
Nazis decide to open the ark, because they are seeking a new source of power
against their enemies! Instead, the power of God rises out of the ark and kills
all of them, except for Indy and his girlfriend who wisely avert their eyes.
To those wicked Nazis seeking only
military victory and political gain, the ark was the source of destruction.
But this is not at all what we see here
in this original story of the ark.
Of course, there is danger involved!
You’ll notice that the lectionary jumps
over part of the story in verses 6-11. That’s the part where one of the
carriers of the ark reached out and touched the ark, in order to steady it, and
he died right on the spot!
THAT part is skipped over today! And what
we are left with is the celebration when the people bring the ark into
Jerusalem for the very first time.
“David and all the house of Israel were
dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps
and tambourines and castanets and cymbals” (1 Samuel 6:5).
Wow! That must have been quite a
spectacle.
Now, let’s hone in on that part which is
most familiar to us.
No, not dancing before the Lord with all
our might! Though, perhaps we ought to give that a try sometime! But, celebrating
God together by singing and making music.
At all times, and in all places, when
human beings celebrate, they sing! Singing is universal. Singing is ubiquitous
in human society. Singing accompanies all human celebrations!
We know that music has been
part-and-parcel of human life from the very beginning.
The oldest musical instruments that have
been discovered by archeologists are certain flutes made out of animal bones
and percussion instruments – ways to keep rhythm and time.
Some of these are dated to be perhaps
75,000 years old!
But far older than any of these is the
original musical instrument of all – the human voice!
Singing is one of the most basic
elements of every human society.
And yet, in our society today, it is an
element that is rapidly disappearing!
Today, there are fewer and fewer
opportunities for regular American folk like us to sing together in any kind of
natural and normal gathering.
Think about your own experience. Think
about the times when you have sung with others in the recent past – not as part
of any professional organization, but just as a simple part of celebrating
life!
I sent out an e-mail during the week and
asked for people to briefly share recent times – outside of a church gathering
– when they had sung with others.
Some of these e-mail responses that I received
include the following:
·
at a
campfire/hayride (Cole),
·
family reunion
(mom),
·
baseball game
(national anthem and 7th inning stretch – take me out to the
ballgame),
·
happy birthday
for family & co-workers (Natalia’s 1st birthday – Elizabeth, &
Megan’s birthday - Alicia), in a community chorus (Dee Phillips),
·
at school
programs,
·
Christmas songs
at the holidays (Denis & Florence),
·
a little bit of
karaoke (for those brave enough to admit it!),
·
at a 9-11
remembrance event (Andy),
·
sometimes in the
car when the children sing along with a favorite song (Lori Shelton),
·
at a Broadway
show (Helen Baus),
·
at a 4th
of July parade (Dawn),
·
at a wedding
(assisted by the spirits, as they say – Erin Megara).
Now, if you notice, you will see that nearly
every one of these opportunities for singing occurred at a celebration! So again,
let me say it: When human beings celebrate, they sing together!
And what, my dear friends, do we do when
we gather together week by week by week in this place?
It says it right there on the front of
your bulletin: Celebrations of the Holy Eucharist!
My sisters and brothers: I want to
suggest to you that we, as the church – as the people of God who meet together
in this time and place - we have a unique and special role to play in our
society as THE primary place where people come together to celebrate and to
sing together in harmony.
My friends: God has made us to sing!
Just look at all the singing within the
Bible!
Moses and Miriam and the Israelites sang
after their crossing of the Red Sea!
Of course, our Psalm appointed for today
is devoid of any reference to music – of course!, but you know that nearly
every other Psalm speaks of singing to the Lord a new song, praising God with
music and song, shouting to God with the voice of praise!
When Jesus and the disciples had
finished the Last Supper, they sang a song before going out to the Gethsemane.
Scholars think that many of the oldest
texts that we have in the New Testament were songs, or parts of liturgical songs,
which were sung by the first gatherings of disciples.
The apostle Paul encourages the
believers to “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves,
singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts” (Ephesians 5:19).
The visions of the new Jerusalem in the
Revelation to John are chocked full of singing around the throne of God!
And, of course, lest we forget, we have
the example of David.
King David: the prophet, the warrior,
the poet, the dancer, the musician!
With singing, with shouting, with
dancing, David and the people brought up the ark of the LORD into the city of
Jerusalem.
David and the Israelites sang together
in celebration of God’s presence in their midst, and we are called to do the
same.
The community at Taize in France has
been on the forefront of creatively reimagining the role of music within
Christian worship today. The brothers of Taize say this about the primary
importance of the human voice:
“To open the gates of trust in God,
nothing can replace the beauty of human voices united in song. This beauty can
give us a glimpse of ‘heaven’s joy on earth’” (Prayer for Each Day, p.8, from
Taize).
****
Now, I know that there are a number of
you right now who are saying to yourself, “Yeah, but, I can’t sing.”
Well, I’m telling you that’s rubbish!
Can you talk? Then you can sing!
Can you sing like Sinatra? Like Patti
LaBelle? Like Michaal Jackson? I doubt it.
But that’s not the point!
You see, I believe that those among us
who do not sing are constrained by what others have told them critically in the
past.
But I am telling you that there is a
power that liberates, that energizes, when you sing out with all your being –
without any care for what the people around you might think!
There is a saying that, when it comes to
worship, we sing for an audience of one!
That may be trite, but it’s true! God is
the only one who is listening and God loves to hear your voice!
So what if others don’t like it! Who
cares?! If God is for your singing, who can be against it!
You see, my friends: we have a
particular gift to offer to the world – the gift of human voices singing in
harmony, in celebration!
Ordinary people who get together to
sing, not because we are particularly good at it, but simply because we love to
celebrate the goodness of God and the goodness of life, and we don’t care if we
sing perfectly in tune or not! All we care about is celebrating the presence of
God in our midst!
This is the true gift of symphony! In the
original Greek, symphony means voices joined together.
This is what it means to be the church:
to be a symphony of praise and celebration, singing together with abandon,
without reservation, with joy and thanks for what God has done.
May we be known by all of those people
out there in the world who think that we’re crazy for even coming to church in the first place – may we be known as
those people who get together and who sing together, with every voice lifted in celebration. Amen!
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