It's good to be home after a visit with my Dad in North Carolina and helping a friend bid a final farewell to her mother who passed away earlier this year.
In light of yesterday's shooting at the political rally for former President Donald Trump, I've included appropriate prayers during the Pastoral Prayer time for today's worship. Although the bitterness of Michal in the 2 Samuel reading could have led me to write a different sermon, I chose not to alter what I'd already written. And I'm really glad I didn't choose to write a sermon on the gospel text from Mark today - it recalls the story of King Herod beheading John the Baptist for his wife's and daughter's pleasure.
Worship
Service for July 14, 2024
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: We come here shouting, our voices lifted
in praise.
P: We come here singing, our songs full of
joy.
L: We come here dancing, our hearts
rejoicing.
P: Let the mountains tremble and the seas
roar at our worship!
L: Praise the King of glory who guides our
lives.
P: Praise the Lord of hosts who watches over
us.
Opening Hymn – Come, Christians, Join to Sing #150/225
Prayer of Confession
You have called us by name, O
Lord, and made us into Your family. Yet
we do not always live as one body in Christ.
We neglect to care for Your creation; we forget that our neighbor is
also our brother, our sister; we ignore suffering children in lands far
away. Forgive us, we pray. Loosen the chains we place on our lives –
chains of burden and busyness, chains of ignorance and stress. Free us to care for Your family, that we all
might dance, sing, and praise Your glorious name. (Silent prayers are offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: We belong to the King of Glory who
joyfully sets us free. In Christ’s
healing hands, we find forgiveness.
P: In
Christ’s healing touch, we find forgiveness.
Glory be to God! Amen.
Gloria Patri
Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’
Creed
I believe in God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the
third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge
the quick and the dead. I believe in the
Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness
of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN
Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s
Prayer
Lord of
the dance of life, You have breathed into us Your creative, joyful Spirit. You have lifted us from the dust into the
swirling joy of Your presence. We are so
grateful for all that You have done for us.
Each day reminds us in many ways of Your mercy and Your love. Yet there are times in our lives when we have
felt lost and alone. We have been hurt
and frightened and wondered where You were.
Remind us again of Your loving presence.
Place Your hands of healing on our lives. Comfort us when we become afraid, lost,
lonely, and fearful. Prepare us to
serve You faithfully all our days. (PAUSE)
Once
again, O Lord, we bow before You in the wake of gunfire and shooting. This time violence has occurred not across
the globe in another part of the world, but here on our own shores against a
political candidate, a former president.
We pray for ex-president Donald Trump, that he is indeed ok after
yesterday’s shooting at a political rally in Butler, PA. We mourn the loss of life of an innocent
bystander in the crowd, and yes, even the gunman killed by law enforcement, as
well as the injuries sustained by others.
Gracious
God, we pontificate that this shouldn’t happen in our country and indeed it
shouldn’t, but we’ve been here before at the reckless shooting and killing of
innocent children at school, those attending a concert, those in a movie
theater, those at a dance club – and still we do nothing about the hatred in
our hearts, the need for retribution, the frustration we feel when we disagree,
the methods we have at hand to wipe out entire crowds of people when we are
angry and afraid.
Holy Lord,
hear our cries of humility and heal us.
Help us find a way forward that is absent of violence and hatred against
those we do not like, against those with whom we disagree, and frankly against
You and Your creation. Watch over our
thoughts, that we think positively towards one another, carefully measured so that
our thoughts don’t lead to hateful words.
Watch over the words that come out of our mouths, that they be
respectful of people even when we disagree, so that our words do not lead to
bad actions. Watch over our actions,
that they may be in service always to one another, that our swords indeed
become plowshares.
This
morning, I pray for my fellow colleagues in other churches and for their
congregational members who are dealing with what to say and how to say it. Afraid of being accused of taking one
political side over another, we often remain silent. But in the face of violence, there should not
be silence, for there are no sides besides good and evil.
Again
Lord, hear our cries. (PAUSE)
We have
lifted the name of dear ones to You who are in need of Your healing love. We especially pray for…
Lord,
allow us a moment to also reflect on our own needs for Your love and our
response in dedicated service to You in these moments of silence…
The earth
burst forth at Your word, O Lord, and we respond to that creative voice,
praying... Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth
as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors. And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN.
Hymn – Christ is Made the Sure Foundation #417/403
Scripture Reading(s):
First Scripture Reading – 2
Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
Second Scripture Reading – Ephesians
1:3-14
Sermon – Keep on Dancing - (2 Samuel 6:1-5,
12b-19)
You’ve
all heard the phrase, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Right?
Well, someone else once wrote, “For every action, there is an equal and
opposite criticism." That’s what
we’re dealing with in this passage from 2 Samuel. The action of David singing and dancing with
joy before the Lord and Michal, his wife, on the sidelines watching David,
seething with anger and frustration.
Sometimes
we can be some of the most critical people in the world. But, everything
in life has a critic, and you will more often be put down, rather than built up
as you live in this world. What makes
all the difference is how you handle your faultfinders and their commentaries.
In
other words, will you keep on dancing, or will you simply take a seat?
King
David had to deal with criticism in almost every chapter of the bible that he
is spoken of, yet he managed every reproach with a coolness beyond compare. No wonder God made him King, because
regardless of his critics, David kept on dancing.
In
our scripture reading this morning, the time that this event has taken place is
one of great joy for the nation of Israel, its enemies have been conquered, the
anointed king is on the throne, and now the ark bearing the law of God has been
brought to the place prepared for it in the City of David. This event was taking place after many years
of decline in public worship. The people
of God had, for the past several generations, stopped worshipping God. That’s one of the reasons why David had made
such a fuss over building the temple in Jerusalem and bringing the Ark of the
Covenant to its rightful home in the temple in Jerusalem.
Well,
everyone in town is celebrating it would seem, except for Michal, David’s first
wife. Michal is disquieted about
everything that her dear husband was up to and she in no uncertain terms lets
him know about it.
There
are three important things to discover in this story, the first is that David
is leaping and dancing before the lord, he is sacrificing and reveling with the
people of Israel, and just having an all-around good time. David is where he should be, celebrating the
victories of the Lord.
The
second discovery is that Michal is burning mad about the victory that her king
has received. She is so angry about the
celebrating that the bitterness has gone to her heart, she is sad and she is
lonely. Michal is where she should not
be, hating the victories of the Lord.
The
third discovery is that Michal is hurting herself, and only herself; because
she is the only one that is unhappy. And
she really has no reason to be unhappy.
When
you come right down to it, your life and what you do with it begins and ends
with God. There is no escaping that
fact. If you are not happy about where
you are in life, it is because you are not celebrating the victories that God
has brought into your life.
Everyone
in this room has shared a victory with God! Believe it or not. Many of you can probably list several. Others of you, might not be so sure. But, you have. That fact that you were born and are living
today, that you exist in this world is victory enough.
God
danced and sang at the moment of your birth. God accepts you when no one else does, no
matter where you have been or what you have done in your life God wants you,
God cares about you. Michal, forgot
that.
The
love of God in Christ will cover a multitude of sins. So will you be a victim, never seeing the
victories God is winning all around you, angry, envying others who are
rejoicing in the blessings of the Lord, or will you keep on dancing?
Michal
is grasping for a reason to transfer her guilt and unhappiness to her husband,
so she hits him with his great sin of "being seen out gallivanting with
the commoners", as if somehow there are some people in this world who are
lower life forms than others.
People
will find an excuse to criticize. In
this case, Michal is trying to embarrass David by saying that a king would
never lower himself by dressing, celebrating with, and acting like the
commoners.
Michal
wants David to feel bad, so that she will feel better.
Over
the years, I’ve been the brunt of “constructive criticism” and I’ve spent time
giving what I thought was “constructive criticism.” But, there is no such thing as
"constructive criticism", criticism is really only destructive. When you criticize others, the intent is to
make them feel bad for what they have done. You may have an excellent motive for your
review of the situation, you may think you are helping, but in reality you are
doing more harm than good.
I
learned this from Jim Burn’s book, The Youth Builder, who talks about the
importance of building up young people with affirmation and trust. But, what he says about criticism applies to
every age group: For every critical comment we receive, it takes nine affirming
comments to even out that one negative comment and the effect it has on our lives.
Most young people receive more critical
comments a day than encouraging ones. You
can have a very positive, life transforming effect when you develop a attitude
of affirmation.
Even
though we are prone to say that things are getting worse, they really aren’t. In many ways things are much better. It’s just that we see life globally rather
than in our own little village. Criticism
has been around since the beginning of time.
And it tends to be much easier to hurt than it is to heal. Yet the power of praising God for the lives
of others can be a valuable mechanism for positive change in their life, and
yours. You will do so much more for
yourself and others when you spend time praising them, thinking on the things
that are lovely and good, rather than criticizing them.
In
our reading from 2 Samuel this morning, David stands up for himself, and he lets
Michal know the real reason that she has her dander up. Her father was King Saul. He is gone, most of her family are all gone,
and they are gone because of Saul’s disobedience to God. Instead, David has been selected to replace
Saul, and that has certainly added to Michal’s sorrow.
David
is saying, "I know you miss your father and your family. I know you are bitter about God choosing
me. But, I will celebrate and humble
myself before God and God’s people. I’m
going to keep on dancing!”
God
wants you to be bold in your testimony.
God wants you to be bold when you speak of Him, and if you are going to
be bold in your witness you will most likely be put down for it. Be ready to defend the faith you believe
in. It is a rarity these days.
“Oh,
you still do that church thing?”
Just
getting questioned for doing that church thing, or criticized for believing in
an outdated religion, as some have called it, is not proof that you are wrong,
so stand up for yourself and politely, though powerfully, explain your position
– testify to your faith. Do that, and no
matter what the outcome, keep on dancing!
"The
reality is that criticism and opposition will drive you somewhere. Let it drive you closer to God and you will
become better. Let it drive you away
from God and you will become bitter."
A
practicing lawyer loved to attack his opponents through scathing letters
printed in newspapers. In 1842, he
ridiculed the wrong man. James Shields
did not take kindly to the anonymous writer who lampooned him in the
Springfield Journal. Mr. Shields tracked
down the attorney who had publicly embarrassed him and challenged him to a
duel. The man was a writer, not a
fighter, but he could not get out of the duel without losing his honor. He was given the choice of weapons and chose
swords in hopes of using his long arms to his advantage. He trained with a West Point graduate as he
prepared to fight to the death. On the
appointed day he met Mr. Shields on a sandbar in the Mississippi River. At the last minute their seconds intervened
and convinced the men to stop the duel. The
lawyer returned to his practice as a changed man. Never again did he openly criticize anyone. In fact, years later when he heard his wife
criticize the southern people of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln said,
"Don’t criticize them; they are just what we would be under similar
circumstances."
Do
you have a critical spirit? Lincoln did,
but he changed. Make the change today so
you, like Lincoln, can be known more for your kindness than for your
bitterness. And like David, Keep on
Dancing.
Thanks
be to God. AMEN.
Offertory –
Doxology –
Prayer of Dedication –
Creator of all things, we give back to You in
praise of Your glory. We do not wish to
simply praise You with our song and our words and our hands; we wish to praise
You by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. Take and use our gifts, that they may serve
Your holy kingdom. AMEN.
Closing
Hymn – O Love That Will Let Me Go #384/606
Benediction –
Children
of God, go forth dancing, singing, and praising. Dance joy into sorrowful places! Sing hope into places of despair! Praise God this day and always. Go forth in peace. AMEN.
Postlude
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