"Dancing Before God"

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

“Dancing Before God”

By: Rev. Kenneth Emerson Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA

Have you ever been so immersed in worshipping God…that you completely forgot about yourself…that is…you lost all sense of self-consciousness?

If you have, then you have indeed experienced true freedom!!!

True freedom is to dance before God in such a way…with such enthusiasm…and at all times…and in all places that everyone you meet…and everyone who sees you will see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven because of them!

Of course, we know that not everyone will accept the message that we preach…

…not everyone will accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and thus be saved from sin, death and hell…

…and those people may look upon us—as we dance before God—and despise us in their hearts!

Perhaps they resent that anyone could be so happy in this life…

…perhaps they are jealous…

…perhaps they want nothing to do with God…

…perhaps they have chosen the darkness over the Light…this world and Satan over Jesus Christ and eternal life…

…perhaps they are just too self-conscious themselves to allow themselves to dance before God.

Remember the Words of Jesus: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

In our Old Testament Lesson for this morning we see David dancing before God: “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might.”

David was so fully immersed in worshiping God, in fact, that he didn’t realize that his linen ephod, the small ceremonial apron in which he was dressed, was falling off him…

…leaving him fully exposed to the whole company of Israel!

We read in verse 16 that “Michal [Mee-call]…watched from a window. And when she saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.”

Have you ever felt as if someone despised you because of your enthusiasm for the Lord?

There aren’t a whole lot of guarantees in this life…but this one is for sure…

…if we worship God the way we should…

…if we do what He commands of us…

…if we witness to the world about the Great Salvation that can only be had by giving one’s life wholly over to Christ…

…there will be some people who will despise us for this reason and this reason alone!

But let us never allow the judgment of the world to stop us from dancing before God!!!

Let us never allow anyone to take away the joy of our salvation!

May we never be persuaded not to witness, not to praise God in the sight of others, not to tell the world about Jesus simply because some people will cut us down because of it.

In Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia he writes: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all.”

Paul goes on to say: “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Who’s approval are we trying to win?

I’ve heard it said so often that in many places the Gospel of Christ is no longer being preached…instead…people are saying things that they think others want to hear…

…well, to this, Paul says: “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!”

Those are some very heavy words!

We are called to be the stewards of God’s Word…of God’s truth…

Who are we trying to please?

Are we declaring God’s truth…no matter what others might think or say about us?

Just imagine what a difference we could make in this world…if everyone who has been born of God…would do what God has called us to do…

…what if we were to all dance before God with all our might…

…being so fully immersed in worshiping the Lord, that we leave ourselves fully exposed to the whole world?

We might get persecuted…

We might get laughed at…

But many, many others would see the truth and come to know Christ as Lord and Savior!

And this is the only cure for our world!!!

Without Christ, this world is going to hell…

…do we care enough to forget about ourselves and be real servants of Christ by only trying to please God?