A Sermon Preached by Ms. Jane McIntyre

¹The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
   the world, and those who live in it;
²for he has founded it on the seas,
   and established it on the rivers.
³Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
   And who shall stand in his holy place?
⁴Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
   who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
   and do not swear deceitfully.
⁵They will receive blessing from the Lord,
   and vindication from the God of their salvation.
⁶Such is the company of those who seek him,
   who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
          Selah
⁷Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in.
⁸Who is the King of glory?
   The Lord, strong and mighty,
   the Lord, mighty in battle.
⁹Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰Who is this King of glory?
   The Lord of hosts,
   he is the King of glory.
          Selah

David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. 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.

When they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there because he reached out his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God. David was angry because the Lord had burst forth with an outburst upon Uzzah; so that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. David was afraid of the Lord that day; he said, ‘How can the ark of the Lord come into my care?’ So David was unwilling to take the ark of the Lord into his care in the city of David; instead David took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months; and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

It was told King David, ‘The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.’ So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt-offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. When David had finished offering the burnt-offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.

King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ But others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’ But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’

For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’ Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

“Cost and Joy”

A Sermon Preached by

Ms. Jane McIntyre

at the

First Congregational Church of Stoughton

United Church of Christ

When was the last time you danced for joy? When was it that you were totally abandoned, completely unselfconscious, and focused on sheer adoration?

It’s been a long time for me. I was pretty joyful about my graduation from seminary a couple of months ago, but I still marched along in line as instructed the way any other reasoned adult would have done. Some of the children sitting here may be able to name a day or an event that made them so happy that they jumped up and down and twirled around, unable to keep still. That’s what it feels like and that’s what it looks like. Maybe if we adults think back . . . when WAS it that we were so joyful we just couldn’t stay still???

Let me ask you an easier question: When was the last time you were part of a feast? This answer depends upon your definition of “feast”; some of you might be thinking of a wedding reception and others of a blow-out dinner for two in a once-in-a-lifetime restaurant. I would say that to be a true Feast, with a capital “F”, there are certain criteria:

ê There is usually lots of food – maybe a standard menu as at Christmas or weddings, or there may be several unusual dishes that help make it special;

ê There is usually a celebratory purpose to the gathering. The traditional story of the Pilgrim’s feast of Thanksgiving is based on their desire to give thanks to their God for getting them through the harvest and ready for the next winter in the harsh new world.

ê There is a community of people – while you can consume a wonderful meal by yourself and name it a feast, you really need have others sharing it for it to really qualify for the name. The feast is not just the food, it is also the people who are sharing it together.

ê and, not quite a piece of the definition, but definitely a fact of feasting is that there is usually a large quantity of alcohol being passed around, if not in this time of designated drivers, then certainly in biblical times when it was a common beverage and a host was measured by the quantity and quality, as at the wedding in Cana.

In today’s Hebrew Scriptures reading “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.” [v 5] He is leading a procession that is bringing the ark of the covenant – the dwelling place of the Hebrew God – into Jerusalem for the first time. He has been crowned the king of the southern kingdom of Judah, he has conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and been made it’s king, uniting the two kingdoms for the first time, and he has elevated Jerusalem, a small city in the northern kingdom to capital city status, built a showplace palace for himself, and now it is time to bring his god into this new city. Jerusalem is now the center - politically and spiritually – and “David danced before the Lord with all his might.” [v14]

There was a TV character whose stock line was “I love it when a plan comes together” – and David has just filled in the last piece in his planned jigsaw puzzle of conquest and unification. That is enough to make him exuberant. AND I would also say that David did have a deep love for God and cherished the relationship they had. I do think that he was dancing before the ark, not just with satisfaction in all he had accomplished, but also with joy for being in the presence of God, and acknowledging all God had done to bring about the moment.

David leads a service of thanksgiving and dedication, then hands out food to “all of Israel, both men and women” [v19]. It was a time to celebrate. -- Southerners and Northerners; ruler and subjects. It was a grand day for all – except his wife Mic’kal. She watched David dancing and hated the way he exposed himself, body and soul, to the people of the nation; she hated the devotion and joy he gave to his God, and ended up hating the man she had originally loved. One of my professors thinks that for the rest of their time together she was angry, partly because of her jealousy – she could not stand the fact that David loved God more than he loved her.

In the New Testament story Herod starts with feasting and drinking and is swayed from his protection of John the Baptist by his love for his daughter, a lightly given vow, and a need to save face. God is not present in this encounter except in the person of John the Baptist – and John gives his life because he spoke God’s truth to Herod and his wife. The setting of this story is curious because chronologically it does not fit. Jesus didn’t start his public ministry until after the death of John, but Mark places this story between Jesus sending out his disciples and when they returned to ‘report back’ their experiences and results. It is as though Mark is trying to remind his readers that going out in the name of God, especially to a place where God is not even a glimmer of a thought, is a dangerous business, as much as it is a joyful business. There’s not a lot of happy news in the Gospel this morning, even Herod’s moment of doubt that might have been the Holy Spirit’s nudge is resisted, but there is Good News. God never hides the difficult from us. It is shown to us just as clearly as the glory of creation. We have the assurance of truth and constancy from our God. We have been shown the dangers and God still asks us to dance with our drums and tambourines and with our whole beings.

God’s feast has food, has a celebratory purpose and is shared with a community. It is, of course the meal we share Christ’s table. There is a place for each person, as there was food for each Israelite during David’s celebration. The circle holds as many as want to be there, whether we come in joyous celebration or needing to be comforted. It is a spark that enters us and goes with us, just as the Holy Spirit does.

As I look at this morning’s stories a phase comes to mind that I believe is familiar to you: “He calls us into his church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship”.[1] Walter Brueggemann says that “The presence of God in human life results in a joy that exceeds that generated by other relationships and by the usual day-to-day experiences of life.”[2]

There will always be people in our lives who are jealous of our devotion and the joy we get from it. They will be angry; they will try to turn our attention elsewhere. There will always be those who don’t want God represented in any way; they may be a danger to us. One of our tasks is to find ways to help others find the relationship and joy that we know, so that we all can dance, crash our cymbals, and shake our tambourines together in riotous worship of the God of glory.

[1] UCC Statement of Faith

[2] Texts for Preaching, Year B,, W. Brueggemann, et al, p 422.