Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26; 2 Samuel 6:12-19; Hebrews 1:5-14

When was the last time you saw someone dancing in flesh and blood real life? David danced before the Lord and all the people, leaping to high heaven right in the middle of the road. That must have been a sight – the king doing a two-step because words just wouldn’t do.

Only children, saints, and fools have the courage for such dancing in public – what would the neighbors think it we pirouetted across the lawn when God’s grace came upon us? David’s dancing embarrassed his wife Michal; she saw only the shameless grandstanding of a man who married her for political gain. That’s no surprise: How could she see grace and joy when her whole life had been given over to the political ambitions of another? The jade green eyes of cynicism cannot recognize joy.

Advent is a time to take a new look at the past. Our eternal creator makes room for holiness in the infant Jesus. The entire universe stops to see this moment, so mysterious and unexpected. Of all the fantastic things, of all the possibilities this world contains, the joy of this birth should get us all on our feet. If you have dancing shoes, dust them off; if you don’t, your bare feet will do. Don’t worry what the others see and think. God is coming in Jesus and the world will never be the same again. Amen!

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Offered on December 19, 2014.