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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion Monday, August 18, 2003 JESUS DANCES |
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Frontline Devotion for Monday, August 18, 2003 by Fritz Foltz
Often when I am in Church I have a vision. Well, it is close to a vision. It is so vivid I seem to see it. Jesus dances in the door of the nave, up and down the aisles. Ever time I report it, people laugh. However, it is an image they remember. Often they kid me, “Oh yeah, you see Jesus dancing in church.”
I imagine the vision resulted from contemplating the song “Lord of the Dance” and this passage. Admittedly, the primary meaning of this text is that we are people who can never be satisfied. No matter what someone does for us, it is never enough. So when John the Baptist comes fasting we call him a nut and when Jesus comes eating and drinking we call him a glutton and a drunk. What is God supposed to do?
But I can’t help extending the picture. Jesus has teenagers sitting around complaining they can never satisfy adults. If they play the flute, the adults, probably their parents, refuse to dance, and if they cry and moan, the adults refuse to mourn. Surely, Jesus is the piper and John the wailer. Surely, Jesus is playing the flute so we can dance. Surely, Jesus wants us to dance.
When I reported the vision in a sermon, I said that Jesus dances up and down the aisles, stopping before various people, extending his hand as he invites them to dance with him. And people take his hand, stand up, and take off down the aisle swinging in his arms.
All that is true, but I did not complete the vision. You see I am too self-conscious to dance as an adult. It’s a shame. I love music. I love to watch people dance. But I very, very seldom can bring myself to do it. At the end of the vision, Jesus stops before me, extends his hand, and looks at me quizzically. I wonder what that means.
Let us pray: Jesus, my brother, I ask you to continue coming into my life. Share the joy of life with me that I too can dance to the music of God our Father. Amen
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