Wellspring UMC; Trinity
Sunday; May 18, 2008; “The Divine Dance”:
-Psalm
8; Matthew 28: 16-20
Every
since I was a little guy I have danced.
My father being a pastor, I grew up going to weddings...and receptions,
and always, my parents would be out on the dance floor cutting a rug. As siblings, we used to love to listen to
music, and often my sisters would make me stand up and place my hands in
position, while they led me around the dance floor – they’ve always been
assertive. In high school I experienced
cotillion, where I learned specific steps as well as etiquette, and I always
loved going to our school dances, often soaked from sweat by the end of the
night. In college my friends and I joined
together and took the ever so popular social dance class, learning steps from
the waltz to the shag. I’ve always loved
to dance. But some of the most special
and meaningful dances for me were the dances that Teresa and I danced when we
were first dating.
Teresa
grew up in a family where dancing was not the norm, but when we first met she
owned a little house in Rocky Mount, NC which had a wonderful, open living
room, perfect for dancing. On Friday
nights we’d head down to Rose’s department store and rent a movie for a dollar,
then go next door to Subway and order a sandwich for $3.00, then head home to
enjoy them. Often however, preparations
for the movie were interrupted or time after the movie was spent listening to
music. I had just purchased some Natalie
Cole CD’s, so that usually ended up in the player, and it’s great music to
dance to.
The
first time I grabbed her hand then her waist to dance, she said, “What are you
doing?” But I just started dancing, and
she danced along. The beat of the music
connecting with the beating of our souls, and a smile came across her
face. If you’ve ever danced before, you
know that there is something transformative about dancing...something
magical. Not only does one get lost in
the music and the movement, but there is also an invitation to give the self
over to the other. In those moments the
two become one. Different people, and
yet connected in a way where the dance became that which unites and solidifies
the souls of each to the other. That
which unites the two as one to something greater than both.
We
would spend much of our evening dancing around that living room, talking,
sharing, and simply being together, and there we discovered love. We found ourselves drawn to one another,
understanding one another, and in the process knowing that we were intended to
be with one another...to dance through life together. And in retrospect I’ve come to understand
that, our dancing was about more than us, but it was a way by which God shared
with us aspects of God’s nature and love.
Today is Trinity Sunday. It’s always a wonderful challenge to prepare
for this day, for the concept of the Trinity is indeed mysterious, which is the
part of why I love Trinity Sunday. I
love the fact that God is mysterious and unable to be pinned down. I love that we can’t completely wrap our
minds around the concept that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit / Creator,
Redeemer, and Sustainer, that all three are one at the same time. That this God of ours is much too big and mysterious
for us to completely understand.
I love the fact that this God of
ours is revealed as the Creator and recreator of all things, while at the same
time made flesh among us to reveal the ways of that Creator, while at the same
time among us in ways that we can and cannot see or experience. I love this because when we begin to really
reflect upon this God and look for where and how God lives in and around us, we
begin to see wonderful things. We begin
to understand how amazingly generous and personal this God is!
The Psalmist today praises God by
saying, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic
is your name! You have created all we
know, lips of praise, the heavens and stars, and even made humankind as
stewards of Creation. O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Imagine such a God!
This God, has created and is
creating, actively rescuing people from their
On this Trinity Sunday, we are
invited to take a step back and marvel at the gift God is, the gifts God gives,
and the humbling Truth that God...the source of all love...invites us to become
one with God. To live in harmony, live in
intersection with, even to dance the dance of life with Him.
I
was listening to one of Rob Bell’s sermons this week, and he shared something I
had never heard but is so true and fits so well with this celebration of the
Trinity. He shared that in the eighth
century the last of the Greek Patriarchs of the Church, John Damascene or John
of Damascus, wrote some deep theology, and part of what he is best known for
was his explanation of the Trinity. He
coined the phrase “perichoresis.” “Peri”
means “around,” and “Choresis” means “movement,” and from which we get the word
“Choreography.” Damascene said, “There is a divine dance that takes place in
the center of God, where Father, Son, and Spirit move around each other, serve
each other, give themselves to each other, and each know their part and live it
out as fully as possible.” This concept
of perichoresis was soon translated into a the phrase, “Divine Dance.”
When
I heard this description I couldn’t help but smile and let my mind wander. Imagine, the divine dance of God, that in the
Trinity there is a fluidity, there is movement, there is motion. That the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit take
turns taking the lead, and amazingly none steps on the other’s toes, instead
they are so tightly connected that they are indeed one...like the best dancers
on Dancing with the Stars, only infinitely more brilliant. And in thinking about my own experience with
dance, I can’t help but think that such dancing leads to deep, deep love...such
love that is cannot be contained.
Instead it spills over, and the fluidity of the love dance floods that
which is Created, Redeemed, and Sustained.
As
theologians began to reflect upon the power of such a description, the concept
developed to where there was and is an understanding that the “Trinitarian
Dance of God” is at the center of all things, and as such, all of creation is
invited to dance. All of God’s majestic
Creation is given the invitation to come and experience the beat of God’s soul;
that rocks, hills, plants, animals, humans, all things be joined to the One who
is love; that we are invited to take God’s hand, even as we might say, “What
are you doing?,” and let God take the lead as we dance into depths of love we
might never expect.
I find it interesting that the lectionary
Gospel reading for today is the Great Commission from Matthew’s Gospel. “Go therefore and make disciples, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching then all
I’ve commanded you...” Sure it makes
sense that they’d include this because Christ commands that their actions be
done in the name of the Trinity, but I can’t help but think that there’s more
to it than this.
Maybe it has to do with the
invitation to those who have been with Christ to go and invite others to
experience the same; an invitation that might well be described as given to
those who have danced with God, to invite others to join in the Dance. Maybe it’s before us today as a reminder that
the Trinitarian Dance of God, the divine dance, the perichoresis is God’s way
of revealing the fullness of God’s love for us and for all.
When was the last time you danced? The invitation is given. Amen.