July 14 | Pentecost 8, Year B
2 Sam. 6:1-5, 12b-19 or Amos 7:7-15
Ps. 24 or Ps. 85:8-13
Eph. 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29
Once upon a time, though it was in the real time of hours and days, and not long ago, although different and dreamlike, I presided at the “second wedding” of a several-day Nigerian wedding event. The second wedding, called a “white wedding” on account of the bride’s dress, is a traditional Western liturgy. For my part, I read the marriage rite from the Book of Common Prayer, and gave a brief homily, though longer than usual, because, as I learned days earlier, homiletic brevity is not a Nigerian value. I looked out upon a sea of gorgeous Nigerian clothing and human faces, distinguished and radiant. As I spoke, quiet Amens were offered as confirmation of the liturgy and my sermon. It was a wonderful event.
More wonderful still was the event of two days earlier. The first wedding, following traditional Nigerian custom, lasted several hours and included dancing, praying, preaching, and a rich array of Nigerian foods. Clothing of many colors undulated like a rolling river. Music filled the space with exuberant joy. And everything about the event was unmistakably Christian. Joy, hope, and wonder spilled out from every human heart in the presence of Almighty God and the mystery of human love.
God is love, and where love is, there is joy. Do we understand this? Consider King David when the ark of God was brought to Jerusalem. “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” (2 Sam. 6:5). “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” (2 Sam. 6:14-15). The Lord of hosts enthroned upon the cherubim summons celebration.
Are we embarrassed, like Michal, daughter of Saul, who, seeing her husband leaping and dancing, “despised him in her heart”? (2 Sam. 6:16) Have we pinned ourselves in a corner with our liturgical talk of decency and order? Have we made “the beauty of holiness” a code name for rigidity and fear? Joy rushes in and overwhelms us the moment we see ourselves as “blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3). We stand not before the ark of God but in the very abode of Triune wonder. We are in the heavenly places, blessed with every spiritual gift, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and invited to the “mystery of God’s will,” which is an inheritance received already in part by the sealing of the Holy Spirit. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:5).
Perhaps we would all do well to loosen up around the edges, to let the Spirit blow freely. Indeed, quench not the Spirit! Contemplating Jesus Christ and your life united to him, consider Psalm 150. “Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy temple; praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him for his excellent greatness. Praise him with the blast of the ram’s-horn; praise him with lyre and harp. Praise him with timbrel and dance; praise him with strings and pipe. Praise him with resounding cymbals; praise him with loud-clanging cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah!”
Look It Up: A Collect for Fridays, Morning Prayer
Think About It: Yes, Jesus suffered and died. Then — let us not forget — he went up to joy and entered into glory.