Pastor’s Corner: How Do We Keep from Dancing?

December 6, 2017

A friend of mine recently took a post-retirement job with a local church, doing many of the things that Momi Lyman so ably does for us here at Church of the Holy Cross. After her first day, she reported that things had gone well. The church was still standing.

“Work harder,” I replied. “It’s supposed to be dancing.”

There are, of course, two things wrong with that statement, and the first is that it’s truly an awful pun, and if I had any shame about punning I’d be ashamed of it (but I’m giggling instead). The second is that while it may take hard work for a church to dance, it’s potentially misleading. It emphasizes the work over the dancing.

Because within my impromptu jest lies (or wriggles, or bounces, or even dances) a powerful truth: the Church is made for dancing. For exulting. For joy. Whatever evil we may know about in the world (and there is plenty to know), we Christians know this magnificent reality first:

God so loved the world.

God so loved the world.

God so loved the world.

My gracious, how ever do we keep ourselves from dancing throughout the day?

We have plenty of work to do at Church of the Holy Cross, all the way from the faucets to fix to the families to house. There’s plenty of work to do at our homes and workplaces, plenty of work to do with volunteer groups and community organizations.

Let your work flow from your joy, my friends. Let it emerge because you know just how much God loves you and loves those with whom you work. Let it burst forth in smiles, and laughter, and embraces.

Perhaps your joy will even prompt a dancing step or two along the way.

How could it not?

Blessings,

Pastor Eric