Sermons

"Dancing with God"

Sermon by Seminarian Mary Garner
Emmanuel Church, Newport, RI
Trinity Sunday, May 22, 2005

When my father was a young man, he believed that he was called by God to be a Roman Catholic priest. He had a great love of God and he also loved to dance. The night before my father went away to enter seminary with the Jesuits, his last night “in the world” he went dancing. To be exact, he went to 3 dances that night. I suppose he thought that would get it out of his system and then he’d be ready to settle down to the austerities of studying for the priesthood.

It didn’t exactly work out that way. My father tried hard to be a good seminarian and for the most part he did well. But, he did have some difficulties adjusting to seminary life. Sometimes, when he was supposed to be studying Greek or praying, he would creep away to the elevator, stop it in between floors and dance-by himself- in the elevator. He’d hold any imaginary partner against his plain black cassock and fox trot or polka. He had an irrepressible joy for life and an irresistible impulse to dance.

Now the Jesuits are known for many things, but dancing isn’t one of them. And he was disciplined for breaking the rules. No dancing allowed in the elevator! After 5 years, and for a number of reasons, my father left seminary, and though he came to understand that God wasn’t calling him to be a priest, he always kept his joy, his love for God and his love of dancing.

I remember dancing with my father when I was a little girl. In the beginning, I’d stand on the tops of his shoes. Later, I learned to follow him- he was so easy to dance with. All I had to do was let him put his arms around me and trust him. And ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved to dance too.

I’ve been thinking about dancing because today is Trinity Sunday. From the earliest days of the church, theologians have tried to find metaphors to talk about the meaning of one God in three persons. There is an ancient tradition of talking about the Trinity as a dance. The tradition comes from the Greek word perichoresis, which means “dancing around” or “enveloping” or mutual coinherence. But I don’t really want to talk about Greek, I’d much rather talk about dancing with God.

Thinking of the Trinity as dance means three persons, God the Creator, Jesus the Incarnate and the Holy Spirit weaving their steps together, moving eternally in a joyous circle. Each person has different steps; each person moves with the others and each person is wholly enveloped by each other person. And God calls us to join in the dance. God’s dance in the trinity is an open circle. God’s arms are open, God’s children are welcome and God’s dance is easy. Our part is to let God put his arms around us and follow.
In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says, “the most important difference between Christianity and all other religions is that in Christianity, God is not a static thing-but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance.”

Now, it’s highly unlikely that any of us would find C.S Lewis irreverent. And I ‘d like us to consider thinking about God as a dance, God as moving with us in all our steps, God as our envelope, our joy, our irresistible impulse.

I think there is something about the threeness of the trinity that speaks to the very center of our being. God as three means that God’s very being is related to communion between persons. As this morning’s reading from Genesis tells us, we are made in the image and likeness of God. When we are at our very best we are in holy relationship with God and with each other. In our Gospel reading, Jesus calls us to open our arms to the whole world, to share God’s love, to invite others to an abundant life, to a dance of joy and communion.

It’s not as if the trinity exists somewhere out there- or up in heaven or as a philosophical ideal. The essence of the trinity as relationship between persons means that our Creator God has made us and calls us to live in communion with God and with each other. That call is expressed in human equality, in justice, in caring for the poor and the hungry and for those who suffer. The life and death of Jesus is the revelation of what a life lived in God looks like. When we take care of others, we are being obedient to God’s plan for Creation. We are continuing God’s work and expressing God’s goodness. We are living out the great commission.

Sometimes we Christians are afraid to talk about our experience of God. We’re nervous when we’re told that we’re called to make disciples of all nations. We’re afraid that that means we need to knock on doors and be able to quote Scripture chapter and verse. Which one of us wants to have to explain Trinitarian doctrine or claim to have all the answers about God?

But, what if we tried to make disciples by sharing our joy- by letting others see that our steps, our movement, our lives are linked to God and to each other and that our dance with God brings us an abundance of life that is literally irresistible.

What would the church be like if seminarians and theologians went dancing in the elevators? Well, I don’t know what C.S Lewis would say about that. But I believe that the mystery of the trinity is a lot like the mystery of love. It’s in our heart- it’s not in our head. It’s made real in our bodies-in the work of our arms and our hands and our feet.

Jesus says, remember, I am with you always. All we have to do is open our arms, trust him and follow. Amen