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Trinity Sunday
June 3, 2007
Delivered by Reverend Sandra Stayner
Isaiah 6:1-8
Rev. 4:1-11
John 16:12-15
The Ballad of the Dance
Today is Trinity Sunday, one of my favorite feast days in the church year. Many years ago I wrote a song about the Trinity called Ballad of the Dance. It's about the whirling and spinning and joyful laughing that goes on when people are dancing, inspired by the whirling, spinning and joyful laughter that exists eternally in the being of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I'm afraid I had grown up like many of us, thinking of God as a large, formidable, immutable being looming over our existence. What I discovered while living among Scottish islanders is God as the Celts have known God for many, many generations, God who far from being immutable and detached from us is deeply, passionately involved in every aspect of our lives from the day we are born to the day we die, when we wake in the morning and lie down at night and all the hours in between. I discovered that God is constantly inviting us into the love that flows within God's very being, flows between Father, Son and Holy Spirit love that bursts forth into a glorious, joyful, life affirming dance - a dance without beginning and without end. The music for this dance echoes in the vast reaches between the stars and planets of the universe and pulses inside of atoms. It travels on the gentle breeze of a sunny day and roars in the winds of a whirlwind tearing across the earth. The wonder that began to dawn upon me while living on the Isle of Cumbrae is the miracle that the circle dance of love between Father, Son and Spirit was broken open by Christ's death on the cross and now the Son and the Spirit, still holding hands with the Father extend their hands to us, drawing us into the dance so that we can participate in their life forever. This holy dance, called the Trinity describes the very essence of the one we worship, and it's all about love, the absolute respect each member of the Trinity has for the other. The Father who created all things, the Son who gave up his divinity for the sake of a world that would betray him and the Spirit who lives among us guiding us to the Father through the Son. In this dance, all the partners are equal. None is greater than the other, yet each of the persons of the Trinity is completely distinct from the other. Each person plays a specific role, and the three move in rhythm with each other, gracefully, with the deepest affection and courtesy.
I danced last weekend at an Irish Ceilidh in West Haven. A friend invited me to the dance, and on a complete whim I picked up another friend and off we went. I've never been involved in an Irish Ceilidh before so I was fascinated with the strange new steps of the dancers. Suddenly someone came up to me and asked me to dance. 'No!' I said. 'I'm just here to watch.' 'You can't just watch' said the stranger. 'Come on. Let's dance.' He took me by the arm and led me onto the floor. The next thing I knew we were whirling round the floor so fast my head was spinning. He was such a good dancer I didn't have to think about my feet, I just relaxed and my feet danced themselves. After the waltz he pulled me into an 'eightsome' and again, before I knew what was happening I was part of a dance I had never even seen before. He gently called the moves just in time for me to figure out what to do next. We span around so fast my feet were flying off the ground. We danced set after set until I was laughing so much I could hardly stand. Eventually my stamina wore out and I had to take a break. My partner led me back to my friends and I gratefully chugged down a huge glass of water. When I looked over my shoulder my dance partner was back on the floor encouraging someone else to join him in the dance. God is like that dancer, calling each of us to join him in the dance of the universe, following wherever he leads, trusting him every step of the way, loving to whirl us around until we are giddy with laughter, passionately involved with the music of life.
The one who invites us to follow him into the dance is the most courteous dance partner we will ever have. If we are willing, he will lead us gently but firmly, always pushing us to go a little further than we think we can, wanting to dance closer than the closest dance partner we have ever experienced. He will ask us to dance until we are able to move as one, without having to think any more about the direction in which we are moving. The dance will take us through star-filled nights and by ocean shores, through crowded city streets and high mountains. Of one thing we can be sure. We will never again be alone, for the love between Father, Son and Spirit is eternal. It spans all time and space, and will eventually lead us from this world to the next,
The joy of dancing with God was first revealed to me through the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ, my friends who were also a part of this dance, a dance that crosses every boundary known to humankind ' cities, countries, cultures, religions, sexuality, class, race, age, wealth. I soon came to see that the one who leads this dance refuses to be constrained by the boundaries with which we define ourselves. As I listened to my friends share the meaning of God in their lives I began to see God healing the grief of one who had lost their best friend, opening doors to a new job for another who had been beaten down by the atmosphere in his previous work place. When a friend had to move and was dreading leaving behind her friends, the dancer had already gone ahead to prepare a place for her ailing mother. I saw children who had fallen, lifted to their feet, the dirt brushed from their knees from another who danced alongside. I saw children from families whose lives were ravaged by the terrible disease of aids, receive food and aid for schooling from dancers far, far away who would never see the relief on the faces of the children in the village.
The music is heard at all times of the day and night, during the hours of dark tragedy when the usual supports of life have been kicked out of place. The music is heard when a baby is born, at a marriage feast, when a child is adopted by a new family. The music is heard in hospital waiting rooms, at the site of ground zero, at the unexpected death of a child only 3 months old. I know. I've been there and I've heard the music. In spite of the tragedy in our world the joyous dance continues because the love of the dancer is stronger and more powerful than anything this world can throw at us. That's what we see when we look at the crucifixion of our Lord. We see that in spite of the terrible death he suffered, God would not let him be overcome by evil. God raised him to new life so that the dance could begin in you and me.
At this dance you don't have to stand around the side of the room afraid you won't know the steps. You simply have to take the hand of the one who has loved you since the creation of the world. Let him lead you whirling and spinning around the room. Give yourself to be led wherever he will take you and in the end you will not be disappointed. As you start to learn the steps listen to your friends in the pews next to you. They will help you as you begin to follow the master dancer. They will tell stories of the dancing they have known, and encourage you when you're tired. It's never too late to join the dance of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the dance of eternal life.
In the name of the Trinity, One God
Amen
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