Sermons are preached. They are not writing. So, above is the sermon. Below is the sermon “plan”. (Unedited, all my mistakes kept!)
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Our Wild Hearts Dance for Joy
and song, wild hearts, and dancing!
Pslam 28:7 - February 7, 2020 - Heartstrings at First United Methodist Church
God, you are our
strength and our shield; our hearts trust in you, in you we have found our
courage; our wild hearts dance for joy, and in our songs, we will praise you….
Psalm 28:7
“our wild hearts
dance for joy”
Opening Prayer
Is this the week to talk about the song???
Song – Intro Band – Joy
– Received an email from a
random guy, who received an email from a random guy who was looking for
bluegrass musicians… was that a way to start your day or what?
– It’s been easy right? You’ve
been all in, no problem… no nerves? (lol)
Thank you Joy… for being brave. For being a wild heart…
PAUSE
Have you been there? That place where you feel called,
nudged, invited into something that scares you? I think that’s the wrong
question. The question is, when was the LAST time you were there!
Maybe it’s way back, when you were at those awkward middle
school dances and you stood back watching the dance floor, waiting for the
perfect moment to get up and dance, gathering all of your courage to step out…
Maybe it was MUCH bigger than that! Kent told a story on the
sermon roundtable this week, at annual conference 2016, as head of the
delegation, he stood before clergy and laity from the Rocky Mountain Conference
and introduced Rev. Karen Oliveto as our new Bishop. The bishop he helped get
elected… (As an aside, the best, most accurate #hashtag we use when talking
about our bishop is, #outbishopisfunnerthanyourbishop… she doesn’t hesitate to
jump on the drums, to laugh her big, beautiful laugh, or to dance…)… So, it
wasn’t surprising, that after Kent introduced her to the Annual Conference, and
her favorite song came on, filling the entire space, dancing
queen by Abba…Of course she exited the space… dancing… inviting Kent to
dance with her! Given the chance to dance? He declined…
Maybe dancing is easy for you. Or just not your thing… maybe
it’s playing an instrument in front of people for the first time, or public
speaking, or speaking at all!
I remember one class when I was in seminary, our teacher
began class by leading us through lectio Divina. Lectio Divina is a beautiful,
powerful contemplative prayer practice, where you listen to the same scripture
multiple times in a row, listening for God’s voice, God’s invitation, God’s
spark of light…
The professor read the text, and asked the group, there were
only about 10 of us in the group, what word or phrase is sticking with you from
the text. It’s an EASY question! I mean, it doesn’t get any easy for introverts
like me! Repeat ONE WORD from the text… I had my word… someone else said their
word…, then another, then another…. Remember, this is a contemplative prayer
practice, so, in reality, it is very quiet, with lots of space between each
word… Someone would speak a word, and then silence, and then another… and I
kept thinking, I should share, I should share, I should share… but then
everyone else had shared… and the long, long, long space after I felt like I
needed to share but it felt so big, so much pressure…
The professor read the text a second time. This time, the
question was less contemplative and quiet, more conversational. What’s drawing
your attention in the text? Again everyone said something about the text, about
where they were finding God and God’s voice… again, I just could not make
myself say a word…
Again, the professor read the text, again, in quiet
contemplation she ask us what word or phrase was coming to us… again, I felt to
nervous, to scared, to self-conscious to speak…
Moments and the song
I think of those moments in my life when I felt nudged,
called into something bigger, something that scared me. Sometimes I said yes,
sometimes I said no… and then I think of this song we’ve been singing each
week:
He isn’t tame, He is free – He has no
limits, no boundaries –
That’s the wild heart of our God.
I can feel the contrast between my fear, and God’s extravagant
love. Between my constraints and God’s freedom. Between my self-doubt and God’s
wild heart…
I can close my eye and put myself in that middle school gym,
I can feel the presence of God dancing in total freedom, inviting me to join. “Come,
join me…” God beckons, calls, invites… Invites us into this limitless,
boundless love…
I have a choice. You have a choice. In little moments, big
moments, you can sit it out. Or you can dance… remember the song? I hope you
dance by Leanne Womack?