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?  

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance, Never settle for the path of least resistance, Livin’ might mean takin’ chances, but they’re worth takin’, Lovin’ might be a mistake, but it’s worth makin’, Don’t let some Hell bent heart leave you bitter, When you come close to sellin’ out reconsider,
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance. I hope you dance…