Dancing with the Trinity

A sermon for Trinity Sunday

One of the many books on my shelf has a title that really intrigues me.  That title is, Prayer for People Who Can’t Sit Still.  The second chapter talks about dance as a form of prayer.  “Almost everyone dances in church,” author William Tenny-Brittian says.  “Whenever music gets going that touches the heart, whether it’s the thumping of a bass guitar or the chords of the pipe organ, people in the congregation begin to dance.  It can be very subtle, like feet tapping or bodies swaying, but the body begins to dance in spite of us.

Dancing as an expression of worship predates churches by thousands of years.  .  There are plenty of biblical dancers recorded as well, including Miriam, Jephthah’s daughter, and King David, plus there are a number of exhortations to dance found in the Psalms. 

Apparently, dancing regularly took place in the church during the first few centuries.  According to both Justin Martyr in the second century and Hippolytus in the third century, circle dances were a part of the church’s liturgy.  But by the fourth century, church leaders came to believe that the practice of religion should be an intellectual decision, not an aesthetic delight, so dance fell into disfavor. 

So it should come as no surprise that the early church leaders described the Trinity using the term perichoresis (peri-circle resis-dance), or “circle dance.”  The Trinity was an eternal dance of the Father, Son and Spirit sharing mutual love, honour, happiness, joy and respect… Preacher Brian Mclaren says “God’s act of creation means that God is inviting more and more beings into the eternal dance of Joy.  Sin means that people are stepping out of the dance… stomping on feet instead of moving with grace, rhythm and reverence.  Then in Jesus, God enters creation to restore the rhythm and beauty again.”  The Spirit stands by us to sustain and guide us into this dance, so that we move with the power behind, beneath, and within the universe, not against it, and not at cross purposes with it.

In baptism, we enter this dance of the Trinity.  There is an amazing hymn in the baptism section of our worship book.  “I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity by invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three.”  This is also called “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” or the Lorica.  At Easter in 433 Patrick and a band of believers made a dangerous trek into the territory of the pagan druids.  Patrick preached to the assembled chieftains.  He used a shamrock to explain by its triune shape the great doctrine of the Blessed Trinity. The Irish king was converted and gave permission for the gospel to be preached throughout the land. On their way to this great watershed confrontation, they chanted, “I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity.”  The holy Trinity was, in effect, the breastplate that gave the believers courage to face potential danger.

And so it is for Caycee and Sean, Rachel and Rafferty, for all our graduates in the years ahead, for our newest members, and for you and me as well.  The holy Trinity is the breastplate that reminds us we have been claimed in the waters of baptism, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  We have been met on the cross, called through the gifts we have been given and sent into a world that is hungry for the love of God. 

Thirteen year old Andy A., from California, jokes, “What’s the best kind of water to dance on?”  And his answer is, “Tap Water.”  I would amend his cute joke today.  What’s the best kind of water to dance on?  Today, I would say, the best kind of water to dance on is “baptismal water.”  Another unknown author says it this way: "Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."  Joining the dance of the Trinity, dancing on baptismal water, means that no matter what storms may come our way, we are not alone.  And no matter how bad it gets, the promise and power of resurrection will show us ultimately that goodness is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate, light is stronger than darkness, life is stronger than death, and victory is ours through the triune God who loves us.  The baptized have a reason to dance in the rain.

Several of you have shared this reminder with me of what it’s like to join that dance.  It’s from an anonymous author.  When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing “dance” at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn’t flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another. It’s as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.  My eyes drew back to the word Guidance. When I saw “G, I thought of God, followed by “u” and “i”. “God, “u” and “i” dance.” God, you, and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

Our prayer for the newly baptized, the graduates, our new members, and this community of faith called Holy Cross is that we will dance together with the triune God, trusting God to lead and guide us through every storm, and even through the sunshine of our lives as well.  May we never sit still!  AMEN

Pastor Dana Runestad

7 June, 2009

Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church

Livonia MI