28 October 2018
Jeremiah 31. 31-34
Believing is for the here and now, not the there and then.
First thing I do, most Monday mornings, is type out the sermon from the day before. Type it out. Run it off. Put it online. It’s one of the easier ways to extend, to expand, what we do in this place. To get it out the doors. Beyond the walls. And on a good day, it takes about an hour and a half. On a good day. But I have to confess, there are times, every now and again, when I’ll kinda just slip over onto Facebook to see what’s new. I did that, this past week. This time, there was a post that caught my attention. It was a video by Navajo Traditional Teaching about the Yeibichai ceremony that takes place about this time of year. The reason it stood out was that a friend of mine gave me a Navajo rug, decades ago, with Yeibichai dancers on it. Well, by then, I was totally distracted. So, I went over to the house and rummaged through my closet until I found it. That, by the way, is the reason Sunday’s sermon didn’t get online until Tuesday. But I digress.
Basically, there are a dozen dancers in the image. The Yei is the dancer in front. The bichai is the one at the end. The Yei leads the dance and is called the speaker of peace. And it’s the job of the others to follow along, keeping their eyes on the Yei. Doing what he does, when he does it. When the Yei takes a step to the left, they all step to the left. When the Yei takes two steps to the right, the dancers take two steps to the right. When the Yei turns around, the others do the same. All, that is, except the thirteenth dancer. He’s the clown and he does anything he wants to. He does his own thing. Goes his own way. Cute. Funny. Entertaining. He, simply, doesn’t follow the Yei. He doesn’t do what the peace speaker does.
Well, I looked at that rug. And I thought about what I’d see, heard, on that video. And it dawned on me that this… this is the reformation! This is why it happened! For the longest time, I’d thought of faith as a game of Simon Says. Only Simon is Jesus. Jesus says, “Do this!” Jesus says, “Don’t do that!” And the last person standing who has done exactly what Jesus said, wins the game! But Luther – Luther and his colleagues – Luther and his fellow conspirators, his fellow collaborators – showed us it’s a dance! A dance of follow-the-leader! And I know it’s been a long time since I played, but I can’t remember anyone winning or losing at the dance! You just follow! You just do whatever the leader does! You just go wherever the leader leads!
When the leader teaches, we teach! When the leader casts out unclean spirits, we cast out unclean spirits! When the leader heals many, we heal many! Thought for thought! Word for word! Deed for deed! We follow along! When the leader preaches, we preach! When the leader cleanses lepers, we cleanse lepers! When the lead calls disciples, we call disciples, as well! That’s how the ceremony works! That’s how the dance goes! When the leader is moved by compassion, we’re moved by compassion! When the leader forgives, we forgive! When the leader kneels at the feet of his friends, kneels, even, at the feet of his betrayer, we do the same!
You see, the gospel isn’t, simply, the Jesus’ story. It’s our story, our dance, as well! Jesus leads and we follow! We follow and do the same! And it’s all there on that rug! The object isn’t to win! It’s not to earn! To deserve! It’s simply to follow! To dance! Because god loves! Free! Unearned! Undeserved! So, the church loves! Just as free! Just as unearned! Just as undeserved! One generation after another after another after another! From Yei to bichai! From first to last! Beginning to end! Start to finish! Around and around and around! On and on and on! And the funny thing? It never leaves the ground! Drums beat! Feet shuffle! Here! And now!
That’s the other part of Reformation I’ve come to understand over the past few years. Faith isn’t, first and foremost, about leaving this veil of tears and going to the happily-ever-after. Ministry is very two dimensional. Believing is for this place and for this time! It’s for what’s in front of us and behind us; for what’s to the right of us and to the left of us! There is no up and there is no down! There’s only the dance floor! The dance for and the seven-plus billion of others that share it!
Scripture speaks very little about an afterlife. It focuses not on what happens after we die, but on what happens after we are born again! We love! We love just like Jesus! That’s all there is to it! And we’ll have to rely on Dante and Milton and Bunyon to fill us in on anything else. For Jesus… and his disciples… and his church… for you and for me… faith is very simple. It’s not escaping this world. It’s entering into it! Redeeming it! Setting it free! Giving it life! It’s love! Loving just like Jesus! And it’s all there in the wool! Spelled out in warp and weft!
Out of the great love with which he loved us… Out of the great love with which he loves us still… god sets aside heaven to become a part of all this! And as god passes through creation, we are pulled along in the wake! Pulled along by the mercy! Inspired by the rhythm and melody of god’s love! And then, we, too, dance! Beat by beat! Step by step! Bichais to his Yei! Followers to his lead! Sure, there are and there will be times when we want to play the clown. Dancing to the beat of our own drum. Amusing. Entertaining. Going our own way. But that’s not the dance! That’s not faith! That’s not believing! It’s nothing more than an interruption, a distraction!
For us, the way of salvation isn’t the path that leads to heaven. That takes us from destruction to the celestial city. For us, the way of salvation is the dance! The heartbeat! The pulse! Putting our feet where Jesus steps! Keeping our eyes on the peace speaker! And doing what he does! Going where he goes! Not then and there, but here and now! What happens before the dance began? What happens after the dance ends? No one knows. Or, at least, no one’s told. Not the bible. Not Jesus. It’s enough just to know there’s a dance! A dance you and I are a part of! Yei! Bichai! The dance and the love that dance proclaims! The dance and the love that dance brings! My friends, it’s as simple as that!