Dancing Blindly

Dancing Blindly A sermon preached by The Rev. Janice Ford The Church of the Reconciliation Webster, MA Advent 4-Year A Matthew (1:18-25)

One of my favorite TV shows is “Dancing with the Stars.” I’ve been watching it ever since it began several years ago. The premise of the show is that celebrities are matched up with professional ballroom dancers in a competition. Over the recent seasons, the producers have introduced individuals who are not necessarily celebrities that average Americans would know. Two seasons ago, they brought in Nyle DiMarco, a runway fashion model, who was completely deaf and had no professional dance training. I was amazed that he was able to dance at all given that he could not hear the music! His professional partner, Peta Murgatroyd, had to communicate with him via a sign language translator during practice sessions. Needless to say, the cards seemed stacked against him. In spite of it all, Nyle was incredible. On one particular week, he and Peta decided to really challenge themselves by having Nyle blindfolded during a portion of the dance! Now, he could neither see nor hear. He was completely at the mercy of his partner for guidance. Their performance was flawless, and in the end, they won the entire competition.

I was astounded by what this man had accomplished. There were so many things that could have gone wrong during any of his performances, so being both blind and deaf raised his accomplishment beyond what I could have imagined. What was very clear to observers like me was how much trust Nyle put in his partner, Peta. He depended upon her to help him FEEL the music. She was his “ears,” and during all of their dances, and she was his “eyes” as well in that one amazing dance. He allowed himself to be guided and led by Peta even as he “led” the dance in the traditional male role.

Giving oneself over to another in complete trust is not something we do easily. So many things can go wrong. We can be embarrassed, taken advantage of, or ridiculed. When Joseph discovered Mary was pregnant he had a huge decision to make. He knew he was not the father. There could be only one conclusion to what had happened. In spite of her obvious infidelity, Joseph cared enough about Mary to spare her public humiliation, and so he planned to send her away. Joseph is one of the few people in Scripture who is described as “a righteous man.” His right relationship with God was no doubt what allowed him to completely trust in what God asked him to do—to marry Mary and raise her son—God’s son—as his own. Joseph was metaphorically blind, deaf, and mute, as he allowed himself to be led by God through a “life dance” that would likely be anything but smooth.

We have several examples in Scripture of people allowing themselves to be blindly led by God. Abraham left all that he knew to venture out into an unknown new land. Moses took up God’s mission with the people of Israel in spite of the fact that he felt woefully

1 unprepared. Each of the prophets took great risks when they consented to stand between God and God’s people. Mary gave herself over completely to God’s will as the Theotokus—the God-bearer. And then, there is Jesus himself who blindly trusted in his Father, even as he hung on the cross for our salvation.

What is it that allowed these and so many others to allow themselves to be led by God to live such righteous lives? I have come to believe that blind trust is a virtue like none other. It allows us to go places inside and outside of ourselves in spite of the fact that we may not feel like we know where we’re going. That may seem like pretty dangerous thing to do, but when God is involved, we need not worry.

We spend a good portion of our lives attempting to meet our own needs, rather than allowing God to meet them. We are not willing to wait, nor do we want to trust that God will provide what we think we need. We want to be in total control of our lives, and we honestly believe that we know better than God. Imagine how things might have worked out if Nyle did not have Peta to guide him in his dancing, when he could neither hear the music, nor see where he was going on the dance floor. What would have happened if he fought against her guiding touch instead of letting her gently lead the way? If we think about the times in our own lives when we have fought against letting God lead us, I think we have a very accurate picture of how things would have gone for Nyle.

Our senses are dulled or absent when we try to “fix” our lives on our own. The truth is that it is our own imperfect and wounded nature that gets in the way of letting God lead. God knows that about us, and is constantly trying to offer help and comfort. How can we allow God to minister to us? How can we convince ourselves that “our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth?”

It is said that it’s only when someone hits “rock bottom” that they are able to cry out for help. Isn’t it sad that most of us have to wait until that point in our lives before we led God lead? What we need is a good dose of humility. We need to accept our fragile and imperfect nature. We need to start every day, every task, every relationship, every prayer with the words, “Lord, I need you to guide me. Help me know what YOU want me to do. I will do the work, Lord, but I need your inspiration and guidance to know the way.”

Can we pray those words with humility like Abraham, Moses, Mary, Joseph and Jesus did? Can we muster the courage to dance without seeing or hearing? Can we allow God to be God? Amen.