Rev. Anne J. Scalfaro Year B Eighth Sunday after Pentecost – 9:30 a.m. Calvary Baptist Church 15 July 2018 Denver, Colorado “So You Think You Can Dance” 2 Samuel 6 (NRSV) Season 15 of the hit reality From today’s passage you’d think competition show, So You Think that King David would make a You Can Dance, kicked off on pretty good contestant on So You June 4. Dancers from all over the Think You Can Dance (the Biblical country showed up to impress Celebrity version of course) judges Nigel Lythgoe, Mary because he dances not once, but Murphy, and Vanessa Hudgens. twice! Both times he’s dancing From ballet to tap to jazz to before the ark of the covenant contemporary to ballroom to (aka: The Lord). The first time it’s hiphop and breakdancing – any a full company number, with the and all styles of dance are entire house of Israel giving it their welcome. But if a contestant all – complete with songs, lyres, makes it pass Level One auditions harps, tambourines, castanets, and and into the “Academy,” as they cymbals. I’m thinking Latin Jazz, call it, they have to be ready to maybe. The second time David kick it up a notch and show their dances it’s a solo number and he’s versatility. They must pick up scantily clad – so I’m guessing it’s choreography quickly and perform probably ballet or contemporary of well in vastly different styles of some sort! dance, all with a smile on their face and an effortless ease about Now David’s dancing has long them of course. been a picture of joyous, full heart- mind-body-and soul worship…and It’s always kind of a bummer rightly so! Given that Baptists love when someone who is so good at the Bible – I’m not sure where the “their” style of dance is eliminated whole “Baptists don’t dance” thing because they can’t measure up in comes from…because here it is – the other styles. But then again, in Scripture! When you dance, you that is the premise of the whole lose yourself in the show. You can’t just dance the moment…which is the point…to way you want to dance, you have not be focused on yourself, but on to dance the way the judges want the other person – or – in the case you to dance too. of worship – on God! But in David’s case what happens ark was treated with reverence and after each of his dances is far less sometimes even fear. joyous than the dances themselves. After the first dance a guy dies, In 1 Samuel chapter 4 we learn and after the second one, David that Eli’s sons carried the ark of essentially breaks up with his wife the covenant into battle with the and renders her childless. Sure, Philistines and in that battle the there is some celebration and Philistines manage to capture the rejoicing about the ark finally ark and take it to their temple. But making it to Jerusalem, but that while they have the ark, God genuine worship seems to be torments the Philistines and so overshadowed by some seriously they send it back to the Israelites.1 somber stuff. Like the contestants Similar to a game of “hot potato,” on So You Think You Can Dance, the Philistines realized that this David learns you can’t just dance was not something they wanted in the way you want to dance, nor their possession! can you “dance around” your faults and mistakes – you have to The ark is back in the Israelite’s include everyone in the dance, possession and it first ends up in most importantly, God...and you Beth-shemesh, where the have to dance by God’s rules. townsfolk greeted the ark with Does David do this? Well, let’s dig rejoicing. But some guys looked a little deeper and find out. into the ark, which incited the wrath of God. We’re not exactly The whole chapter of 2 Samuel 6 sure what happened but whatever is about how the Ark of the it was, was bad, because 70 people Covenant came to rest in died. Not surprisingly the Jerusalem. As you might survivors said, "Who is able to remember from your childhood stand before the LORD, this holy Sunday School classes or from the God? To whom shall he go so that esteemed Professor Indiana Jones, we may be rid of him?" (1 Samuel the Ark of the Covenant was a 6:20). sacred vessel for the ancient Israelites; it is literally where God Essentially the Israelites became resided, it was not only the locus so afraid of the ark that they sent it of God’s presence but also of away to a place called Kiriath- God’s power. Because of this, the Jearim (which literally means “city of thickets” – maybe they thought 1 Nikki Hardeman, “David: All Good?” Faith Element (15 http://www.faithelement.com/sessions/2012/7/7/david-all- July 2012), accessed on 15 July 2018 at good.html. 2 it could in those thickets, who Important side note here: knows?) to be cared for by Eliazar (son of Abinadab) for nearly 20 David ordered a new cart to be years. made for the ark, and this was perhaps his first mistake in this Meanwhile, David is consolidating whole ordeal because the ark his political power in Jerusalem – wasn’t meant to be put on a cart. It now called the City of David. He was supposed to be carried by is growing ever more powerful as priests, on poles. With the ark on king over Israel and wants to make their backs, the priests could feel Jerusalem not just the political the weight of God’s presence with center of Israel, but also the them. The only people who had religious center. There is no doubt put the ark on a cart before were David is doing this for religious the Philistines. 3 And we know reasons, but he also has to what kind of luck they had! understand the power that he will garner by bringing the ark to The second mistake David made Jerusalem.2 He knows this will was forgetting to offer a sacrifice. “seal the deal” in terms of his fame As one scholar put it, they were and his status as greater than King singing and dancing, [but it wasn’t Saul. His motives for power are really worship] it was really a big couched in piety, it seems. (Sound racket] because he David forgot familiar?) the key act of worship when it came to the ark – sacrifice. He In any case, David decides to bring wanted all of the benefits of being the ark out of quarantine in Baale- with the presence of God, but he judah (which is another name for didn’t want to invest in the work the “city of thickets”). Eliazar is that it takes to maintain that not mentioned but two other sons presence.4 of Abinadab are: Uzzah and Ahio. (I guess the one brother pushed it So these two young men, Uzzah off on his other two brothers). and Ahio, were assigned to drive Uzzah and Ahio are responsible the oxen and the cart bearing the for attending to the ark as they ark. And at some point, make the trip to transport it to one of the oxen carrying the ark Jerusalem. stumbles and Uzzah instinctively places his hand on the ark to 2 Hardeman, ibid. 15 July 2018 at https://www.faithandleadership.com/ken- 3 Ken Evers-Hood, “What are you living for that's bigger than evers-hood-what-are-you-living-thats-bigger-you. you?” Faith and Leadership (27 August 2012), accessed on 4 Evers-Hood, ibid. 3 steady it. The anger of the Lord Covenant (that were given flares up and burst out upon poor generations before these men) and Uzzah. He dies on the spot. so Uzzah maybe didn’t even know NOT to touch the ark. You could Now, I don’t know about you, but make the argument that Uzzah this whole incident is troubling. died at the expense of David’s Wouldn’t we all have tried to keep irresponsibility and hasty decision the ark from falling? (This was the making. presence of God after all!) Uzzah’s infraction seems like a small one In any case, after Uzzah’s death, and the punishment doesn’t seem David was angry at God and a to fit the crime. But if we pay little bit of afraid of the ark. He attention to the intention of the decided that taking the ark to narrator, we can see that the person Jerusalem wasn’t such a good idea writing this story wants to convey and so he pushed it off on something to us about God and our somebody else and sent it to the relationship to God. And while we home of Obed-edom. After it had may not understand or feel settled been with Obed for 3 months and about the storyline itself, we can had brought all kinds of goodness still search for the message trying and fortune to Obed-edom and his to be communicated.5 family, David decided that, okay, now it was safe to bring the ark on Some scholars suggest that into Jerusalem. Go figure. And as perhaps Uzzah died because the ark is bring brought into the David’s motives for moving the city, David is once again dancing.