2 Samuel 6:12-22
So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

Reflection:
Right before I started seventh grade, my family moved to a new town and it was the worst. Even though it wasn’t far from where I called home, it was different, and my family discovered each difference the hard way. When I mentioned in my English class that I was rereading a favorite book, I got horrified stares and one kid asked, “You read? Like when you don’t have to?! We don’t read here.” My mama, born a Lutheran and therefore a pro at potluck planning, was told (kindly) that she was setting the food out wrong one Sunday after church. “Maybe at your last church the rolls come before the sides, but we don’t do that here.” My dad and sister had similarly bewildering experiences before we finally got our footing.

We don’t do that here.

I bet most of us have heard some version of this surprisingly hurtful statement. It says, “We want you to fit in here…do you?” Of course we want to! We all want to belong.

In our scripture today, David is celebrating with everything he has because the Ark of the Covenant, where God’s presence dwells, is coming home. It had been captured years before by the Philistines and the Israelites have been bereft without it. Where do you go to meet with God if He’s behind enemy lines? But the Ark has returned, and David is overjoyed just to be near it. He dances! He sacrifices! He blesses the people and hands out snacks…all while wearing very little as a display of humility. We might read this and think, “Hmm. That must be what worship looked like back then.” And we would be wrong. Michal, David’s wife and the late Saul’s daughter, is unimpressed and mortified by this unseemly offensive display.

We don’t do that here.

You are the king! Have some dignity! But David won’t hear it. Maybe her father didn’t do that, but what was there to celebrate then? The Ark had been lost since before Saul was king. David knew what Michal couldn’t: that God choosing to dwell among them was the best thing that could happen to their people. It called for extravagant worship, not fitting in. In fact, God’s presence gave them something to belong to.

If David danced in his underwear because God moved in down the street from his house, imagine what his jubilation would have looked like if God moved into his heart. Remember this is pre-Jesus. Pre-Holy Spirit residing in all believers. Encounters with God happened in the temple. They were dangerous and best left to the professionals, certainly no average person could come near to God, not even a king.

But friends, we CAN do that here!

We can worship with reckless abandon. We are temples in which the Holy Spirit chooses to live. David worshiped because God chose to abide in his zip code – we worship because God chooses to abide with us – first as Jesus, then as the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We never have to be alone! Even when we’re lonely or don’t seem to fit in, God’s presence gives us somewhere to belong.

If that’s not worth an uninhibited dance party, I don’t know what is! But we’ll talk about that later.

Prayer:
Indwelling Spirit, thank you for making our hearts your home. We are comforted, like David was, by the reassurance that your presence is where we belong. Thank you that no matter where we go, you promise to go with us. Amen.