Great Plains Daily Devotional for 4/24/19

2 Samuel 6:12-15 

It was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

   Can you even imagine such a ruckus? Over something religious?


David’s wife was embarrassed to pieces over it; David had danced to the point of sweat and even taken his shirt off! I understand that early Methodists embarrassed good sturdy Englishmen with their overly enthusiastic singing. I’ve seen excitement in worship at a youth camp, of course. But for some of us, the last excitement in church was the women’s fried chicken dinner, when the smell of the cooking wafted up the stairs to the worship service not quite finished.

 
   What in our faith brings us to the point of rejoicing? What is worth breaking out in song and dance, in church, or in God’s world? What brings out your happy feet? Look around you and make a list. It’s stopped snowing! The sun is shining. A great group of young people are going on a mission trip! The water main is fixed! Someone smiled at me and didn’t even know me. The daffodils are blooming! Jesus is alive!
 
And that alone is more than enough to dance.


Some congregations bring in the gospels with procession and flourishes, like David’s ark procession. My own thought is that it isn’t just the book, it’s the story it tells that is worth our celebration.

Jesus is alive, and because he lives, I don’t have anything to be afraid of. Let’s dance!
 

-Jean Wilcox
First United Methodist Church
Concordia, Kansas

Prayer for Reflection

Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
John 20:1-18 or Luke 24:1-12